SE guys - what are the best lakes/reservoirs for Spotted Bass - ranked by:

 

1) Quantity 

2) Quality

3) Or both… 

 

Thx, -Fry

Lake Lanier - GA, Quality and Quantity (lots of 5+ pounders) BEST SPOTTED BASS FISHING IN THE COUNTRY

 

Lake Hartwell - SC/GA, Quantity

 

Clark Hill - SC/GA, Quantity

 

I used to live 15min from Lanier. Now I live on Hartwell. Been here for almost 4 years. I've caught 2 spots over 4#.

 

I fished Lanier for 4 years religiously. Caught close to 100 over 5# with a 6.33# my PB. Countless 20+ pound bags.

 

 

 

14 minutes ago, 00bullitt said:

Lake Lanier - GA, Quality and Quantity (lots of 5+ pounders) BEST SPOTTED BASS FISHING IN THE COUNTRY

 

Lake Hartwell - SC/GA, Quantity

 

Clark Hill - SC/GA, Quantity

I’ve heard Lanier is outstanding, but heard Alabama spots may even be better ?

Before I lived near Lanier, I lived in West Georgia. Fished West Point, Wedowee, Logan Martin and Lake Martin for 20 years. They dont compare to the SC chain. NOTHING compares to Lanier for their massive mutated spotted dawg.

 

Lake Keowee just above Hartwell in SC is pretty **** hot and absolutely gorgeous sitting in the foothills.

11 hours ago, 00bullitt said:

Before I lived near Lanier, I lived in West Georgia. Fished West Point, Wedowee, Logan Martin and Lake Martin for 20 years. They dont compare to the SC chain. NOTHING compares to Lanier for their massive mutated spotted dawg.

 

Lake Keowee just above Hartwell in SC is pretty **** hot and absolutely gorgeous sitting in the foothills.

I plan to get to Lanier hopefully soon… 

 

I moved about 9 months ago to Greenville, SC and have fished Hartwell, but not Keowee yet. Are the spots that much better on Keowee than Hartwell? 

In the State of Mississippi if you'd like to do something different in a beautiful wilderness setting in DeSoto National Forest, Brooklyn Mississippi is where you can launch your canoe or inflatable boat to pursue the Spotted Bass in Black Creek. Folks from all parts of the country do so. It's the state’s only National Wild and Scenic River.

Good Fishing

 

6 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

I plan to get to Lanier hopefully soon… 

 

I moved about 9 months ago to Greenville, SC and have fished Hartwell, but not Keowee yet. Are the spots that much better on Keowee than Hartwell? 

Just got off Keowee. At about 0930, it started to get busy. When I left, it was just unruly.

 

The scenery is 100x better than Hartwell. Quality of fish is the same. Keowee is 1/3 the size of Hartwell, but it fishes BIG. Its also twice as clear with 12' visibility. 

 

I will go to Keowee to escape the bad windy days on Hartwell, but its a tradeoff as the boat traffic is more dense.

 

Jocassee is the hidden gem. Its a 7500acre reservoir just above Keowee.

Every fish you'd wanna catch lives there! Water moves multi directional. Pumps back and forth to Keowee and up and down from Bad Creek. Lots of waterfalls. Hidden piece of heaven in the Southeast.

52 minutes ago, 00bullitt said:

Just got off Keowee. At about 0930, it started to get busy. When I left, it was just unruly.

 

The scenery is 100x better than Hartwell. Quality of fish is the same. Keowee is 1/3 the size of Hartwell, but it fishes BIG. Its also twice as clear with 12' visibility. 

 

I will go to Keowee to escape the bad windy days on Hartwell, but its a tradeoff as the boat traffic is more dense.

 

Jocassee is the hidden gem. Its a 7500acre reservoir just above Keowee.

Every fish you'd wanna catch lives there! Water moves multi directional. Pumps back and forth to Keowee and up and down from Bad Creek. Lots of waterfalls. Hidden piece of heaven in the Southeast.

Agreed on Jocasse. Went there last Fall after Helene in my Autopilot kayak. At 3.7 mph I went 90 minutes on high power and didn’t even make it to the first waterfall.  Was afraid I’d run out of battery. Since then I got a larger one with a Bluetooth meter to monitor how much battery I have left. 
 

Days like that I miss my bass boat, but I definitely want to get back there! 

Alabama river, in the mobile drainage in the heart of their native range. Tie yourself to the boat or you may be dragged overboard 

Jocassee is just so deep its a bit intimidating to a bank beater like me 😁. Keowee is where I take the family when we take the tube out and Hartwell is where I fish. It's a pretty amazing little slice of the Great smokies with three awesome lakes right there next to each other but also don't discount Russell. I've caught some fat ones out of there just the same as Hartwell and Keowee.

Ok guys - next questions: 

 

1) What are your best times of the year (months) to fish spots?

 

2) Water depth - and what depth are the fish at? 

