Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
After more than three months since stop one kicked off the 2024 season on Logan Martin, the NPFL anglers are back in business in Anderson County, South Carolina on the famous Lake Hartwell. Making a return to the Palmetto State after a visit in 2022, Lake Hartwell is a different animal this week and should make for a fun, event.
Mike Corbishley was one angler from 2022 who was able to capitalize on a herring bite. Despite catching over 33 pounds in the first two days, his bite died on the final day and he brought in 10 pounds, dropping him to tenth place. This go around, Corbishley is looking to capitalize on the herring deal, as much as he can, but knows whoever wins this event will have to mix up their approach.
“The deal we got on before is still happening, but it is extremely limited, and the fish are extremely smart to the pressure of the big tournaments on Hartwell the last couple of months,” he said. “We will still see some big fish caught this week but your boat draw could mean the difference in 17-pounds or 7-pounds; it is that important.”
Drew Six took the victory in 2022 with just over 51 pounds. Corbishley is thinking despite the pressure and post-spawn factor, we will see a similar weight here this week.
“My guess is around 52-pounds, and whoever does it will catch them with a mix of patterns – ranging from herring eaters, to spawning fish, and fish that have already moved into their summertime holes.”
Jason Burroughs has some history on Lake Hartwell and had an “ok” type of practice this week. Like most, he anticipated a bigger herring bite than he found and had to spend time fishing a mix of different things to prepare for day one.
“I typically love to fish for the shallow herring fish on Hartwell, but with the water falling and the warmer days we have had, they have left in many areas,” he said. “There will be a ton of fish caught scoping and someone is still going to catch big ones on the herring deal. Overall, I think the winner will have around 51 pounds.”
Justin Kimmell fished with the NPFL in 2022 and was a favorite to compete for the win on Hartwell, a place he has enjoyed a ton of success throughout his career.
He agrees that between the pressure of the lake and the fish being in the “post-spawn funk,” things are a bit tough. With many of the bass spawning while the herring spawn was at its peak, the fish did not have a big window to put on their weight – Kimmell believes the weights will be lower than previous months and what many anglers expected.
“Despite all that, these guys are good, and they will catch them,” he said. “The biggest opponent for the anglers will be the pressure. Hartwell has not enjoyed a break from larger-field events in a while and the fish are reacting as such.”
Kimmell believes that the angler who can slow down and grind through to catch the right bites will do very well. He added, “Hartwell is known for the herring bite. But that is not happening. Something unique is happening which doesn’t happen every year and the guy who cracks that code should do very well.”
Weather Watch
The anglers take off this morning with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s. While rain and storms are expected later in the event, day one will be mostly sunny, with light and variable winds and a high in the high 80s later in the afternoon.
How to Watch
Tune in daily from May 16 through 18 to watch daily action from Lake Hartwell with Live Coverage here and on the FREE PHYX TV App beginning on Thursday.
Follow along and watch the daily LIVE Leaderboard, LIVE Blog, and on-the-water photo galleries and blogs of the anglers on Lake Hartwell.
Under the Go Live Tab, choose LIVE Broadcast or check out the real-time leaderboard on the Weigh Live Tracker with estimated weights entered by the anglers on the water and join us for the LIVE Weigh-ins, here!
And be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, & Twitter.
NPFL Stop #2 on Lake Hartwell is hosted by Anderson County. For more event Information, here.
