Lake Hartwell Fishing Report - February 17, 2021
Every week I provide a weekly fishing report to Captain Mack Farr of www.captmacks.com. Here is this week's Lake Hartwell Striper Fishing Report!
No surprise that the lake level rose with recent rains, up .93 feet from last week to 658.14 as of Wednesday Evening, 1.86 Feet below full pool. The Hartwell lake level as of Wed was 657.21, 2.79 feet below full pool.
The Striper/Hybrid bite overall has been fair, the turbulent weather has spread the fish out, and will most likely continue to keep the fish scattered out until our next period of good weather. Speaking of good weather, it’s on the horizon, so watch the forecast and plan accordingly. The bite this week has been a little bit of a grind with frequent moves being the rule and putting together singles to make a good string of fish. Down lines and free lines are effective, and the smaller baits seem to be preferred.
Many of the fish are roaming in the middle parts of the creeks, generally over a 40 to 50 feet bottom. Place the down lines 30 to 35, adjusting levels based on what the sonar shows. Start the free lines at 80 feet back, and use a very small Split with the wind makes speed control and issue. With the fish being so scattered do not be concerned if you are not seeing big groups of fish. Finding the good bait concentrations is a big part of finding the fish, and even if you do not mark lots of fish, deploy the spread when you see the bait and let the fish come to you.
As always keep an eye on the birds, most of this week they were not much help as they seemed to be focused on being on the leeward side of something and avoiding being blown back to the coast. Nonetheless, they can be very beneficial in locating fish and use them accordingly. Watch them closely, and you’ll learn when they are on fish, or spending you on a Goose chase They also do not have to be right on the water to signify fish. Often, high Flying Gulls see fish down in the water, they are just waiting for them to push the bait up to the surface.
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