 

3) Best lures?

I’ve only fished Alabama River the week of Memorial Day. Beat lures are buzzbaits and jigs for me. The black warrior river is loaded with spots as well, and they like shakey heads quite a bit, late spring can be awesome. Honestly shakey heads seem to be great for them anywhere. Deeper highland lakes with clear water, winter can be the best time 

Lanier, easily.

 

But 2.5 hours from Columbia SC is Richard B. Russell Lake (Lake Russell) and that has some good spotted bass fishing.

 

The summer boat traffic on Lanier is ridiculous, so if I head out there in the summer I fish for LMB at the creeks and docks on north side of the lake. There are a ton of amateurs out on the main lake with rental boats.

 

Give me a call if you want to fish Lanier this fall or winter. You can stay at one of my hotels at the GA Fairgrounds and we can drive up to Lanier.

 

BTW, are you doing the No Limits tournament at Guntersville on 6/21?

1 hour ago, Kayak Koz said:

BTW, are you doing the No Limits tournament at Guntersville on 6/21?

That sounds fun, but no plans right now. The tournament I really wanted to go to also was Champlain in July. But of course, a wedding that weekend. Probably can’t mail the gift in and head to NY 😬 and get away with it. 
 

Also thinking about Toledo Bend in Sept. Never been there, I bet it’s hot that time of year! 

Until this year I fished Lake Lanier several time a week since 1999 and, as others say, it's a great spotted/Alabama Bass lake.  The past few years it's changed with the blue backed herring as forage.  Lookup FCP fishing and see what he's using.  He fishes the upper part of Lanier several times a week and posts videos.

51 minutes ago, Alex from GA said:

Until this year I fished Lake Lanier several time a week since 1999 and, as others say, it's a great spotted/Alabama Bass lake.  The past few years it's changed with the blue backed herring as forage.  Lookup FCP fishing and see what he's using.  He fishes the upper part of Lanier several times a week and posts videos.

Thank you. Yes, and Brooks Anderson posts videos of some bigguns too.. 

I haven't been to Lanier for over 15 years, but fish Hartwell, Keowee, Jocassee, James, Hickory, Russell, Rhodhiss, Norman, and Wylie.   I liked Lanier/did well, just not a day trip for me.   

A lot depends on the the day of the week and time of year.   I cycle south in fall and winter, then move north for the summer.   Mostly for comfort, but they can disappear or go to deep.   

I've noticed at Hartwell, which I fish the most (weekly - half the year), it's getting harder to catch good spots (>3#) close to the tourney ramps.   A lot of my old milk run places are now community holes/picked clean.  I've been going farther west.   I had a 5#er this year which are hard to find.   Lot more 4s.   

I like Norman for numbers and size, but it's a ski boat/cruizers mecca, so pick your week days.   Road(150) construction over there now too.   NC state record spot came a few years back from Norman.   The one on the DNR is old, and I thought/heard there was a 9 that came from there, but may not have been officially recognized.   Angler was fishing with a guide.   It's also big, deep, lot of baitfish, and clear enough to grow big fish.   I lost a giant last year.   My regular holes seem to hold up OK, not as pressured.

Hickory is still good, you just have to know where to look.   Sleeper category.

This time of year, the water is "boiling" >90F, so not going to be shallow.   Follow the bait schools.   

I'd give Keowee and James a honorable mention.   James is "down" right now since the flood last year.   I went over there a couple months ago and it was way off.   

I live near Wylie, but in my opinion this lake is done.   It was great when I first came but development killed the spotted bass golden goose.   I haven't been on it for several years because the county started charging me to launch, but never open the temporarily closed ramps, and charges me property taxes for recreation?   NC ramp is free?   They recently removed the fee for residents, so I might try again this fall.  Water used to be clear, but is muddy/stays muddy longer a lot now.   Duke frowns on weeds and the hot water discharges(winter) have been stopped.

My go to's: drop shot trick worms or use fish heads with Keitech shad.   

Spots are the fresh water equivalent of pelagic fish.   They roam and occupy the open water, more than LMB/SMB.   Here today, there tomorrow fish.   Follow the baitfish.   I used to live on the OH river and there were plenty of spots but it's even more difficult to locate them in flowing water.   You had to stick to known areas and wait for them to come to you/milk run.   I caught 18+#(5 fish) in 20 minutes late one Nov. and then it was over as fast as it started.   FFS is a blessing here.   I've seen it at Hartwell, et al, when it's off color, a whole school of bait may move right by your boat and you'd never know from just looking down at the water or down view, or at the bank.   I don't rely on it, but it's a good aid for finding spots.   I'd classify myself as a confirmed long time spot-a-holic - over 45 years.

A left coast perspective for Spotted bass is any green soft plastic with chartreuse tail for numbers, finesse jigs for quality and herring color pencil poppers for top water.

Tom

PS, we grow giant Spotted bass.