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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
The world’s most prestigious professional bass tournament will be returning next year to the site of some of the best moments in the sport’s famed history. B.A.S.S. officials, along with Visit Anderson and VisitGreenvilleSC, announced on March 30 that the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk will be held for the…
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 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…
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…
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…
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 |