Very Specific Help Needed For Lake Hartwell, Tugaloo Campground Area

I only have an electric trolling motor, 40 lbs of thrust to get around with, so I can't go far. There are a couple of boat ramps on the SC side across from the Tugaloo State Park on the Georgia side. Around those 2 coves and those 2 boat ramps and back up the lake toward Cherokee Bay area is about as far as I can go. There is a guy that I know who often catches his limit fishing brush piles near the Port Bass boat ramp. I have tried crappie fishing that area several times with minnows and jigs but have yet to catch a single crappie. I have a Garmin Striker 7sv fish finder and I'm still learning how to use all the bells and whistles, but looking at the bottom with side view, clear view (Down scan) and Traditional is no problem. I have found a few small brush piles in that area, but haven't caught any fish. I have seen some arc markings on the Garmin which I think indicate fish, but I'm not sure about that. That look like what is identified as fish on the YouTube videos. Does anyone here crappie fish that area who could give me some help in finding and catching crappie there?

Thanks

GF

No...I dont fish that lake but all I can say is take a look at your electronics and see if there is bait/fish in the area. If so throw the "book"at em trying to catch 'em. You never know what you might figure out.;) Good luck.

There were definitely big blobs of baitfish showing up on the fish finder. But I didn’t see anything on the graph to indicate fish feeding on them.

BB

All I can say from my experience is TRUST your electronics. If you are seeing bait then see if there's fish in the area to feed off them by fishing for them. If not then try somewhere else. Good luck to ya.;):)

I fish that area a lot. If I’m reading correctly you do have side imaging right?

Here's my recommendation.

Get tube jigs this color, black/chartreuse. Other colors too, red/ white. White/chartreuse etc.
Get on the brush at daylight
Let electronics tell you how deep to put the jig.
Using the drag. Pull off 2ft of line from the reel at a time until you get darned close to the top of the brush,
Let it sit and move the boat very slowly around the brush pile, and stop again, move 4 ft at a time, and stop.
Stay 10 minutes, no bites go to another brush pile.

Ps 1/16 max jig weight

Also, use a loop knot.

Attachment 344973

Sent from my SM-G965U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

I fish many places on Hartwell and the two places that I look for crappie this time of the year are brush piles and active docks. Learn to dock shoot jigs as this style of fishing can catch crappie year around. If you have side image ride by the dock to see which ones are holding crappie. Crappie shows up as dots most of the time unless you find a tight school. Hartwell crappie like to suspend in open water along the channel also.
If you cant find brush make your own, which you need to do on Hartwell as the lake needs more cover added. You also want to check the 12' and under water as many fish are holding in shallow water.
If I put in on a ramp I'm fishing within two to three miles of the ramp most times. Check out some of the other ramps. There are many trees laying in the water that are holding fish to.

Al I can add is that you've gotten advice from some of the best fishermen on here so I'd follow their suggestions to the letter.

I fish hartwell alot for crappie. Mainly dock shooting and brushpiles. I would try a 2in curly tail jig around that brush. Find that brush and cast past it and let the jig sink and start slowly reeling. Fan cast around the brush and keep trying different depths by letting the jig fall on a count. If crappie are there and biting, they will hit! You can also tightline the brush with a jigging pole. Pit on a slab tickler to entice them more. It is a small blade. Can be got at academy!

Thanks, guys. We caught some Crappie yesterday off of brush piles using jigs and plastics. I did pretty well with some Ice Blue Bobby Garlands. I have a lot to learn about by Garmin Striker 7sv. Right now, I’m most comfortable with “Traditional” but I need to learn more about Clearvu and Sidevu. If you run across any good Garmin videos, let me know.

I have a neighbor who has helped me locate some brush piles in our area, but I’m going to be keeping an eye out for more. And I have some ideas for some color combinations for homemade jigs that I’m going to be working on soon. May not be on the water much this week because of all the extra July 4 traffic on the water. So I hope to be tying some jigs instead.

GF

When in sidevu and clearvu keep your contrast at default and adjust the brightness as needed. Usually around 70% to 80% is good for brightness. In side vu try not to push the distance out past 100 ft. The shorter the distance the better. If in 20ft of water, I would keep it at about 65 to 75 ft.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FishinRanger

When in sidevu and clearvu keep your contrast at default and adjust the brightness as needed. Usually around 70% to 80% is good for brightness. In side vu try not to push the distance out past 100 ft. The shorter the distance the better. If in 20ft of water, I would keep it at about 65 to 75 ft.

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FishinRanger, do you run a Garmin Striker? I have found very few adjustments that the user can make. For instance, gain can be set in Auto or Auto Manuel. In Auto manual you can choice between Auto High, Auto Medium And Auto Low. And so far, I have not found a way to adjust the Range in Sidevu. Nor have I found a way to adjust Brightness or Contrast. If you know how to do these things, please let me know.

GF

I have a 2 Garmin 73sv and a 53 dv on my boat. You should be able to select the manual option and then select the percentages that you like. When in sidevu, select menu and a set of options should be there to manually select the range. Attached is a pretty good video for a garmin striker 7sv.

YouTube