Preston Harden of Bucktail Guide Service doesn’t book half-day trips for striped bass on Lake Hartwell, but most of the full-day trips he’s taken over the last week have only lasted a short while.
“Fishing every day from last week, I don’t think we’ve been out more than two or three hours,” said Harden (706-255-5622), who has been back at the dock with limits of stripers and hybrids by mid-morning most every day. “I’m running through about five to seven dozen live baits. The fishing was just great.”
Harden said fish are biting “from Clemson all the way to the dam,” but that fish have been showing up consistently in the same areas. It’s just a matter of keeping up with them.
“We’ve been fishing 40 to 60 feet deep; by August, they’ll be 60 to 75 feet deep,” he said. “As the temperatures keep warming up, more and more fish are going to move toward the lower end.
“The lake came up from 23 feet low to three feet low this spring, and the fishing wasn’t very good. But when it stabilized and they started pulling water, sometime in May, it turned on right away, and it’s been pretty good since.”
Be the first to comment