It’s “wide open” and “pick your poison” were descriptions of the bass fishing at Lake Hartwell this week. On the eve of the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite, after three days of practice, it seems the 102 competitors have tried everything and no one is convinced of a winning pattern.
“I’ve caught a three-pounder in 35 foot, and I’ve caught a three-pounder in two foot. They’re just all across the board,” said Will Davis Jr., who is currently tied for the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race after three tournaments. “It’s so hard to dial-in a pattern that you think you can win this tournament with.”
That’s because the bass are in every stage of the spawn – from pre- to post-, plus there’s a daily early morning banquet featuring the blueback herring spawn.
Davis has the most recent track record at 56,000-acre Lake Hartwell. He won the B.A.S.S. Nation championship here in October 2023. He noticed a pattern then that seems to be still in place. There’s a strong early bite, then a long lull.
“From about 1:30 until weigh-in, that’s when you’re going to do you damage,” he said. “It seems that way this go-around too.”
The largemouth bass bite is the key to success. Picking a few big females off spawning beds will be an important factor for someone, especially today. But spotted bass are a key factor too. The winner of this four-day tournament will almost certainly have a mixed bag.
Patrick Walters, who won a Bassmaster Open here in 2020, estimated the tournament winner will have nine spotted bass among the 20 fish he weighs over the next four days. Jordan Lee, who won the Bassmaster Classic here in 2018, guessed eight spots in the 20 total.
Lee noted that there are lots of spotted bass on spawning beds now, but those beds are deep, 8 to 12 feet. “Spots on the bed pretty good, but you just can’t catch those three- and four-pounders you need,” Lee said. “There’s a lot of largemouths just cruising the bank, but they’ve been almost impossible to catch for me. I think they’re post-spawn because there’s some guarding fry.”
Cliff Pace, who finished second to Alton Jones in the 2008 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell, said he’d have probably 10 rods on his boat deck this morning. He compared this to a junk-fishing tournament, only different.
“I just I think there’s so much going on and it might make things be a little bit closer because there’s not really a predominant pattern,” he said. “You’re gonna see guys that are gonna capitalize a couple of the different things that are going on from time to time. I don’t see this being a one ride derby. Guys are going to rely on multiple things to get it done.”
Patrick Walters realized after practice that the Elite Series has come to Lake Hartwell at a unique time.
“I know that sounds crazy, but they are literally in every single stage, doing every single thing right now,” he said. “It’s kind of surprising. There’s spawning fish and post-spawn. There’s fish on the herring spawn and fish on the shad spawn. There’s fish guarding fry. There’s some still pre- spawn.
“You really can kinda pick your poison this week and they’re doing it. It’s surprising. And that’s the hard thing. There are so many different patterns going on, it’s hard to decide what you need to do or what you’re gonna commit to, and I don’t think you can commit to one thing to be honest.”
Walters thinks every angler will weigh a five-bass limit every day this week, barring mechanical difficulties. And that’s likely to result in a crowd of anglers around the Top 50/Day 2 cut weight. As for the winning weight, most guesses were in the 68- to 70-pound range, a 17 to 17 ½ pounds a day average. Walters believes it will take closer to 80 pounds to win.
