Hamilton noted that, in general, the preferred depth to scan for fish at this time of the year will be in the 35- to 50-foot range. Since the basic feeding pattern stripers engage in during wintertime is to prey on roaming baitfish, Hamilton prefers to use live bait to catch the fish.

“I use 20-pound-test line this time of the year. I’ll put a 1 1/2-ounce egg sinker about 24 to 30 inches above the hook as my basic rig. I’ll bait with live blueback herring,” Hamilton said. “Typically, when fishing this pattern, I’ll anchor the boat where I’ve marked fish. Sometimes the boat will spook the fish, but they’ll usually get used to it pretty quick. One of the keys I look for, in addition to baitfish on the graph, is the presence of the big arches indicative of stripers and hybrids near the bottom. I’ll often mark a lot of fish several feet off the bottom, but if there are some big fish lying near the bottom that’s the key. These are the fish that normally are feeding.

“For that reason, I’ll usually lower my bait so it’s about 3 feet off the bottom. However, on occasion, you’ll find days where all the fish are suspended well off the bottom and you’ll have to work that depth. In that case, if you don’t mark fish on the bottom or don’t get any bites there, put your bait just above the depth where the mass of fish are marked on the graph. It’s better to have the bait just above a striper,” Hamilton added.

Another pattern that works well for Hamilton during the winter is to drift-fish in the main channel of the creek or tributary river. When fish can’t be found on the humps, points, ledges and similar structures, it often means they have suspended in the 30- to 40-foot range in the middle of the channel.

“When (drift-fishing) and slowly motoring over the channel, you may see only a few big fish marks in a given area, but that usually means there are plenty of fish around. When I see that, I’ll set up and work that area.

“In addition to down rods, I’ll use free-line rigs in this situation. I’ll put a small split shot to get the herring down a bit, but basically let the bait free-line behind the boat. This will often work very well during the winter,” Hamilton noted.

Hamilton said that the mid-lake portion of Hartwell is his favorite territory.

“I’ll fish the Tugaloo and Seneca river areas with my favorite being the area between the I-85 bridge and the Concross Creek area. But there is good fishing throughout he lake,” he added.

As noted by Hamilton, you can expect to catch a mixed bag of hybrids and stripers. The stripers will usually run from 7 to 20 pounds this time of year. The hybrids will usually be in the 5- to 7-pound class on Hartwell. However, as Hamilton noted, you can still catch some really big fish in the wintertime.

Hamilton added that this general fishing pattern will remain productive into February. He said the fish might begin to move farther up the rivers and in the mouths of the tributary creeks. But on a day-to-day basis, beginning your search for fish in the 35- to 50-foot range will remain a good best bet.