Pickwick largemouth, smallmouth and spots are mostly done spawning and are stacking up on shallow river ledges right now.  They are feeding heavily, fattening back up from the stress of bedding.  And they are shallow enough to be easy to catch.

Pickwick is a big TVA lake in the corner of Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi on the Tennessee River.  Like other lakes in the chain, its big flats and creeks are bass spawning factories and the river and creek ledges offer perfect feeding places year-round in the fertile waters.

Cody Harrison says he started fishing “as soon as I could cast.” Living in Tuscumbia, just 15 minutes from Pickwick, he fell in love with bass fishing very young and learning the ways of the fish in the lake.  He went to the University of North Alabama where he was on the college team with many other good fishermen and honed his skills for two years.  After graduation four years ago, he started guiding on Pickwick, Wilson and Guntersville full time.

“A few bass will still be spawning in May, but most are done and moving to summer holes on the main river,” Cody said. You can always catch some good fish shallow, but you can find the right ledge and catch fish after fish from big schools.  And you will catch smallmouth and a few big spots, as well as quality largemouth, in the river.

A wide variety of baits will catch Pickwick bass in May, and you can fish your favorites.  Cody has his, including a swim bait, crankbait, jig and pig, Carolina Rig and even a shaky head if fishing is tough.  All baits are adjusted in weigh based on current and depth he is fishing.

We fished the following ten spots on April Fools Day, a cold, windy day with a strong river current that made fishing difficult.  And many bass were already in spawning areas, but some were still out in the pre-spawn stage.  They will be strong on this pattern now.

Cody still caught two smallmouth in the 3.5 to 4 pound range, a largemouth that size and a slightly smaller, very pretty meanmouth.  Meanmouth are a smallmouth/spot hybrid that has the markings of a smallmouth but the tooth patch of a spot.  They are fairly common in the lake and may be a bad sign for the future of smallmouth fishing here.

1.  N 34 45.591 – W 87 51.269 – We put in at Cane Creek Ramp, a good location for fishing this area of the lake.  Right at the cove the ramp is in, signs mark a pipeline crossing on that side, with matching signs across the river.  Near the middle of the river a little more toward the North West bank, there is a “blow out” hole at the river edge where the pipeline goes across. 

This hole is 18 to 20 feet deep on the edges, dropping into deeper water fast.  It is covered in rocks and spots and smallmouth love rocks, and largemouth will use them for feeding ambush points too.

Sit on the upstream side of the pipeline off the lip of the drop. Cast your bait up current and work it back with is. Current here and on other places really help the bite if it is not too strong to fish. 

Cody likes a True Bass 4.5 to 5.5 shad colored swimbait rigged on a one half to three quarters ounce jig head, depending on current.  Let it go to the bottom then swim it along steadily with the current, just ticking the rocks.  You will get hung doing this until you get the feel for the depth and speed to move you bait.

You can fish a Carolina rig or shaky head here, depending on current, but those get hung more often.  If the current is slack bouncing a shaky head on the rocks may get bit but it is slow fishing.

2.  N 34 44.940 – W 87 45.811 – Going up the river where it bends to the left, a series of long islands on your left separate the river from old oxbows.  The main one is named Coffee Slough and is full of cypress trees, grass beds and stumps. It is a big bedding area and some fish live back in here year-round.

Idle in to the first big clump of cypress trees in the middle and start fishing. Be careful, there are many stumps to hit.  Cody says you could stay in here and catch bass all day.  Some will be feeding post spawn, some will be bedding and some may still be pre spawn depending on the weather.

Cody will bump stumps and cypress knees with a Strike King 1.5 or 2.5 squarebill, making them hit and dart off to the side. A black or white buzzbait with a clacker will also catch fish for Cody, as will a frog fished in the grass. If the fishing is tough, he will go with a weightless Trick worm worked slowly around all cover.

3.  N 34 50.143 – W 87 56.189 – Back down the river at the Natchez Trace Parkway bridge, a long river ledge runs parallel to the bank upstream of the bridge near the left side going downstream. The ledge runs at a slight angle toward the bank going upstream.  It is seven to eight feet deep on top but drops fast into 15 feet of water.

