Lake Hartwell forecast: Less funk

After falling slightly the past two days, Lake Hartwell’s water level will be stable over the weekend, rising slightly with very little power generation today and Sunday, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forecast. That and warming weather should kick-start the spawning activity that has gradually increased during the first two days of the tournament.

“Anytime (the water) is falling it puts ‘em in a funk,” said Bill Lowen after Day 1. “If this thing would stable out, I think you’d see fish just crash to the bank.”

South Carolina veteran angler Shane Lineberger didn’t make the two-day, top 35 cut yesterday, but he did make a few spot-on predictions before the tournament began. For one, he said it would take 12 ½ to 13 pounds a day to make the top 35 cut. Elite Series rookie Luke Palmer of Colgate, Okla., was the last man in yesterday with a 35th-place total of 25-11, an average of 12 pounds, 13 ½ ounces per day.

And in picking the favorites to win, Lineberger first mentioned Brandon Cobb, the Greenwood, S.C., angler who grew up fishing Lake Hartwell, saying, “I’ve competed against Brandon since he was old enough to walk. He’s a heckuva fisherman.”

Okay, that prediction was shared by many, and Cobb has been the tournament leader the first two days. But in the next breath, Lineberger mentioned several Florida anglers, noting, “The guys from Florida tend to be better sight-fishermen than most because they get to do it all the time. We only get to do it about a month, and they get to do it for three or four months every year. Naturally, they’re a lot better at it.”

So who catches the first 20-pound bag of the tournament? Elite Series rookie Drew Cook from Midway, Fla., with 20-6 yesterday. Cook said he caught every bass he weighed by sight-fishing, and it came on a less than ideal sight-fishing day with all the clouds and rain.

“I think it’s going to be a matter of survival to the weekend,” Lineberger said Wednesday. “Then it’s going to be a full-blown bed-fishing tournament.”

So far, Lineberger has been the Nostradamus of the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell.

The following is a comparison of the first two days of the tournament:

Day 1 Day 2
Big bag 19-9 20-6
Big bass 5-9 5-13
5-bass limits 72 69
Avg. bass weighed 2.65 lbs 2.49 lbs.