Lake Hartwell Bass In The Summer Heat On Topwater And Piles

Trent Gober made a name on the tournament trails, and after he and his wife Laura moved to Lake Hartwell, he’s now guiding full time on Hartwell.

July bass fishing is hot on Lake Hartwell —in more ways than one. Hartwell largemouth and spots set up on brush and canepiles on the main lake, and you can catch numbers and quality on a variety of baits.

Hartwell’s 55,000 acres make it our second-biggest lake. It is located at the beginning of the Savannah River near the town of Hartwell on the South Carolina line. With three mega ramp tournament facilities and heavy promotion from Anderson, S.C., it may be our most heavily fished lake for bass—certainly for high-level tournament events.

Hartwell tournaments consistently produce 20-lb. five-bass limits. Deep, clear water on the lower lake and blueback herring produce spotted bass and largemouth that get big and fat. Both species feed heavily in July, chasing herring on top over standing timber, brushpiles and canepiles. There are hundreds of them placed by anglers, and you can find a pile on any likely hump or point.

Trent Gober lived near Lanier and consistently did well in tournaments there. He fished the BFL trail and made the All-American, as well as doing great in local tournaments. He now fishes the Skeeter Owners Trail and finished eighth this year on the tournament at Lake Hartwell.

Seven years ago, Trent and his wife and regular tournament partner Laura (who has been on the GON cover in the past), decided to move to Hartwell. They have enjoyed the challenge of learning a new lake. Although the lower lake is very similar to Lanier and fishes much the same, figuring out the little things that make an angler successful on Hartwell was a fun new challenge.

Trent now guides full-time for bass on Hartwell and is getting a center-console to add hybrids and stripers to his guiding services. Trent is on the lake almost every day keeping up with what the fish are doing and locating hotspots that are holding quality fish.

For July, Trent has a simple arsenal of tackle ready for his run-and-gun style of bass fishing. He is mostly fishing offshore structure with cover like cane and brushpiles, and his selection of a soft jerkbait, a walking bait and a shaky-head worm is reflective of that kind of fishing. Those three baits cover most every situation he encounters for a July day of bass fishing on Lake Hartwell.

Although Hartwell does not get as crowded as Lanier, the big water you need to fish on Hartwell can be rough. Weekdays are much better than weekends, but if you are careful and pay attention, you can have great catches on weekend days, as tournaments almost every weekend prove.

Trent showed me the following 10 locations a few weeks ago. Due to an unusually late spawn this year, the bass were just getting on them, but he caught at least a dozen bass in our half day of fishing. Several of them were quality largemouth and spots.

No. 1: N 34º 22.820 – W 82º 50.532 — Going down the lake just past Gum Branch on the Georgia side, there is a long point that runs way out almost to the river channel. There are multiple humps around it. Not far off the point is green channel marker 7 that marks the river channel.

Go to the channel marker, and idle toward the white danger marker toward the bank marking a standing tree. Two shoal markers off the end of the point are in that line, too. About halfway between the danger marker and channel marker is a brushpile sitting in 32 feet of water.

Trent usually fishes a shaky-head worm here since the brush tops out deep. He rigs a 3/16- to 1/4-oz. shaky-head jig with a green-pumpkin Trick Worm and drops it straight down. Shaking it in one place usually draws bites.

On his spinning reel, Trent likes an 8-lb. Segar fluorocarbon leader tied to braid. He will go up to 10-lb. then 12-lb. test line if he is breaking fish off. But he never goes higher than a 12-lb. leader. Rigged on a 7-2 medium to medium-heavy Dobyns spinning rod, that combination is good for getting spots and largemouth out of deep brush.

Forward-facing sonar helps Trent see fish and know how they react to his baits. Good LCD sonar will give you almost the same information with the shaky head, but you can’t see the fish movement as clearly. Fish all through the brush here, covering it carefully.

No. 2: N 34º 20.951 – W 82º 50.256 — Go downstream to the point where the Watsadler boat ramp is located, and stop way out on the second danger marker from the point. It is on a very shallow hump on the end of a long point, running out to very deep water.

Natural wood cover is downstream of the marker, and Trent prefers natural wood to man-made brushpiles. It does not rot away and can be consistent year after year. It is in 33 feet of water, but the bottom quickly rises to about 3 feet deep near the marker.

Always stop close enough to make a long cast to the top of the shallows first, in about 30 feet of water here, especially early in the morning. Bass either follow herring schools crossing the shallows and ambush them when they don’t have much room to run, or they chase them there to pin them up.

Cast your walking bait first, and then fish a soft jerkbait across the top of the hump. After a few casts, back off to the deep wood cover in 33 feet of water and doodle your shaky head. Usually fish this deep won’t react to the boat on top of them, but if you can tell they are moving, stay off the wood and cast to it.

No. 3:  N 34º 20.830 – W 82º 50.916 — There are two big coves upstream of hole 2 before you get to the next long point. You will see a narrow point in the middle of the two coves that stands out. There are docks in the cove on the upstream side but none downstream. Stop way out on the point and locate the brush on the end in 30 feet of water before it drops to 70 feet deep.

This is man-made cane and brushpiles. The cane tops out shallow enough to fish a bait over them to draw bass up to the surface. Trent says bass here, especially spots, will come up from deep water to hit on top, just like on Lanier. But he does not think they will come up from quite as deep. He wants the brush and cane to top out no more than 20 feet deep for fishing topwater.

Cast a walking bait like Trent’s favorite, the Ima Skimmer, past the brushpile tops and walk it back with fast twitches. A little ripple on the water really helps—dead calm is not as good, while heavy waves can make the bait less effective.

