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Lake Hartwell Fishing Report

Meet Ken Sturdivant Saturday's at
Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Lawrenceville Georgia.

“SONAR WITH KEN STURDIVANT” at Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville Georgia. Lowrance Pro Staff Member Ken Sturdivant will go over the
settings for the sonar in the Outdoor Skills Workshop and they
are FREE!

June 7 @ 2pm

Our NEW! DVD, FINDING FISH WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY is now on sale.

We now have the 40 GPS Way Points for Bass Fishing on Lake Hartwell by Tim White. 

(waypoints are NOT refundable!)

Send a check or money order

(No Credit Cards) for $99.00 to:

 SOUTHERN FISHING SCHOOLS INC, 106 HICKORY RIDGE CUMMING GEORGIA 30040.

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May 9, 2008

LAKE HARTWELL IS DOWN 9.1 FEET, CLEAR AND 71 DEGREES BY RAPALA PRO STAFFER TIM WHITE

Bass fishing is good and anglers are finding a lot of bass up in the shallows and coves. Most of these Bass are the smaller males, but keeper fish. The Blue Backs are in a heavy spawn right now and finding schools of these bait fish will get you a quick limit. The rip rap and any long stretches of rocks will be the best places to look. X-Raps, Spinner baits and Flukes are great early morning baits along with Chug Bugs. By mid day, anglers are still using those Carolina Rigs off the main lake and secondary points. Some quality Bass are still on the beds, but not as many as last week. Look for a good crank bait bite to turn on really soon. The lake is only about six feet down and scattered rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast for this weekend. The FREE map card deal is still on with any Lowrance 5 inch sonar/GPS or Lowrance GPS unit. See www.lowrance.com

The FREE map card deal is still on with any Lowrance 5 inch sonar/GPS or Lowrance GPS unit. See www.lowrance.com

SPECIAL NOTICE: See the 2008 Georgia Department of Natural Resources lake Predictions on the bottom of this page.

“SONAR WITH KEN STURDIVANT” at Bass Pro Shops “Outdoor World” in the Outdoor Skills Workshop. Lowrance Pro Staff Member Ken Sturdivant will go over the settings for the sonar. April 5 @ 2pm, May 3 @ 2pm, and June 7 @ 2pm


If you would like to have a free set up sheet for your sonar, send me an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net and ask for the “Sonar Setup Quick List”.

We have these books for sale: “BASS FISHING ON WEST POINT LAKE”, “BASS FISHING LAKE RUSSELL”, “BASS FISHING WEST POINT LAKE” and “BASS FISHING LAKE HARTWELL”. These books are written by Tim White and Ken Sturdivant and each one has over 65 locations exclusively for bass and covers every week of the year. Each book $39.00. If you would like a sample of any book, send us an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040.

We have 3 books that cover all species in the lakes, “52 WEEKS ON LAKE ALLATOONA, “52 WEEKS ON LAKE LANIER”, and “52 WEEKS ON WEST POINT LAKE” on sale. Each book is $23.95. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040.

Lake levels from http://lakes.southernco.com/

You can see the feeding times daily with a Data Sport Fish and Game Forecaster on our web site.

We teach “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS”: “Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass or Maps and Depth Finders. Call 770 889 2654 for details or see the web site: www.havefunfishing.com.

Take a look at www.aquavu.com. You really need a camera. Copyright 2007, Southern Fishing Schools Inc. calls us to set up a school “Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass”. See our web site, www.havefunfishing.com for more details or call us right away, 770 889 2654.

