Photo: Mx. Granger, public domain (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons
Lake Hartwell is a 56,000-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake on the Savannah River, shared by Georgia and South Carolina. Habitat ranges from rocky bluffs up the Tugaloo River arm to shallow coves and sandy flats on the middle and lower lake. Bass are the most-fished species, and crappie fishing has been excellent.
- Size56,000 acres
- OperatorU.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Best betsLargemouth and spotted bass, hybrids, stripers, crappie
- ContactsCorps 888-893-0678; DNR 770-535-5498
Getting on the Water
The Corps and state parks run ramps all around the lake. Good bank fishing: the Gum Branch ramp (Hart County), Tugaloo State Park (Franklin County), the Bruce Creek day-use area and Stephens County Park. Tournament ramps are at Tugaloo State Park (706-356-4362) and Gum Branch. Below Hartwell Dam, the Corps day-use area has a big DNR fishing pier where trout are stocked in summer.
Limits differ by state. In Georgia water you may keep 30 crappie a day with no size limit; in South Carolina water it is 20, at least 8 inches. Stripers and hybrids: 10 a day combined, only three over 26 inches.
2026 Fishing Outlook
Summarized from Georgia DNR fisheries biologists’ 2026 forecast for Lake Hartwell, based on their sampling.
| Species | Outlook | Where and how |
|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Steady numbers and sizes; mostly 1 to 3 pounds, with many near 5. | Creek channels, timber and rocky banks in winter; rocky banks, riprap and bridges on windy February and March afternoons; spawning coves in spring (Lightwood Log, Shoal, Gum Log and Eastanollee creeks); 20 to 40 feet on the reef-marker points between Tugaloo State Park and I-85 in summer; Lightwood Log Creek from Hartwell Lakeside Park (the former Hart State Park) back in fall. Live herring or shiners, shad cranks, flukes, lizards. |
| Spotted bass | Same as last year: mostly 1 to 2 pounds, some over 3. | Riprap, rocky points and the dam all year, especially the long riprap along I-85; open water over the Savannah channel at dawn and dusk in spring and fall. Pig-and-jig, spinnerbaits and spoons in winter; shallow lures over rock in late April and May; drop shots in lower-lake brush in summer; topwater over humps. |
| Hybrid and striped bass | Hybrids look good, 2 to 4 pounds and 20-plus inches, some to 8. Stripers haven’t recovered from heavy 2018 losses, though a few over 20 pounds remain. | Secondary points in major creeks at 55 to 70°F (Lightwood Log, Eastanollee, Little Beaverdam, and the Tugaloo above the Ga. 123 bridge); deep water near the dam in summer, feeding on points at night; surface schools in fall. Live herring, bucktails and flukes. |
| Crappie | Very bright: lots of fish near a pound, the biggest about 13 inches in fall sampling. | Eastanollee, Gum Log, Shoal and Lightwood Log creeks. Creek-channel brush in winter; 10 to 15 feet around timber, bridges and boathouse brush in March; 2 to 3 feet in backwater cover at 65°F; 30-foot timber in fall. Minnows, small jigs, grubs and doll flies. |
| Walleye | A seasonal bonus; bigger catch rates are up the Tallulah chain, but big fish are here. | The Tugaloo headwaters from the Walker Creek ramp up to Yonah Dam, February to early April; main-lake points in the Eastanollee Creek area in October and November, near wood in about 30 feet. Rapalas, grub-tipped jigs, nightcrawlers, minnows. |
Lake Hartwell
Lake HartwellContact: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hartwell Lake, 888-893-0678. Georgia DNR fisheries, Gainesville, 770-535-5498.
More nearby: Lake Hartwell parks and campgrounds, Hartwell Lakeside Park, Richard B. Russell Lake and all Georgia lakes.
Not just fishing? See our guide to things to do at Lake Hartwell.
Sources we checked
Facts in this guide were checked against the agencies and operators that run these places:
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