Lake Hartwell water level today 650.02 ft, falling

Questions people ask about Lake Hartwell

Answered from the same readings as the rest of this page. Where we have no basis for an answer, there is no entry — spot-by-spot local knowledge is not something we can claim for Lake Hartwell.

Is it worth fishing Lake Hartwell today?

5 out of 10 — picky. Work for it. The strongest stretch is 3:32 AM–5:32 AM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.

What time should you fish Lake Hartwell?

Today's major windows run 3:32 AM–5:32 AM and 3:56 PM–5:56 PM, with minor windows at 11:20 AM–12:20 PM and 9:25 PM–10:25 PM. Sunrise is 7:14 AM and sunset 7:38 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.

What is the water temperature at Lake Hartwell?

No gauge on Lake Hartwell measures it, so this is an estimate: roughly 79°F, worked out from the 7-day mean of air temperature at NOAA weather station KAND (Anderson, Anderson County Airport). Checked against the lakes that do have a thermometer, that method lands within about 4.5°F of the real reading and was off by 8.3°F at worst. Treat it as a ballpark, not a measurement — and note the bite index above ignores it entirely, because an error that size would move the verdict as often as it would fix it.

What is the water level at Lake Hartwell right now?

650.02 ft, read at 8:00 AM from USGS station 02187010. Over 24 hours it is down 0.16 ft.

Are water levels rising or falling at Lake Hartwell?

Falling. The lake is down 0.16 ft in 24 hours and down 0.45 ft over the week. Over the last 8 days it has held between 649.99 and 650.48 ft. Every figure here is a difference between two gauge readings, not a forecast — what the level does next depends on rain and on what the dam releases.

Is Lake Hartwell full right now?

At 650.02 ft the lake is 9.98 ft below its top of conservation pool of 660 ft, as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, SAS District defines it. That is a comparison of two elevations, not a percentage of capacity — a reservoir at half its depth holds far less than half its water, so the two are not the same thing.

Can you eat the fish you catch in Lake Hartwell?

That is a health question, and it is answered officially rather than by us. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division publishes the fish consumption advisory covering these waters, where Georgia keeps this with its environmental agency rather than the health department, and publishes it per water and species. Read it before you keep a meal — we give no eating advice.

Georgia EPD fish consumption advisory

Do you need a licence to fish Lake Hartwell?

Yes. A Georgia fishing license covers this water, required from age 16. Georgia DNR sets the rules and is the one that counts.

What a Georgia license costs, and who is exempt

What size fish can you keep in Georgia?

It depends on the species, and several have slot limits rather than a simple minimum. Open to harvest today: largemouth bass, spotted bass, shoal bass, striped bass, white bass and hybrid. Seasons here change mid-year by agency order, so the status is re-checked every morning.

Largemouth bass limits · Spotted bass limits · Shoal bass limits · Striped bass, white bass and hybrid limits · Check a length against the rules