Follow up with a soft jerkbait like a fluke, working it at different speeds and actions to see what the bass want. Before you leave, try your shaky head, especially if you see fish near the bottom of the brush.

Trent uses a shaky head rather than a drop shot. He can raise it off the bottom and hold it in front of fish, just like a drop shot. Forward-facing sonar can be very helpful to check for fish without getting right on top of them.

No. 4: N 34º 21.493 – W 82º 50.976 — Upstream across Powderbag Creek you will see the swimming beach at Long Point. Go to it, stop out in 30 to 33 feet of water, and ride parallel to the beach, following that contour to find brush. Trent says there are several cane and brushpiles that get rebuilt when they rot, so the positions may vary some from year to year.

Try to find piles that are in the deepest water up to 35 feet deep—they will hold more and bigger bass. Work your topwater baits over the brush if it comes up within 20 feet of the surface, and then fish your shaky head. With several brush and canepiles in the area, you may have to try several. Multiple piles will spread the fish out, another reason Trent prefers isolated natural wood structure.

No. 5: N 34º 21.882 – W 82º 49.168 — On the rip-rap at the dam on the South Carolina side, there are two tree “islands,” groups of trees out from the rip-rap. The one closest to the shore has bank access. Stop way out and in line with the red channel marker 2. There is a ledge that runs along the side of the point coming out from the tree island.

There are canepiles on the ledge in 25 feet of water, but the top of the ledge is as shallow as 5 feet deep. Work your baits over the shallows first, and then work the brush. Some wind helps here, as does current from power generation. If you hear the warning siren, this is a good place to go to since current affects it quickly.

If current is moving, position your boat downstream of the brush and cane and fish your bait across it with the current. The current won’t be strong, but it is noticeable and will turn the fish on here and in other places.

No. 6: N 34º 22.078 – W 82º 45.411 — Not far upstream, a double island sits near deep water at red channel marker 6. The gap between the two islands is a blow-through with dead trees in it. Out from the gap, a clay hump comes up from 30 feet to top out. There is water 100 feet deep nearby.

Cast walking baits and soft jerkbaits across the hump, fishing around it to cover different angles. Then fish the brush around it in 30 feet of water with your shaky head.

With your walking bait, try different cadences. Sometimes the faster you move it the more bites you will get, but sometimes slowing it down some will draw a bite. Follow up with a fluke, working it with different actions, too.  Then clean up with your shaky-head worm.

No. 7: N 34º 22.864 – W 82º 49.415 — The next long point with Crescent Group Campground on it has good tall canepiles on it. It is off the side but near the end of it. Stop well off it and cast your Ima and fluke over it. Always start by casting topwater over piles that top out within 20 feet of the surface.

Trent uses a chrome or white Ima, but a Spook or other walking bait will work. And he chooses flukes in the rainbow or shad colors and prefers the Super Fluke size. Make sure you rig the fluke so it is straight on the hook and works without spinning. If you have problems with line twist, use a good swivel about 2 feet above the fluke.

If he does not get a bite within about 10 casts, Trent will move on. He is looking for active fish like they were here the day we fished. Here, he caught three or four good keepers quickly. That is typical of a good place.

No. 8: N 34º 23.186 – W 82º 49.333 — Upstream of the point with the campground, an island sits near the bank with a narrow band connecting it to the main bank. The downstream side of the island is a clay bluff, and off it there is a rock spur that runs out and drops into deep water. There is brush here in 30 feet of water.

Start by casting across the rocks in shallow water. We hooked several good spots and largemouth here even in the middle of the day. And several more hit over the brush. Stay out in about 35 feet of water and make long casts to cover both the shallow rocks and brushpiles.

Trent rigs his fluke on a wide-gap hook and ties it to a fluorocarbon leader attached to braid on his spinning rod. This allows him to make very long casts. And he reels the fluke steadily rather than twitching it. He says for some reason Hartwell bass prefer a fluke skittering along the surface rather than sinking and twitching.

No. 9: N 34º 23.548 – W 82º 49.733 — Two small islands sit way off the point running out from Big Water Marina. Upstream of the island closest to the bank, you will see two danger markers and some planted cypress trees that mark a shallow ridge. Start fishing on the end of it and work the shallows with your topwater baits.

After fishing the top of the ridge, back off to 30 feet of water off the end of the ridge and find the cane and brushpiles. This is a good place for bass—both spots and largemouth—to hold deep on brush, but also where they run up shallow to feed. This is typical of the kinds of places that Trent likes for July fishing.

Cloudy days may keep bass feeding on herring in the shallows longer. But sunny days seem to bring herring to the top, the opposite of what shad do, so Trent likes a sunny day to work his baits over deep brush. Sunny days seem to make the bass focus up and look for food over their heads.

No. 10: N 34º 23.718 – W 82º 49.758 – Out in the middle of the bay where Big Water Marina is located, there is an unmarked hump that rises from deep water on all sides. Although a good lake contour GPS map shows this hump, since it is not marked, it does not get as much fishing pressure. There is a tall pile of cane on it.

On tall cover like this, whether natural or man-made, always work your topwater over it before getting too close. Trent agrees bass are learning to be wary of sonar pulses, and forward-facing sonar is making them spooky even farther from the boat. Long casts are definitely helpful.

After fishing several of these places without a bite on a walking bait, Trent stuck with the fluke. He says some days one bait works better than others, so he concentrates on what works best so he can move faster to find active fish.

Check out these 10 locations and try fishing them like Trent suggests to catch July Hartwell spots and largemouth. Fish are on them right now.

To book a guided trip with Trent Gober, call him at 678.267.9605 or visit his website www.fishhartwell.com.

You can also see his monthly fishing reports in GON.