Lake Hartwell: one of the South's great fishing destinations

Lake Hartwell spreads across nearly 56,000 acres of water and almost 1,000 miles of shoreline on the South Carolina and Georgia line. It is big, deep, clean water fed by the Tugaloo and Seneca rivers, and it is one of the most reliable fisheries in the Southeast. Some mornings the lake looks like glass with mist sitting in the coves. Other mornings the birds are working and the surface is boiling with fish. Both are good days to be out here.

I was born and raised on this lake and have fished it my whole life. That matters more than any piece of electronics: knowing which points hold bait in March, which humps hold fish when the water warms, and where the striper push when a front rolls through.

Striped bass are the headliner

Lake Hartwell is best known for its striped bass. Stripers are hard-pulling, open-water fish that chase schools of blueback herring around the lake, and they can be caught all twelve months of the year if you know how to follow the bait. Hybrids — a striper and white bass cross — often mix in with them and fight every bit as hard for their size.

Cool water months are prime time. When the lake turns over in fall and stays cool through spring, the fish come shallow and feed hard, and a five hour morning can produce a cooler worth talking about. In summer the fish move deep and cool, and live bait fished down where they hold does the work.

What else you can catch

• Largemouth and spotted bass around brush, docks and rocky points
• Crappie stacked on standing timber and bridge pilings
• Channel, blue and flathead catfish in the deeper river channels
• Bream and shellcracker in the shallows through the warm months
• White bass and hybrids running with the striper schools

On a guided trip we chase what is actually biting. If the striper are not cooperating and there is a solid crappie bite going, we go catch crappie. The point of the day is bent rods and a good time on the water, not stubbornly sticking to a plan.

What a day on the boat looks like

We meet at Hatton's Ford Boat Ramp in Townville, load up the 22' Tracker fishing barge, and head out. There is seating for six, a canopy for shade, two live wells and dual Garmin fish finders. Rods, reels, bait and tackle are already aboard. You bring a South Carolina fishing license, a cooler with food and drinks, and clothes for the weather.

Five hours is the sweet spot for a striper trip — long enough to work several areas and stay on fish, short enough that kids and first-timers are still having fun when we pull back into the ramp. If you would rather skip the fishing and just enjoy the lake, the two hour sunset cruise is one of the prettiest things Hartwell has to offer.

Best times to book

Spring and fall book up fastest, and holiday weekends go early. If you have a specific date in mind, call or text and we will get it on the calendar. Weekday mornings are quieter on the water and often the best fishing of the week.