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Hartwell Fishing Report
 Fishing
trends
Lake Jocassee
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Bream: Excellent. For keeper sized bream move off
the banks a bit and fish in 10-15 feet with crickets.
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Catfish: Very good. Fish in 15-20 feet in the
mouths of rivers and creeks. Anchor nightcrawlers or minnows on
the bottom.
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Trout: Good. Troll in 80-95 feet during the day
using large minnows or lures like trolling spoons.
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Black Bass: Slow. From 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. try
topwater lures such as buzzbaits, Zara Spooks, and noisy lures
like jitterbugs, or crankbaits.
Lake Keowee
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Largemouth and Spotted Bass: Fair. Early in the
morning fish topwater Lake Fork or Sebile swimbaits in Magic
Shad and shad colors around boat docks and main lake points.
Best fishing is coming in the Cane Creek and Mile Creek areas.
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Crappie: Fair. Crappie are in deep water, but
night fishermen are doing well off and on by fishing up against
bridge pilings with a light to attract bait and crappie.
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Bream: Fair. Bream are still available around the
banks in 3 to 15 feet of water.
Lake Hartwell
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Catfish: Very good. At night catfish are moving
onto lake flats and feeding very well. Use cut herring or bream.
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Striped and Hybrid Bass: Good. Fish are biting at
30 to 50 feet over 100 to 140 feet of water in the channel
between Anderson Island and the dam. Downrods with live bait and
trolling with downriggers and lead core line are both effective.
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Bream: Good. Bream are in shallow water and
continue to feed aggressively. For bigger bream back off the
bank into five to 15 feet of water and use crickets or worms.
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Largemouth Bass: Slow. Early and late look for
topwater action off shoals and points, but the bite is tough
right now on Hartwell.
This report was compiled by:
www.SCFishingReport.com.
Gear up for stripers
As the days grow cooler and shorter it’s time to get
ready for the fantastic fishing that kicks in during October. For
dedicated striper anglers, the fall season could be the best time of
the year for putting linesides in the boat.
You may catch more fish by trolling and utilizing
down rods during the summer heat but it’s pretty much a deep water
game. While winter is a prime time for striper fishing, it’s also
cold. Spring provides some interesting options but I think fall
edges it out. Late fall typically has more overcast days that result
in surface schooling action. I don’t know any striper fisherman who
doesn’t like that. We answer a lot of questions from anglers who are
just getting started in the pursuit of linesides. Most of these are
regarding equipment and lures. While striper fishing can get pretty
specialized in some trolling applications, most of it requires
relatively simple equipment.
If you’re a regular on the bass fishing scene, you
may already own some of the rods and reels you’ll need. In some
cases the rod may be fine but it will require a different reel to
optimize results. This is always a plus and gives you the budget for
a more diverse selection of lures and terminal tackle. This month
I’ll be dealing primarily with selecting the right tackle and lures
in addition to a few tips that can put more fish on the end of your
line.
Beat them with an Ugly Stick
This time of year, be prepared to cast artificial
lures and present live bait. Sometimes you’ll be doing both at the
same time. For casting applications, a medium heavy rod six and a
half to seven feet in length works great. You’ll be able to easily
cast just about any jig or plug and have enough power to handle a
large fish. I tend to prefer seven-foot models that provide a little
more casting distance and leverage. Both spinning and baitcasting
outfits are fine. Choose whatever you are most comfortable and
efficient with. When it comes to reels an important factor is
ensuring an adequate line capacity. It’s worth noting that most
recent models of baitcasting reels marketed for bass fishing have
shallow spools. The industry and anglers finally realized that you
just don’t need a lot of line for bass fishing. The differing
designs are also meant to facilitate smoother casting. Seven years
ago, most baitcasters were deep spool models that held more line. If
you have older deep spool models gathering dust, it’s time to break
them out again. A number of manufacturers still offer deep spool
freshwater versions. The Ambassadeur series by Abu Garcia
immediately comes to mind. The 5500 and 5600 sizes are not too big
in the hand and hold a lot of line. When it comes to spinning
reels, choose something in the same size range as the 4000 series by
Shimano. Don’t pick anything smaller than this. You’ll certainly
want some live bait fishing outfits as well. These rods should have
a much softer action than those used for casting lures. Medium and
medium light Ugly Sticks are very popular choices and easy on the
wallet. If you have some inexpensive rods of decent quality that
are also gathering dust, they may be perfect. Cheaper rods normally
don’t have the backbone of their higher priced cousins. For fishing
live baits directly under the boat (down lines) baitcasting tackle
is preferred. Larger capacity reels are typically used for this.
You can go either way for flat lines drifted well behind the boat.
While many stick with baitcasting tackle, I like spinning outfits.
If surface feeders are ignoring artificials, these are very handy
for lobbing live baits directly to swirls.
Long A is scarce but deadly
When it comes to the subject of line, it pays to use
products that have superior abrasion resistance. These lines are not
as limp as some and better suited for baitcasting reels. If you
prefer spinning tackle, don’t worry. This is easy to remedy by tying
in a three-foot leader to the end of your favorite line. In fact, I
would suggest a short leader of fluorocarbon on the end of any line.