Lake Hartwell is one of three large reservoirs on the Savannah River operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE). Lake Hartwell’s 56,000 acres are formed by the Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers, which merge to form the Savannah River. Lake Hartwell provides a wide variety of fish habitats that range from rocky bluffs on the upper Tugaloo River arm to shallow cove pockets and sandy flats in the middle and lower sections of the lake. Long, gradually sloping points and humps are located on most inside bends along the main channel. These points attract striped bass and hybrid bass during the cool weather months. Large expanses of submerged timber are located at the mouth of many coves and along the main river channel. Boat access is available at many locations around the shoreline at boat ramps operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers and State Parks. On the Georgia side of the lake, Tugaloo and Hart State Parks also offer lodging, camping, picnicking and other recreational activities. Lake Hartwell will be the host site to the 2008 Bass Masters Classic. This super bowl of bass fishing tournaments will bring considerable attention to the reservoir during mid February. Since its impoundment, largemouth bass dominate the black bass population, but the spotted bass population is showing signs of expansion. Spots weighing up to 3 pounds were seen by WRD personnel during the fall. Redeye bass remain abundant on the lower half of the lake, especially on rocky shorelines such as those near the Crawford’s Ferry Landing and main lake points near Long Point. Redeye’s up to 2 pounds were common in the fall. Redeye’s are aggressive feeders and will readily take most artificial lures that imitate small fish or crayfish. Largemouth bass are the most sought after species by anglers fishing Lake Hartwell, and the abundance of bass is near record high levels. The strong 2003 year class continues to exert considerable influence on the bass population. In 2008, these fish will range from 2 3 pounds in weight. On the Georgia side of the lake, Lightwood Log Creek, Shoal Creek, Gum Log Creek and Eastanollee Creek typically yield the highest catch rates of bass. During the spring months, shallow water bait presentations around cover located in coves and pockets is the preferred technique. In early summer, bass key in on shad and herring on main lake humps and points. A favorite summer pattern is fishing early mornings and late afternoons with top water baits like the Sammy, Zara Spook or Super Fluke, in clear water around 25 feet deep 10 near the reef marker points on the lower half of the lake. Fishing guides often comment how bass explode to the surface from their deep water hideouts to take these top water baits. Black crappie is a favorite target of Lake Hartwell anglers. The crappie population was very abundant over the last two years, but the forecast for 2008 is low numbers. WRD biologists observed similar declines in the crappie population during past drought cycles. On the positive side, the bulk of the crappie will be in the 10 to 12 inch size range due to the reduced number of small fish. The areas with the largest numbers of crappie on the Georgia side of the lake include Eastanollee Creek, Gum Log Creek, Shoal Creek and Lightwood Log Creek. As the water starts to warm in late February to early March, anglers will find fish in these areas around submerged trees, bridge abutments, and old road beds in 10 to 15 feet of water. When the water temperature reaches 65oF by early April, crappie will move into 2 to 3 feet of water in the back of the cove around submerged cover. Fishing around structure and cover is critical to your success. During the fall, large numbers of crappie congregate in the submerged timber in Eastanollee Creek. Hybrid bass and striped bass are stocked annually into Lake Hartwell and support popular fisheries. Over the last few years, WRD has strived to stock equal numbers of hybrid and striped bass in order to improve the trophy striper potential of Lake Hartwell. As a result of this effort, the abundance of striped bass in the 10 12 pounds weight class is at a record high level. In WRD samples, this weight class accounted for 26 percent of the population compared to only 6 percent from the previous year. Over the next two to three years, the abundance of 20 pounds stripers should increase dramatically. The forecast for hybrid bass indicates an influx of small fish into the population as a result of excellent stocking success last spring. Because of successful stockings over the past three years, anglers will also enjoy catching a few more hybrids in the 3 5 pounds class as well. When water temperatures range from 55 to 65o, small hybrids congregate on secondary points located in major cove arms. These small fish are easy to target during the spring and great fun for the novice angler to catch on light tackle. When water temperatures are less than 70o, anglers can usually find stripers and hybrids in or near shallow water. Anglers should take advantage of certain environmental conditions that will favor their chances of hooking into a striper or hybrid. These conditions include: Topography fish the points and adjacent banks in major cove arms; Time – the bite is best at dusk and dawn; Turbidity stained/ muddy water attracts fish; and Wind – fish will congregate along the wind blown shorelines. During the warm weather months, stripers and hybrids move downstream toward the dam to find suitable water at the right temperature and with sufficient oxygen. Down lining herring at night is the best way to catch hybrids and stripers during the heat of summer. The Striper Kings and Appalachian Striper Club are two fishing clubs that provide up to date fishing reports for Lake Hartwell on their respective websites (www.striperkings.com and www.asc.com). For those who enjoy fishing from shore, numerous opportunities are available at the state parks and boat ramp facilities around the lake, but three or four sites are seasonal standouts. For stripers and hybrids during the summer, anglers should fish live herring or cut bait at night on the bottom at Long Point, located in Hartwell at the COE Long Point Boat Ramp. Walker Creek, which is the most upstream ramp on the Georgia side, also offers good seasonal fishing opportunities for walleye, hybrid bass, and striped bass from March through May. These same species can also be caught from the shore a little further upstream at the base of Yonah Dam. Stephens County Park, adjacent to the Highway 123 Bridge and the face of Hartwell Dam provide good bass fishing along the rip rap in April and May. More information about Lake Hartwell is available at the COE website at www.sas.usace.mil/srl/recreation.htm.
 

FREE SONAR SET-UP SHEET:
If you would like to have a free set up sheet for your sonar, send me an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net  and ask for the “Sonar Setup Quick List”.