February 24, 2020  by FLW Communications

SENECA, S.C. – The 2020 Toyota Series will continue its season next week at Lake Hartwell, March 3-5, with the Toyota Series at Lake Hartwell tournament. Hosted by Visit Oconee, the three-day tournament will feature the best regional bass-fishing pros and co-anglers casting for a top prize of up to $65,000, plus a $35,000 bonus if the winner is a qualified Phoenix Boat owner.

“The fish are still in their wintertime patterns – we haven’t had much warm weather yet, and we’ve even had some snow recently – so I think we’re going to see a good mixture of fish caught out of ditches and stuff like that. Any areas where they can chase the bait up shallow,” said Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit pro David Williams of Maiden, North Carolina, who has eight top-10 finishes on Lake Hartwell in FLW competition.

“Finding the baitfish will be the key in this tournament,” continued Williams. “We’re going to see anglers throwing a lot of crankbaits, swimbaits, jigs and shaky-head rigs. Within the next few weeks we’ll start to see fish move up shallow, but the normal wintertime patterns will be in play for this one.

“I think it’s going to take 14½ to 15 pounds a day to be there at the end,” Williams went on to say. “I predict that the three-day winner is going to have right around 45 pounds”

Anglers will take off from the Clemson Beach and Recreation Area, located at 275 YMCA Circle in Seneca at 7 a.m. EDT each day of competition. The weigh-ins will be held each day at the Recreation Area beginning at 3 p.m. All takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

“Visit Oconee SC is excited to welcome the 2020 Toyota Series to Lake Hartwell,” said Charlotte Waters, Sales/Event Manager with Visit Oconee. “The economic impact of this event is significant to our community. We wish all the anglers a memorable and safe time throughout the event on Lake Hartwell and we hope to show them why Oconee County is well known for our natural resources and outdoor adventure.”

Anglers and fans attending the event will have the free opportunity to win a new a Polaris Sportsman® 570 EPS, valued at approximately $7,799. To enter, fans can complete an official entry form on-site and deposit into an official ballot box at participating FLW tournaments from March 2 through November 14, 2020.

In Toyota Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event, scaling up for every 20 boats over 160 and scaling down for every boat below 160. With a full field, pros will fish for a top prize of up to $65,000, plus an extra $35,000 if FLW PHOENIX BONUS qualified. Co-anglers will cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard (valued at $33,500).

The Toyota Series consists of eight divisions – Central, Eastern, Northern, Plains, Southeastern, Southern, Southwestern and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International division. Anglers who fish all three qualifiers in any of the eight divisions and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning $200,000 cash, plus lucrative contingency bonuses. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2020 Toyota Series Championship is being held Nov. 5-7 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky, and is hosted by the Somerset Tourist & Convention Commission and the Burnside Tourism Commission.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Toyota Series on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, FLW and its partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe.

FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. Acquired by Major League Fishing in late 2019, FLW is expanding its programming in 2020 to the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel as well as on-demand at MyOutdoorTV (MOTV).

For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Courtesy www.flwfishing.com

by Robin Jarvis

Many people are aware that, over the years, as the many man-made lakes in South Carolina were formed by damming various rivers, many homes and even entire towns were relocated because they were going to be flooded as part of the project(s). Much evidence of the ruins of those towns still exists, some of it visible above the water line and some of it below, only visible to those who are willing to dive to the bottom of a lake to see it.

Not many people have heard of Ghost Island or Cemetery Island — or the 50 or so graves that remain at the top of the hill. Many of them are from the 1700s and are of the above-ground variety. Including that of the plantation’s owner, John Harris, Jr.

It’s a safe bet that while some wayward campers are aware of the graveyard at the highest point, other campers are not. According to an account on findagrave.com, the graves are all still in their original places and have never been moved. This page details 48 unknown graves as well as the 11 graves that have been identified.

In spite of the Ghost Island moniker given to Cemetery Island, we couldn’t find a single report of ghost sightings at the cemetery. However, the island has long been an informal camping spot on Lake Hartwell for its ease of access and sandy beach on which to pull up a kayak or small boat.

Perhaps there’s been an occasional paranormal occurrence on Ghost Island that fuel the name. After all, a family DID lose their land for the project (as did many), and then went to battle with the government to save the sacred ground on which ancestors lay interred. Is it possible those ancestors are just welcoming the company and happy to see visitors after being stranded in the middle of a lake?