Keep your boat 15 feet deep and cast a crankbait, swim bait or jig up on the top of the ledge.  Bump bottom to the lip and let your swimbait or jig fall down the drop.  They will hold on the drop but move on top to feed, especially when current is washing along it. 

Fish along the ledge, probing for any cover on it that provides a current break for the bass.  When you catch a fish make repeated cast in that area since they will school up in specific spots along the ledge.

4.  N 34 52.441 – W 87 56.571 – Going down the river, Jenkins Branch is the opening on your right before you get to Bluff Creek. It is narrow with steep rocky points on both sides, with pea gravel points downstream of it.

Cody says bass spawn in the branch then move to the points to feed. They will school on top here so have a Fluke or topwater plug ready to cast to them.  Also drag a shaky head and jig on the pea gravel points going downstream, as well as the main downstream point of the creek. Bump the bottom with a crankbait, too, keeping your boat over about 12 feet deep and casting to the bank with all baits.

“Smallmouth spawn first, then largemouth,” Cody said.  This is one of the first places they move out to, and you will catch both here as well as an occasional spot.  Spots don’t grow as big or as fast here or on other lakes with them.  A four pounder is a really big one.

5.  N 34 52.632 – W 87 57.238 – The Bluff Creek channel runs way out across a flat to the river channel.  If you look at your GPS or a good paper contour map, you will see two old channels that form a wishbone before coming together near the river.  The lip of the creek channel where they hit the river is an excellent post spawn feeding spot.

Keep your boat in 23 feet of water and cast a crankbait, Carolina Rig and jig up on the lip of the          channel in about 14 feet of water. Work them with the current, bumping bottom to the edge then dropping down the edge of it.

Cody says a good rate of flow for fishing it 20,000 to 70,000 cubic feet per second of water released at the dam.  Lower and the fish don’t feed well.  Higher and it is hard to fish. (it was about 90000 on April 1!) You can download an app at https://www.tva.com/Environment/Lake-Levels/TVA-Lake-Info-App to get this information.

6.  N 34 53.601 – W 87 58.469 – Going down the river a hump rises to about 12 feet deep in the middle of the river out from the mouth of Long Branch.  The old branch channel runs along the downstream side of it.  You can line up on it by getting straight out from the small islands just upstream of the creek mouth.

The hump is a shell bed and Pickwick bass love feeding around shell beds.  Sit in 18 feet of water and cast across the hump with swim bait, jig and shaky head and Carolina rig. 

Wind can be a problem in big water like this. If blowing with the current it moves you too fast. If blowing against the current it makes bigger waves.  In either direction, it can make casting and line control difficult.  If possible, always sit downstream of these places and cast your bait upstream so it moves with the current in a natural action.

7.  N 34 53.594 – W 87 59.340 – The Brush Creek channel runs over half way across the big flat on the right side to the river channel. The lip of it has stumps on it and bass hold and feed around them.  It is a good place to fish but you will get hung.

Cody sits shallow here, in about 15 feet of water on top of the ledge and cast upstream to 20 feet deep. Work a swimbait, jig or shaky head here, trying to keep them moving just off the bottom to lessen hang-ups. A Carolina rig will catch fish but it gets hung a lot.

For the big smallmouth and largemouth in Pickwick, Cody rigs a green pumpkin or plumb Magnum Trick worm on a one half to three quarters ounce locally made Mean Mouth jig head. He dips the tails of his plastics in JJs Magic.  Orange entices bites if he sees crawfish with orange on them, but chartreuse imitates bluegill that are always have fins fringed in that color.

8.  N 34 54.225 – W 88 02.294 – Going downstream the river channel swings in near the left bank then out from it where the bank makes a turn to the left.  A red channel marker sits on the upstream point of a sunken island named “Bee Tree Island” on my paper map.  The point of the island cause a current break and it is about 15 feet deep on top.

