Hartman fishing on instinct

Written by

Steve Wright

Jamie Hartman is from Newport, N.Y. Well, he used to be from there, but Hartman put his stuff in storage and hit the road once he qualified for the Elite Series. Hartman’s home has been the road ever since. And he spent 2 1/2 weeks getting familiar with Toledo Bend back in February.

“I’m not familiar with southern waters at all,” Hartman said Thursday, after taking the Day 2 lead. “When I was here, I saw two big (spawning) waves come in and go out. Then I came back for another week, and it was the same thing. I’d fish offshore, not see much, go to the bank and boom, there they were.”

So Hartman guessed the prespawn and sight-fishing bite had to be long gone by this week. He planned to fish off-shore, where he’d done extensive mapping with his electronics.

“I graphed all the nooks and crannies,” he said. “That’s where I planned to fish. But all I could catch were small fish in practice. So I just kept working my way back in. Just working my way back into spawning areas, and I’m still catching prespawn fish. I haven’t caught a spawned out fish yet.

“Not being too familiar with this place or southern waters in general, I’m just running on instinct. If they’re not all the way out, I’ve got to be working my way back in. I’ve never seen anything like it. The spawn lasts forever.”