Lake Hartwell to be Playing Field for Historic 20th ACA National Championship

SAN ANTONIO, TX (May 15, 2025) – The Association of Collegiate Anglers is set to host its 20^th National Championship event in approximately one week.  The 2025 Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops will take place at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, SC on May 22-23.

This will mark the second time in which the ACA has contested college fishing’s longest-running National Championship event at Lake Hartwell.  The last time the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops was contested at Lake Hartwell was in 2023.  That tournament was won by Tucker Smith & Hayden Marbut from Auburn University with a two-day total weight of 35.24 pounds.

The ACA returned to Lake Hartwell in April of 2024 to contest the Hartwell Slam.  Over 200 teams competed for two days.  More than 1,000 pounds of fish were brought to the scales each day, meaning almost every team caught a limit during both days of tournament competition.  The winning weight at the Hartwell Slam was 34.48 pounds, brought in by Easton Fothergill & Nick Dumke with the University of Montevallo.

Lake Hartwell is a great fishery that boasts both quantity and quality when it comes to catching bass.  The lake spans 56,000 acres and is made up of a variety of fish holding habitat.  Different types of cover in the lake include wood, rock, docks, offshore structure, and more.  Each of these areas and types of cover hold fish year-round, making them key targets for anglers to fish during tournament competition.

A strong population of baitfish and forage is another contributing factor to Lake Hartwell’s healthy fish population.  One of the unique baitfish present in this fishery is blueback herring.  These baitfish are like filet mignon for bass.   While they may be somewhat evasive for bass to track down, blueback herring provide a filling meal for fish.

Taking into account the fish holding habitat and prevalent baitfish population in Lake Hartwell, anglers can use a variety of patterns and techniques to get bites during the early summer.  Starting with the early morning bite, anglers can likely find success with topwaters and shad/herring impersonation baits.  Those baitfish will be active up shallow during the low light conditions.  Long bars and shallow points will be popular areas for these baitfish to be congregated on.

Once the sun gets up, anglers will likely have to downsize their presentations and even mix in finesse tactics to get bites.  The baitfish will begin to move deep and spread out.  The bass will then follow them, as they hunt for an easy meal throughout the day.  Utilizing their electronics, like Garmin LiveScope, anglers can track these bass throughout the day and present their baits with success to get bites.

The current weather forecast projects a slight warming trend through practice, leading up to the start of tournament competition.  High temperatures will average in the mid to upper 80’s, with partial clouds, varying winds, and an occasional chance for thunderstorms.  Warming temperatures and sunshine will continue to push bass into their typical early summer patterns, making them set up in a manner which anglers should be able to predict and strategize a successful gameplan.