Cody sits on top of the island point in 15 feet of water and fan casts upstream, covering all sides of the point.  A swim jig, shaky head, Carolina rig and jig all work well here. 

Cody rigs his Carolina rig with a one-ounce sinker to get to the bottom fast in current and keep it there, allowing him to cover more water with it.  He ties a big hook about three feet above the sinker and uses a green pumpkin magic or green pumpkin blue full-size Zoom Brush Hog on it.

9.  N 34 53.553 – W 88 04.762 – The second red marker past the one in hole 8 sits on the side of a long bar running parallel to the channel.  It is the edge of another sunken island named “Waterloo Island” on my map.  The outside edge of it drops straight off and is what you want to fish here.

Start at the marker with your boat in 30 feet of water and cast to the top of the old island in 10 to 12 feet of water. Drag a jig, Carolina Rig or Shaky 
Head to the lip and let if fall. Cody does not give any of those bait extra action, he just slides them along.

Cody likes a three quarters ounce green pumpkin blue Mean Mouth jig tipped with a matching Rage Craw with the tips dipped in JJs Magic.  Slide it along the bottom then let if fall several feet when it comes off the lip before reeling in for another cast.

10. N 34 54.083 – W 88 06.117 – Across the river and downstream, the channel makes a turn to the right.  Beach Creek enters on the right in the turn and the channel runs out to the river channel.  Cody said this is called the “Catfish Hole” but it holds bass.

The flat on the sides of the channel has grass here, and Cody says this is a great numbers hole.  He says you can sit in 20 feet of water, cast your Carolina rig up to six feet of water on the channel edges and work it back down to 20 feet deep.

You can catch 100 fish here when it is right, but not necessarily the big ones you need on Pickwick in a tournament.  You may also see fish schooling on top here so be ready to cast to them.

These places are good right now and will hold fish all summer. Give them a try.

Contact Cody for a trip to see first-hand how he catches Pickwick bass at Basswacker Guide Service https://basswhackerguideservice.com/ or call 901-490-0882.

with Jordan Wiggins

Big spots on top early, then numbers on worms and jigs during the day.  To get around the tough fishing in July, plan a trip to Smith Lake to have fun catching spotted bass. And you can fish the same places and baits at night to avoid the heat and boat traffic.

Smith is a big, clear Alabama Power Company lake near Jasper and Cullman. The spots in it have responded to the introduction of blueback herring by growing fast and fat.  Tournament limits weighing 15 pounds are common and 20-pound limits are weighed in often.

Jordan Wiggins grew up in Cullman fishing with his father, uncles, cousins and brother Jesse.  They fished for anything that would bite but soon became addicted to bass fishing.  His dad started taking him tournament fishing when he was about 12 years old.

When his older brother Jesse was 15 and old enough to drive Jordan was 14, and he and Jordan fished every weekend and many weekday nights, entering local tournaments when they could.  They learned to catch bass under all conditions. 

Jesse now fishes the Major League Fishing pro circuit and Jordan hopes to fish the BASS pro trail when his kids get older.  Admirably, right now he fishes locally, preferring to spend time with his young kids and helping them grow up right.  

Jordan does well locally, winning two Alabama Bass Trail tournaments on Smith with his partner Wesley Sams and one on Guntersville.  He also does well in his local club, the “SLABS,” fishing Smith.

“In July, bass on Smith are holding on brush piles, clay, rocks and stumps in 20 to 30 feet of water on points and humps,” Jordan said.  Under low light conditions they will come up and hit topwater baits, but when the sun is up you need to get a jig or shaky head down to them to catch them.

Jordan keeps his July fishing simple, with three rods really all he needs. He will have a topwater walking bait like the Strike King Sexy Dawg on one rod, a custom-made shaky head jig and a jig and pig on the other two. He may have the same baits on other rods ready when the fishing is fast.

Jordan showed me the following ten spots in early June on a cloudy, breezy morning.  He landed about 20 spots, including a pretty four pounder and had five weighing 15 – 16 pounds, all on topwater baits.  The fish were just moving to them and will be even more concentrated on them now.

