A few years ago on a Thursday I went to Hartwell to fish with Josh Fowler to get information for a Georgia Outdoor News article. This big lake on the Georgia/South Carolina line is at the headwaters of the Savannah River and is a deep upland lake. The water is clear on the lower lake and it has largemouth, spotted bass and red eye bass.

Topwater is usually the way to go in the clear water at Hartwell and blueback herring in the lake, the preferred food of bass there, will make them come up from deep water to hit on top. Josh and I fished many points and humps with brush on them and we caught a few small bass but saw other, bigger bass following our lures in the clear water but not hitting them.

There was no wind Thursday and the clear water allows the bass to see your lure too well. Bigger bass are wise to the “catch” in some of their food when they spot dangling hooks! Wind breaking up the surface really helps.

Josh tried a drop shot rig, saying it was a sure fire way to catch a spotted bass. We had landed largemouth and redeye and wanted a spot for comparison pictures. As fishing luck goes, he caught several largemouth but no spots. We never landed a spot.

The Georgia Bass Federation Nation held its Top Six at Hartwell in November then next April the Georgia Bass Chapter Federation was be there for its Top Six. A new mega ramp was put in near the dam in Gum Branch to attract tournaments so both groups are going to Hartwell. Griffin club fishermen fished both tournamnets. I did ok in both, placing 7th in the Federation Nation tournament in November and 17th in the other federation in April.

The Friday after the trip to Hartwell I went to Lake Wedowee for an Alabama Outdoor News article. It is about 30 miles west of the Georgia/Alabama state line. This pretty lake on the Little Tallapoosa and Tallapoosa Rivers is similar to Hartwell in the steep banks and clear water of an upland type lake. It too has spotted and largemouth bass, but no red eye bass or blueback herring.

Bass there were hitting on top, chasing shad most of the day. I was fishing with Bryan Morris and his family owns a marina on the lake. He caught the biggest bass of the day, a solid 2 pound largemouth, on top at 11:00 in the bright sun. We also landed several other smaller bass on top.

Fishing was tough there just like Hartwell. And we didn’t land a single spotted bass, all were largemouth. That is very unusual on that lake. We agreed the bright sun and lack of wind caused the spots and bigger largemouth to stay deeper than we were fishing.

Several people from Griffin bought lots and built houses on Wedowee when it was first dammed. It is not a long trip but you do need an Alabama fishing license there since it is totally in Alabama. A Georgia license is good on Hartwell since it is on the line.

Either of these lakes would be a good choice for a fall trip for bass – if you can stay out of the deer stand long enough to go fishing!