Dock Talk at Lake Hartwell 2025

Welcome to Green Pond Landing and Event Center, our location for this week’s Dock Talk for the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell.

Pre tournament dock talk focused on the evolution of the Blueback herring spawn and prespawn into spawn status of the largemouth. And Hartwell’s healthy spotted bass population can’t be rulled out of the mix.

What will it take to win? A mixed bag of both species? Capitalizing on the morning herring spawn? Then switching to a bed fishing pattern? We set out to find the answers. You get to decide if those are fact or just dock talk.

Brandon Cobb
What’s going down after the herring spawn ends? “Normally you’d go to the cane piles, but we won’t be there yet,” Cobb said.

“Normally, the bass go offshore to the cane piles or timber after the herring spawn ends in the morning.”

“The herring spawn is mediocre at best. We’ve had some late season cold fronts that have the bass all over the place. Some are on herring spawn, others are on beds, even prespawners.”

Hank Cherry
And the winning weigh is? “It’ll take 17 a day for a winning weight of 68 to 70 pounds,” Cherry said.

“The herring and bass are both spawning. There’s bedding bass and postspawn bass. Somebody will find a concentration like always.”

“There will be some big bags caught off the beds. The rest of the weights will be herring-related fish.”

Matt Robertson
What’s the winning weight? “I say 70 pounds. The fish are really spread out,” Robertson said.

“There are a lot being caught spawning, and some on the herring spawn but it’s not going strong yet on the points.”

“The big players are going to be the guys on the spawning bite or scoping out in open water.”

Kenta Kimura
What’s it going to take to win? “At least 17 pounds each day,” Kimura said.

“The fish are biting but it’s hard to put together a consistent pattern, because there are spawns going on with the bass and the herring, so there’s not any consistency from one area to the next.”

“Whoever wins will be making key adjustments each day to make up for all the spawning activity for the bait and bass.”

Shane LeHew
What’s going down after the herring spawn? “They are doing just a little bit of everything, because there are fish everywhere right now.”

“You can see them cruising around everywhere on the bank to catching them out deeper.”

“It’s going to be all about timing, as in being in the right place at the right time. That said, there is going to be a lot of luck involved in winning.”

Jonathan Kelley
And the winning weight is and why? “I think it’s going to be 76 pounds, with a mix of prespawn, spawn and postspawn on a herring bite,” Kelley said.

“To win will take someone who can figure out the tournament as it plays out. It’s changing fast. More fish are starting to come up on bed now, more than a couple days ago. It will take someone who can be on an area when the big females pull up.”

“I’ve struggled with the herring bite. I’m sure it’s in play but it’s going to be hard to rely on that four days in a row when they aren’t feeding each day. The herring bite window is shorter than usual.”