1. N 33 59.750 – W 87 08.894 – In the mouth of Rock Creek, on your left as you turn into it, a long narrow flat point runs off the bank.  There is a green “Rock Creek“ sign on it and there are rocks around the bank. This point runs way out and drops off fast on the upstream creek side but is flatter on the downstream side, offering a perfect place for bass to hold and feed in July.

Jordan starts with his boat on the upstream side in 90 feet of water and cast across the point, bringing his bait across the flat top over the drop. He starts with topwater when the sun is not bright but works a shaky head or jig and pig on the bottom when it is bright.

There are rocks on the point forming a ledge and there is a little brush on it.  He works his baits from ten feet deep out to 30 feet deep.  At all times when fishing here and other places, even when fishing a worm or jig, keep your topwater bait ready. Fish come up schooling here at any time.

While we fished, we saw individual fish chasing bait on top. Jordan hooked a big striper that got him hung up on the bottom but landed a four-pound spot that hit his Sexy Dawg. Watch for any top action and make long cast to them as fast as you can.

2. N 34 00.288 – W 87 11.296 – Going up the river, Dismal Creek enters on your right downstream of Duncan Bridge.  In the mouth of it a danger marker is on a hump that comes up to about ten feet deep.  The bottom is rock and clay with some scattered brush.  Bass hold and feed here all summer.

Stop out from the marker in 50 feet of water and fish the hump from ten feet deep out to 30 feet deep.  If the wind is blowing, a critical need for a good topwater bite, start with topwater. If the wind is blowing Jordan concentrates on the windy side.

If there is no wind, work around the hump with shaky head or jig.  Fish all the way around it, probing for rocks and brush where the spots hold.  Jordan fishes his shaky head on a slack line, hopping and twitching his rod tip to make the worm jump and wiggle.

3.  N 34 00.320 – W 87 11.579 – Going into Dismal Creek the first point on your right is a flat clay point that runs way out.  It is deep on both sides and has some brush on it.  Keep your boat out in 25 feet of water and fish from ten to 20 feet deep. 

This place and others are good at night, too.  Boat traffic will make weekends rough on Smith so night fishing is a good choice.  Jordan likes a dark night with no moon and concentrates on the deeper areas of this point and other places with is shaky head and jig and pig.

Jordan fishes his three sixteenths ounce custom made shaky head on a St. Croix Legend Extreme medium action 7-0-foot spinning rod and spools with ten-pound braid with a 12-foot fluorocarbon leader. He puts a green pumpkin Zoom Trick worm on it.  This allows him to make long cast, get the bait down fast and feel the bait better.

4.  N 34 00.291 – W 87 11.809 – Across the creek a bluff bank ends in a small cove.  A house sits up on the upstream bluff and has a high walkway going to the dock.  The downstream point of the cove has a point that runs out toward the creek channel.

Stay out on the end of the point, straight out from it, in 50 feet of water and cast toward the bank.  It is a hard clay bottom, almost as good as rocks, and has some brush on it. 

This is another good night place, too. During the day early in the morning work topwater over it, then fish the bottom with jig and shaky head.  Watch for schooling fish here, too. Jordan caught a couple of keepers, over the 13 to 15-inch slot size limit that must be released.

Several times spots hit Jordan’s Sexy Dawg three or four times before he hooked it. When that happens, he keeps the bait moving at a steady pace, not stopping or speeding up, and does not set the hook until he feels the fish.  He likes a white or chrome walking bait.

More that once a big spot missed his bait and a smaller one took it. You can see the fish in the clear water.  And often, there were several others following a hooked fish. If you see them doing that get your partner to cast to them as fast as possible.

5.  N 33 59.283 – W 87 08.782 – Going toward the dam past Rock Creek, on your right is a double cove in the turn toward the dam.  The downstream point of it drops off fast on the upstream side but is long and flat, coming way off the bank.  There is a single small sweet gum tree on the edge of the water on the point.

