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Lake Hartwell
Lake Hartwell is a 56,000-acre Corps of Engineers reservoir bordering Georgia and South Carolina on the Savannah, Tugaloo and Seneca rivers. Lake Hartwell is one of the southeast's largest and most popular recreation lakes, and it offers good fishing, particularly for bass and stripers. Three recent Bassmaster Classic tournaments have been held at Hartwell. The lake is created by Hartwell Dam located on the Savannah River 7 miles below the point where the Tugaloo and Seneca rivers join to form the Savannah. Interstate 85 crosses Lake Hartwell at the Georgia-South Carolina line.
Lake Hartwell Resources
Hartwell: Level: Full at 660. Temp: 62-64 degrees. Clarity: Clear except for some runoff in the creeks. The Potato Creek Bass Masters club fished a two-day tournament at Hartwell on Friday and Saturday. Raymond English won with 10 keepers that weighed 32.33 pounds. He had five at 21.41 on Friday, including a 5.77-lb. kicker. His big one hit a Trick Worm. All others hit a Carolina rig. I had big fish with a 6.63-lb. largemouth that looked postspawn. It hit a wacky-rigged Zoom Fluke Stick with the tails dipped in chartreuse J.J.’s Magic. Fish were caught in a number of ways: topwater, crankbaits, jigs and flukes. Many fish were bedding and cruising. I got on a fun pattern Saturday. I fished a Fluke Stick on clay with rocks on sloping banks for 2-lb. spots. They were in 8 to 12 feet of water. They were fun but not tournament-winning fish.…
Read MoreLake Hartwell Fishing Articles
Tim Dube had never fished a competitive round on Lake Hartwell prior to Wednesday’s start of the TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Championship. But he went out and treated the place like home water. Dube, a 29-year-old New Hampshire resident, caught a limit of five spotted bass for a total of 16-lbs., 3-ozs. That was enough…
Several dynamic scenarios will be at play when anglers take on Lake Hartwell for the 2023 TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, and Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brandon Cobb believes everything will depend on the lake turnover. “This time of year is kind of a strange time,” the Greenwood, S.C., native said. “On Hartwell the fish…
Kale Temple and Luke Schnell were only 4 ounces out of the Day 1 lead at the 2023 Bassmaster Junior National Championship, so they knew a good finish on Lake Hartwell might lock up the tournament title for them. It did. Temple and Schnell, who compete for the Hart County Junior Anglers, closed the gap…
Stripers and hybrids can seem like aquatic nomads in a vast ocean of water, says Capt. Cefus McRae, an expert fishing guide who operates on Lakes Hartwell, Lanier and Clark Hill. Cefus is also the producer and on-screen personality for the “Nuts & Bolts Of Fishing” TV show that airs on FOX Sports South and CarbonTV.…
The team of Shaun Flanagan and Curt Poggenpohl put in three good days to win the 32nd annual Military Team Bass Tournament, presented by American Bass Anglers and Caymas Boats, held May 3-5 on Lake Hartwell. Launching at Green Pond Landing in Anderson, S.C., Flanagan and Poggenpohl landed three consecutive daily tournament limits of five…
Lake Hartwell Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 12-lbs., 6.5-ozs. | Jack Breshears | 03/08/76 |
| Spotted Bass | 6-lbs., 4-ozs. | Chad Mrazek | 03/16/25 |
| Redeye Bass | 3-lbs., 7-ozs. | Steve Williams | 04/17/04 |
| Striped Bass | 59-lbs., 8-ozs. | Terry McConnell | 02/03/02 |
| Hybrid Bass | 20-lbs., 1-oz. | Buster Green | ----- |
| White Bass | 4-lbs., 5-ozs. | H.T. Davis | 02/06/67 |
| White Crappie | 4-lb., 4-ozs. | Charles McCullough | 04/27/68 |
| Black Crappie | 3-lbs., 1.76-ozs. | Jimmy Burns | 03/02/22 |
| Walleye | 9-lbs. | T.O. Sherriff | 1974 |
| Blue Catfish | 30-lbs., 8-ozs. | Melvin Wall | 06/26/03 |
| Flathead Catfish | 66-lbs. | Darrin Sealey | 04/04/10 |
| Shellcracker | 1-lb., 4.16-ozs. | DJ Hill | 05/13/23 |
| Chain Pickerel | 2-lbs., 5-ozs. | Jay Franklin | 03/16/23 |