Striped bass anglers who fish the Savannah chain lakes of Hartwell and Thurmond are hoping to give a collective sigh of relief this winter. True rockfish fans recognize that the colder weather months are the best times to catch both numbers of fish and quality fish. In fact, striper anglers typically find they have the lakes all to themselves this time of year. The reason for the high expectations for this season is because after some 26 months of drought that reduced both lakes to the lowest levels on record, normal water levels have returned.

That's not to say that there were not striped bass to be caught last winter. Many anglers who adapted to the changing patterns brought on by less water and more visible structure did exceedingly well. But it's with high anticipation that many yearn to get back into the creeks this winter where they have caught so many fish in the past.

Two of these diehard anglers are striper guides Bill Plumley and Mark Crawford. While Plumley's home turf is the 56,000 acres of impounded reservoir created by the Hartwell dam, Crawford calls his home lake Thurmond, the 71,000 acres located two lakes down the Savannah River chain.

LAKE HARTWELL
Captain Bill Plumley retired to Lake Hartwell several years ago with two goals in mind: He wanted to spend more time fishing and hunting. He reasoned that becoming a fishing guide would be the best way to do that and is often found fishing the lake whether he has a guide party or not. Plumley said that the striped bass bite on Lake Hartwell is dictated mostly by water temperature. He said the magic mark for him is 50 degrees. He fishes one way if the surface temps are above 50 and an entirely different way if they are below that mark.

As November progresses into December, it is likely that water temperatures will still be above the 50-degree mark, so December typically finds Plumley trolling live baits to catch trophy stripers.

"I'll offer striped bass a choice of either live gizzard shad, blueback herring or rainbow trout," said Plumley. "My hands-down favorite for big fish is a gizzard shad. I'll run five rods out of the back of the boat. Two rods on each side will be towing live gizzards behind a planerboard, and the middle rod will be a free line that goes straight back with a blueback herring on it."

Obtaining such baits is a matter of pulling into the drive-through at the local bait shop -- which is, incidentally, named "The Bait Shop" and is located just off Hwy. 24 below the interstate in Townville. Plumley credits proprietor Tim Marchbanks, an avid striper fan himself, with knowing the needs of striper anglers and doing his best to ensure they have a variety of baits, including the highly sought gizzard shad, at their disposal.