Stop out in 50 feet of water on the upstream side and cast across it downstream, working out to 20 feet deep on top of it.  The bottom is clay and there are some stumps on it.  Probe for them with your shaky head and jig and pig.

6.  N 33 58.952 – W 87 08.424 – Across the river and a little downstream, the upstream point of a big bay that goes back and splits into two small arms is a good place.  It is a flat clay point with some small gravel around it and there is a blue “For Sale” sign in front of a small wood building.

Stop out in 40 feet of water and fish the point out to 20 feet deep.  Work from the river side out to the end of it, covering the bottom with jig and pig and shaky head.  Jordan fishes a three eights ounce peanut and butter jig with a green pumpkin Zoom chunk on it.

7.  N 33 57.431 – W 87 06.766 – Going toward the dam, as soon as you round the point on your right and see the dam, stop on the point.  It is clay that turns into riprap on the downstream side. The yard comes right down to the riprap.

This is a big flat point where bass school first thing in the morning.  Stay way out from the bank, it runs out a long way, and cover it with topwater when the light is low.  Watch for swirls and cast to them as fast as possible.

When the sun is bright, work your jig and pig and shaky head on the bottom.  Hop and move the jig quickly, don’t just slowly drag it along the bottom. Spots like action so work it with a lot of movement, just like the shaky head.

8.  N 33 57.388 – W 87 06.299 – Go into the mouth of Ryan Creek and on your right a long narrow cove separates two main creek points.  The upstream point forms a ledge on the creek side, runs downstream and has some stumps on it.  There are green “For Sale” signs on the bank and a new house is being built across the narrow cove.

Stay on the creek side and cast to the bank, the water drops fast.  Work from the edge of the bank out over the ledge. Work topwater over it then work the bottom with shaky head and jig.  Work them quickly but keep in contact with the bottom.  Keep forward movement slow enough to stay on the bottom as it drops off, but give both baits lots of action with your rod tip.

9.  N 33 57.480 – W 87 05.842 – Just upstream a big triple arm cove goes back to your right where the Ryqan Creek creek channel swings left.  The main creek channel runs in near the downstream point and forms a rock ledge.  The bank here forms two round rock points that go out to the ledge.  There are “For Sale” signs here, too.

Jordan says a shaky head is best here, but keep your topwater ready.  Cast your worm right to the bank and work it out and down the ledge.  Move it forward slowly enough to stay in bottom contact, but keep the worm hopping and shaking on your slack line.

10.  N 33 56.982 – W 87 06.773 – Going down the river toward the dam, the last big cove on your right before the Smith Lake Dam boat ramp splits into three small arms.  The downstream point is clay and runs upstream, across the mouth of the cove.  There is a small dead tree standing near the water just inside the point.  Spots hold and eat here.

Stop out in 70 feet of water on the river side of the point and cast across it, fishing it out from 10 to 20 feet deep on top.  Fish your topwater over it and work the bottom with shaky head and jig and pig.  There is some brush on it to hit with those baits.

These places were holding good fish in June and will be better now, and fish will feed on them all summer. Give them a try day or night to catch some good Smith Lake spots.

with Chandler Holt

Catch big largemouth and Coosa spots in grass or go a little deeper for them on ledges, points and bluffs.  Both patterns will produce good limits of fish this month on Lay Lake on just about any bait you like to throw, so you have a lot of options right now.

Lay Lake is an Alabama Power lake on the Coosa River south of I-20, just downstream of Logan
Martin.  The upper end is riverine but downstream there are big grass flats, shallow creeks and pockets and river ledges and bluffs to fish. It is a fertile lake and produces fat largemouth and spots with 20-pound tournament limits common.

Chandler Holt is a senior at Briarwood Christian
High School and has been on the fishing team for all four years there.  His parents didn’t fish but have fully supported him after he got into tournament fishing. He started fishing farm ponds around his home but got hooked on bass fishing and tournaments, and his parents got him a boat when he was 16.  His fishing team coach is Curtis Gossett and the team has done well.

