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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

Lake Hartwell Fishing Report – December 2024

By GON Staff | November 28, 2024

Hartwell: Level: 3.5 feet below 660. Temp: Mid 50s to low 60s. Clarity: Clear. Bass & Stripers: Trent Gober, with Fish Hartwell Guide Service, said the bait is moving into the creeks and ditches, and bass and stripers will follow. Look for both back in ditches where the 20 to 25 foot deep water ends. Drag a green-pumpkin Senko on a 1/4-oz. Gamakatsu jig head or a jig ’n pig on the bottom for bass. Everything will be bottom related. Find rockpiles or rock ridges that concentrate the bass at that depth. A Fish Head Spin will also catch fish when reeled slowly along the bottom under bait, as will a spoon dropped under the bait balls. For stripers, get in areas of bait and fish live bait in very shallow water. The big stripers often cruise in 5 feet of water looking for food. Cast your bait to the…

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Lake Hartwell Fishing Articles

Good Shallow Bite For Lake Hartwell Winter Bass

Cold weather slows anglers and bass down this time of year, but Lake Hartwell bass will feed on rocks and wood cover in short pockets and on main creek banks and points throughout January. They will hit a variety of baits, and you can have a good day fishing if you dress for the weather.…

Lake Hartwell Paradise Found

“Lake Hartwell is a paradise.” Those were the words that kept running through my head in October 2002 as I stared out the window of my new work home at the Clemson office of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). I had spent the previous 12 years working for SCDNR in Columbia on…

Madison County Teens Take Bassmaster Win On Hartwell

Logan Fisher and Will Hart spent hundreds of hours on Lake Hartwell during the past five-plus months of shutdowns and social distancing, and they proved the time spent was anything but a diversion. Fisher and Hart, who live in Danielsville, won the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series event at Lake Hartwell presented by…

Bassmaster College Series Resumes 2020 Season On Lake Hartwell

The country’s best college anglers will resume their quest for a national championship title and Bassmaster Classic berth on Lake Hartwell when the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops competes Aug. 27-29. According to Bassmaster Elite Series angler Jason Williamson, of Wagener, S.C., Lake Hartwell will produce plenty of action for the…

Corps Begins Phased Reopen

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a “phased reopening” of some campgrounds and additional boat ramps at reservoirs along the Savannah River the third week of May. “The gradual reopening will vary based on the ability to ensure visitors and Corps of Engineers staff remain safe and can continue to reduce the spread of…

Lake Hartwell Record Fish

Largemouth Bass12-lbs., 6.5-ozs.Jack Breshears03/08/76
Spotted Bass5-lbs., 6.08-ozs.Raulie Bleech03/18/07
Redeye Bass3-lbs., 7-ozs.Steve Williams04/17/04
Striped Bass59-lbs., 8-ozs.Terry McConnell02/03/02
Hybrid Bass20-lbs., 1-oz.Buster Green-----
White Bass4-lbs., 5-ozs.H.T. Davis02/06/67
White Crappie4-lb., 4-ozs.Charles McCullough04/27/68
Black Crappie3-lbs., 1.76-ozs.Jimmy Burns03/02/22
Walleye9-lbs.T.O. Sherriff1974
Blue Catfish30-lbs., 8-ozs.Melvin Wall06/26/03
Flathead Catfish66-lbs.Darrin Sealey04/04/10
Shellcracker1-lb., 4.16-ozs.DJ Hill05/13/23
Chain Pickerel2-lbs., 5-ozs.Jay Franklin03/16/23