Top 5 Winning Baits from the 2025 Bassmaster Elite on Lake Hartwell

Here’s a breakdown of the best lures the top 10 anglers used to end up at the top of the leaderboard at the Lake Hartwell Bassmaster Elite event.

Rookie Paul Marks used several different variations of fluke-style baits to come home with his first win. | B.A.S.S.

The 2025 Bassmaster Elite event on Lake Hartwell included three leader changes in four days, but the use of soft plastic baits and finesse presentations was consistent. Ultimately, rookie Paul Marks used several different variations of fluke-style baits to come home with his first win.

Top Baits From the Last Bassmaster Elite Event on Lake Hartwell

The last time this group of anglers competed on Lake Hartwell was in 2019. It was a couple weeks earlier in April that year. Brandon Cobb got the victory using a trick worm on a shaky head and a soft plastic stick bait rigged wacky-style. As you’ll se in the analysis of the baits used in the 2025 event, it’s more of the same.

Following is a breakdown of the five most effective baits used by the Top 10 finishers at the 2025 Bassmaster Elite on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina.

Top 5 Bass Baits That Dominated Lake Hartwell

1. Fluke

Paul Marks used a Zoom Super Fluke, rigged weightless on a 5/0 Gamakatsu Round Bend Hook. | B.A.S.S.

Champion, Paul Marks used several variations of baits with Fluke in their name—Zoom Super Fluke, Zoom Fluke Stick and Fluke Stick Jr. For my money, the two Fluke Sticks look way more closely related to a soft plastic stick bait than a fluke, but Marks di appear to have them rigged up to fish more like a fluke.

Second place Tucker Smith used a Yamamoto D-Shad which also looks pretty fluke-y. Recent Classic Champ Easton Fothergill credited a Strike King KVD Perfect Shad Soft Jerkbait (again, fluke). And eighth place Wesley Gore threw a Nomad Design Tackle Wingman (yep, fluke!).

2. Dropshot Worm

Four anglers credited at least some of their success on Lake Hartwell to a straight worm fished on a drop shot rig. | B.A.S.S.

There were also four times among the Top 10 field that a drop shot worm rig was mentioned as a key bait at Lake Hartwell. Luke Palmer rigged a 1/4 ounce drop with a YUM Finesse Worm. Fifth place finisher Jay Przekurat used a 1/4 ounce with a Strike King KVD Filler Worm. Wesley Gore supplemented his “fluke” with a drop shot 6-inch Roboworm Straight Tail Worm. And Jacob Powroznik used a 6-inch Roboworm Flat Worm with a 1/8 ounce drop.

3. Wacky-rigged Soft Stick Bait

It's hard to go wrong with a wacky-rigged worm any time, but it was especially effective on Lake Hartwell. | B.A.S.S.

Here’s another case of a variety of brands with their own subtle takes and variations, but in the end they’re all soft plastic stick baits. Drew Cook targeted bedding fish with a SPRO prototype soft stick. Przekurat wacky-rigged a Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Ocho. And veteran angler Randy Howell credited a 5-inch Yamamoto Senko ( the original soft plastic stick bait).

4. Neko-rigged Soft Stick Bait

Soft plastic finesse baits are key on Hartwell in the spring. | B.A.S.S.

Three competitors, Smith, Fothergill and Wagner, thanked the super finesse-y soft plastic stick bait rigged Neko style. Smith used an actual Yamamoto Senko, Wagner used a Berkley The General, and Fothergill used the Strike King KVD Filler Worm which may be technically the least “Senko-like” of the group but still looks like it performs very similarly.

5.) Shaky Worm

This is Emil Wagner's Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Hit Worm Magnum, rigged on a 3/16-ounce shaky head. | B.A.S.S.

Again, three anglers of the ten credited a shaky worm set up. Winner Paul Marks use that that Zoom Fluke Stick JR on a SPRO Skip Gap Shaky Head. Send place Tucker Smith said he sometimes rigged his Senko on a shaky head jig. And Emil Wagner used a Berkley PoerBiat MaxScent Hit Worm Magnum on a 3/16-ounce shaky head.

Key Takeaways from the Lake Hartwell Elite

Not super surprisingly for a late April tournament on Lake Hartwell, the victory went to the angler dialed in to the herring spawn. Others in the Top 10 focused on bedding largemouth, but the slightly off shore bass positioned around the herring spawn were most consistent. And overall a variety of soft plastic finesse baits ruled.