Super Sized Bream

[HowdyFolks]

Just wondering if anyone has any advice for targetting really good sized bream in Hartwell. When I take my neighbors kids out we always do a little bream fishing along the bank and we just don't catch anything more than little bitty things. I would really like to see if we could find some larger fish does anyone have any recomendations? I am still interested in catch and release or "CPR" perhaps if they warrant it especially for the kids. I am looking for hand fillers... any suggestions?
BigBream.jpg

[hartwellbasser]

It can be tough... The lake is loaded with those tiny little ga hybrid sunfish. Every once in a while youll find good ones around a certain dock or bridge piliing. but it takes a lot of looking... Ive seen a few docks with feeders on them... hate to suggest catching someones pets butttttt..... lol

good luck man

[StumpHunter]

To catch the bigger fish you need to start fishing in the deeper water away from the bank. Been awhile since I fished for them with spinning tackle as I fly fish for them now but it is the same way even with a fly. I try to find good rock banks to fish like around bridges and road banks. In the winter the rock will heat and this heat give you warmer water the same as bridge columns. A wet fly worked in 4' to 8' depth seems to pull some bigger fish. When the spawn is on sandy bottoms will get you into the bigger fish. If you can't see the bottom look for pines growing close to the water as they grow better in sandy dirt and most of the time the lake bottom close by will be more sand than being a hard bottom.
If live bait fishing I would use crickets or nightcrawers on a size 10 or 8 long shank hook with a small split shot. Throw in the deeper water and work back to the bank slowly. I found some great places on Russell using this setup from a boat throwing to drop off banks and points in the 4' range and working the bait to deeper water.
Bluegill and shellcracker use the deeper water than what we think of when gill fishing as we tend to think of them as bank working fish. Try this setup and fishing in the deeper water and let us know how it works out for you and the kids.

A few pics from fishing the deeper water. Nothing big like the hybrids you see caught in stocked ponds but real lake fishing.

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[ridgerunner]

Hartwell is a hard place to find large bream. I have found them fishing the bridge pilings and water intakes on the Seneca river arm in early May. I just pull up to the pilings and drop straight down on them with a jig or you can use crickets if you want to really have fun. Good luck with em.

[Dennis Morgan]

keep an eye out for the may flies on the bushes along the banks in may, shake a bush back off and come back in half hour and flip the fly rod with a small top water popper
good fishing
Dennis