It offers a very high degree of abrasion resistance. This material
is also super invisible and may get you a few extra strikes during
the course of a day. That’s why serious anglers buy the stuff. It’s
heavier in weight than traditional monofilament and sinks so it’s
not the best choice when fishing surface plugs. The action of the
lure can be adversely affected. A three-foot leader will offer the
invisibility advantage along with abrasion resistance and virtually
no impact on the action of a surface plug. On the subject of
artificial lures, a wide assortment will do the job but the reality
is you’ll only need a few.
I’ll cover some of the most popular ones in our area.
For topwater stripers from October until mid November or so you’ve
got to have a few Super Spooks. This plug is a souped up version of
the deadly original Zara Spook. It’s bigger with more realistic
features. The factory equipped hooks are of good quality and it
casts a mile. I like the color known as bleeding shad. It’s certain
that no striper box would be complete without a couple of Redfins by
Cotton Cordell. Choose the large seven-inch version. Any baitfish
color is good but chrome and blue is the top seller. Soft plastic
jerkbaits such as the Zoom Super Fluke are killers in white pearl
and albino colors. Make sure you have large extra wide gap or
Copperhead hooks for rigging. Weighted hooks are now available and
offer another dimension in fishing these minnow imitators at deeper
depths. Also, don’t forget to throw in some 3/8th ounce minnow style
lead heads to pair with them as well. Lastly, be sure to stock up on
bucktail jigs in various sizes. One quarter through one half ounce
versions are the most popular with most folks tying on the 3/8th
ounce model. All white or white mixed with highlights of other
colors can’t be beat. Be sure to pick a few soft plastic trailers to
add more action to your jigs. They will help to slow the sink rate
as well. Try threading on white and chartreuse grubs, Super Flukes,
or the Super Fluke Junior. You’ll definitely get more strikes.
I nearly forgot to mention the Long A by Bomber Bait
Company. These are being redesigned so they’re pretty hard (or
extremely hard) to get these days. If you can find any size 16 in
the pink or rainbow trout pattern, buy them all and you can probably
auction off the extras at the boat ramp (disclaimer – we all know
this is really a joke – right?) These are legendary producers at
night when cast to the shallows near reefs, points, and islands.
Keep a casting bubble handy
Don’t forget to include the essentials for live bait
fishing as well. The most common bait choice these days is blue back
herring. In hot weather, a large capacity aerated bait tank is a
necessity for keeping a quantity of these alive and in good
condition. As the weather cools, smaller tanks and aerated live
wells will do a good job keeping a moderate amount of bait in good
shape. You’re going to need hooks, sinkers, and balloons. Most
striper fishermen have made the switch to circle hooks. The design
causes the hook to cleanly connect at the corner of the jaw. A great
choice at a great price is the Offshore Angler Circle Hook/Live Bait
Hook. Grab packs in several sizes because it’s important to match
the hook to the size of your bait (i.e. if you’re using small
baitfish, scale down the hook size so it’s not overpowering). Most
of the time you’ll probably be using the 1/0 or 2/0 sizes. You can
buy swivels and sinkers for down lines but it’s more convenient to
stock up on the locally distributed Captain Mack’s Swivel Sinkers.
These have swivel connections molded into each end. Go heavy on the
one and a half ounce size. You’ll want some in the two ounce weight
as well. Add a pack of cheap round balloons to your tackle box.
These will be used for drifting flat lines 100 feet or so behind the
boat. Blow one up to about golf ball size and tie it over your line
10 feet above the bait. I also like to keep a couple of clear
casting bubbles handy.
As mentioned earlier, sometimes fish are thrashing
all over the surface and won’t react to an artificial. There are a
number of remedies you could try and often one will work to a
degree. But, it’s much easier and quite deadly to simply toss them
the real thing with a gentle lob style cast. You can increase your
distance when doing this by adding the transparent casting bubble.
Some can be partially filled with water offering even more casting
distance. All the lures and terminal tackle I’ve mentioned so far
can easily fit in two standard tackle inserts. One accessory I
highly recommend is a landing tool. Several modestly priced lip
gripping style products are available in your favorite accessory
section. A striper sporting a plug with several sets of treble hooks
is a potential accident waiting to happen. The gripping tool offers
a high degree of safety when landing and unhooking these powerful
fish. If you opt to night fish this year, use extreme caution as low
lake levels bring the increased hazards of shallow or exposed areas
and tree tops. This is a pretty broad overview of gearing up for
linesides. If you have questions swing by the shop and pay us a
visit.
In closing, I hope you’ll be out there chasing the
stripers this fall. It’s a great time to enjoy fine weather,
beautiful scenery, and great fishing. Be safe and enjoy the lake!
Tommy
Wilkinson is assistant manager for Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in
Duluth. E-mail Tommy at
tommy@lakesidenews.com
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