The Home Fishery of Brian Latimer
the science & art of fishing
Zmanfishing.com
written by ben kudla
In episode four of Sweetwater’s fifth season, Joey Nania heads out to Lake Hartwell in South Carolina with FLW tour pro Brian Latimer. Lake Hartwell is Brian’s home fishery and the place of his first fishing tournament while he was still in the second grade. It is safe to say that Brian knows this lake better than anyone and we get a first hand look at his incredible insight into fishing here. “Lake Hartwell really is one of the biggest and most prized lakes in South Carolina. It is full of fish. I was pumped to get to fish with Brian Latimer. Fishing with someone so funny and kind and personal is always a great experience” says Joey, as he and Miles Burghoff talk through the day of fishing Joey had with Brian. This episode also provides some excellent insight into fishing those cold, cloudy days at the end of spring.
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The Success of Brian Latimer
Growing up in Belton, South Carolina, Brian Latimer has had a passion for fishing from a young age. His father was also a serious tournament fisherman and by the time Brian finished high school he was completely focused on fishing. He earned enough money to get a bass boat and pay the FLW tour deposits and before long he was competing and succeeding with the top tour pros in the country. He has 10 top ten finishes and has already accumulated well over 200k in earnings in his short time on tour. The future is exciting for Brian Latimer and as such a kind a personal guy, everyone is rooting for him.
“You gotta have confidence in the spot that you’re fishing, just to sit down, let your nerves settle, and fish where you know they should be at.”
Finessing Lake Hartwell
Brian had a lot to say about the quirkiness of his home lake, he especially talked about bait fish such as the blueback herring and how to use them to your advantage. “Lake Hartwell sets up totally different than any other fishery, arguably in the country. The main reason is because we have blueback herrings. The blueback herring is a lazy bait fish. Any fish we catch shallow is usually migrant. So they are there during pre-spawn and spawning rituals and then just head back to the main lake. The bulk of fish are in the main lake because that is where the blueback herring are” says Brian. “Herring are a species where they are not in a lot of southern lakes but surprisingly to everybody they do really well. They change the fishery, they make the fish live deeper for a larger portion of the year”, adds Joey. The bass will absolutely be biting on this lake, even in cold conditions. Some great advice from Joey is that when the weather is colder, the slower the better. Meaning to keep your top of the line ZMAN bait in place or bouncing just above the bottom for a little extra time to give the fish a little more of an opportunity to go after the great looking ZMAN bait.
“This is a lake you don’t need to know a bunch about, you just need to use basic bass catching fishing principles.”
Check Out Episode 4 of Season 5
In addition to watching the 4th episode of the season, be sure to check out Brian Latimers fishing vlogs on his Facebook or Youtube! What a cool episode seeing some behind the scenes action on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. Taking your usual bass catching principles, combined with ZMAN bait, there are thousands of fish at your disposal in Lake Hartwell and your chances of success are very high. Watch the episode below!
