Just Bring A Jigging Spoon To Phil Shope Tournament On Lake Hartwell Saturday
The story is pretty much the same across the South. It’s been a cold, cold winter and the fish need some warming days just as much as the fishermen
“The water temperature in Lake Hartwell is running in the mid to high 40s on the lower end and up the river it’s about 50 degrees,” said Phil Shope who will launch the inaugural Phil Shope Team Trail tournament of 2011 Saturday. “All the big fish are in 24 to 40 feet of water.”
So, said Shope, anglers in the tournament on Lake Hartwell Saturday can pretty much leave everything at home except a jigging spoon.
“Unless some guys go up in the Keowee River and catch them up there in that current,” he said. “They can go up there and get a limit pretty easy, but that is an awful long run.”
The majority of fish will be caught, he said, halfway back in the creek channels off the points.
“They have been catching fish on jigging spoons in the deeper water, but you have to be very proficient with a depth finder and know where to catch the fish,” he said.
The Phil Shope Trail, which will celebrate 21 years of tournaments, opens this year on Lake Hartwell, followed by the Phil Shope Busch Lite Challenge March 12-13 on Lake Julian; April 2 on Lake Hartwell out of Portman Shoals; May 7 on Lake Keowee out of South Cove Park; with the final tournament Oct 15 on Lake Hartwell out of Portman Shoals.
Teams pay a $40 annual registration with a $125 entry per tournament, which includes Big Fish. Payback is 100 percent with two Big Fish awards at each tournament.
“Nobody else is doing the kind of bonuses like we are,” Shope said. “The guy who wins gets a $500 bonus, plus there is a $500 bonus for the top finishing Ranger Boat.”
In addition, he noted, with Stratos now under the same roof with Ranger, Stratos will write a check equal to what he wins to the top angler in each tournament if he is fishing in a Stratos Boat. Platinum Equity acquired both Ranger and Stratos a year ago through the Genmar bankruptcy and formed Fishing Holdings LLC to oversee those boat brands, which also includes Triton.
“When we hold that tournament on Lake Hartwell in April it will be a night and day difference in conditions,” Shope said.
Phil Shope Team Trail
Sat. Feb 12, 2011
Lake Hartwell
Portman Shoals