Do you even believe in ghosts? It’s difficult to live in South Carolina and not have an occasional head-turning event that can make you wonder.   Have you heard of Cemetery Island (a.k.a. Ghost Island, and Harrisburg Plantation) located on South Carolina’s scenic Lake Hartwell? Even better… have you already visited and did you experience anything paranormal?

During the construction, the Harris family refused to have the remains of their loved ones moved inland. The matter even went to court, where, in the end the government washed its hands of being responsible for the graves or maintaining the island.

Once you arrive, just look for the highest point and start walking.

According to an account on findagrave.com, the graves are all still in their original places and have never been moved. This page details 48 unknown graves as well as the 11 graves that have been identified.                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Including that of the plantation’s owner, John Harris, Jr.

Courtesy https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/cemetery-island-lake-hartwell-sc/

February 18, 2020  by Kyle Wood

Spring can be one of the best times to launch a boat in the clear waters of Lake Hartwell. That’s why the Georgia-South Carolina border reservoir might be the perfect venue to start the Eastern Division of the Toyota Series on March 3.

An unseasonably wet winter has plagued the region, leaving the lake level at or above full pool for a decent part of 2020. While the water is on its way down, weather patterns between now and tournament time will still be the deciding factor. Still, no matter the conditions, Hartwell is full of big largemouths and spotted bass, and March is no doubt one of the best months for the lake to showcase what it’s capable of.

Tournament details

Toyota Series Eastern Division

Lake Hartwell

Seneca, S.C.

March 3, 2020

Hosted by Visit Oconee South Carolina

How the lake sets up

Built on the Savannah, Tugaloo and Seneca rivers on the border of South Carolina and Georgia, Lake Hartwell sprawls some 56,000 acres. While its size is respectable, you don’t truly appreciate how well a large field of anglers can spread out until you start exploring all the pockets, nooks and crannies found along the lake’s shoreline.

Considering Hartwell is a deep, clear body of water, it’s no shock that it holds a stout population of spotted bass. There’s no grass in the lake, but there are still plenty of big largemouths that call Hartwell home. Docks, laydowns, brush piles and rock are the primary types of fishable cover. Though there are shad and bream in the system, the primary forage for growing big bass in Hartwell is blueback herring, a nomadic baitfish that becomes more predictable in the spring.

What to expect

Local stick and former FLW Tour pro Jayme Rampey is excited about the timing of the event, even though the weather thus far this season has left the lake in flux.

“Hartwell is a very weather-dependent lake,” he says. “Every time the lake is high, the lake is tough, so we’ll see what happens by the tournament.

“But March is a way better time for the event to be here than if it was here in April. It’ll be a pure prespawn tournament. The fish shouldn’t be in a weird mood, and they should be putting the feedbag on. Plus, Hartwell is a real good pattern lake, so if you figure something out you can run it from one end to the other and the lake will fish big.”

Since the majority of the fish will be trying to bulk up for the spawn, Rampey believes we could see some of the best weights Hartwell can produce all year.

“When you want to see big weights on Hartwell, the prespawn is the time for it,” he adds. “The tournament will be won with largemouths, I think, but a lot of top bags will have spots – probably a 50/50 mix. Those spots that time of year weigh a lot. I won a BFL a few years ago with three spots over 4 pounds, so that time of year they can be really big. I think it’ll take close to 17 or 18 pounds a day to win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a little higher. It just depends on the weather.”

Baits and techniques

With the event lining up nicely with the heart of the prespawn period, there should be a lot of options on the table for how to catch a bass.

“We’ll see typical March stuff,” Rampey says. “The herring will move up, and so do the bass. You can catch fish then from 50 feet up to 6 inches. It just depends on weather. The deep bite will be good. There will be a ditch bite and a shallow crankbait bite. I really think it’ll be a good tournament.”

Expect to see a lot of baits in play, from football jigs, spoons, Keitechs and jerkbaits to spinnerbaits, shallow crankbaits (like a Rapala Shad Rap or Berkley Frittside) and maybe even some topwater for a schooling bite around herring. The lake should be fishing wide-open, and anglers will be able to pick their strength and dial something in to fit that program.

courtesy https://www.flwfishing.com/news/2020-02-18-prespawn-showdown-set-for-hartwell