Over the past ten years as a high school bass team coach, Curtis’s teams have won four state championships, one southeast championship and one national championship.  His fishermen have placed third once and fourth three times in the national championship tournament.  

During his time coaching, Curtis has had two BASS High School All Americans, including his son Zeke, a Jacksonville State senior fishing team member.  At this year’s Bassmasters Classic, Zeke won the college championship on Lay on Sunday and got to weigh in on the Classic stage. 

On Saturday, Chandler fished the high school championship on Lay and got to weigh in on the Classic stage, placing second just nine oucnes out of first place. Chandler has done well fishing at the high school level and just signed a scholarship with University of Montevallo to fish on that college team next year.

Although he is just starting his fishing career, he has had great support from his parents and coaching from Curtis, as well as studying everything he can find on-line about bass fishing, to make him and excellent young fisherman. He considers Lay Lake his home lake.

“Some big bass spawn in March, but most Lay largemouth spawn in April. Most spots spawn from mid-
March through April,” Chandler said. So right now you have some of both species post spawn and spawning, and many still on a pre spawn pattern.  That gives you lots of options.

A wide variety of baits will work on all three patterns, but Chandler has his favorites.  He loves to throw a swim jig, bladed jig and spinnerbait in grass, and flip a punch bait into it.  For fishing bluffs and and open water areas, he will have a spinnerbait, a big worm Texas rigged, a big crankbait and a drop shot worm ready.

Chandler and Curtis took me fishing on Lay the first week of March, and it rained like it did every day then.  The river current was fast and the lake was full and stained to muddy except back in some creeks.  He was trying to find a good pattern for the highs school championship the following Saturday. 

The following places were already good, producing two four-pound largemouth and a 3.5-pound spot as well as several more solid keeper bass in the five hours we fished. And while we fished Curtis’s son Zeke practiced for his College tournament on Sunday.  He mostly fished the following bluff bank pattern and caught five spots weighing 20.17 pounds on his scales!

1.  N 33 10.657 – W 86 31.141 – Put in at Beeswax Park and there is not need to crank your big motor.  There is a good grass bed running along the bank downstream of the ramp and many released fish go to it and hold and feed there.  We started here and Chandler quickly caught a 3.5-pound spot on a Z-Man Jackhammer, his favorite chatterbait. He was using a white bait with a silver blade in the muddy water. He will also throw black and blue in stained water but goes to a green pumpkin bait in clear water.

Fish from the ramp downstream, working all the grass. It looked dead, and Chandler said it might have been sprayed this year, but hopefully it will come back. Both largemouth and spots will hold and feed in this grass both pre and post spawn, and will spawn in the grass, too.

Hit any variation or transition in the grass like points, holes and cuts here and in all other grassbeds you fish.  Try a swim jig and spinnerbait in the more open grass, and punch the thick places with a punch bait, especially on sunny days.

2.  N 33 10.779 – W 86 30.771 – Across Beeswax

Creek a small island sits off the upstream point of a big cove.  There is a huge house on the point with a rock seawall then a steep wall further back. Go back into the creek to about half-way between the house and garage behind it.  Grass runs out from the seawall here that holds good fish.

    Fish the grass on this side then work further back into the creek, hitting all the cuts, points and holes with swim jig, bladed jig and spinnerbait.  We caught a long skinny largemouth here on a Z-Man Chatterbait that weighed about four pounds.

    Chandler says he reels the Jackhammer along steadily then gives it little pauses and speeds it up, making it dart with an action the fish love.  He also fishes a Dirty Jigs swim jig with a matching Baby Paca Craw on a Temple Fork Outfitters seven-foot three inch heavy action Pacemaker rod.  You need the heavy rod to get the fish out of the grass.  In stained to muddy water like we fished in most areas he likes a dark jig, but the water was much clearer back here and he used a white or bluegill color bait for it.

    3.  Go out to the long point running out from the left bank near the mouth of the creek and stop out from the Greek style gazebo on the bank.  It looks like a big mushroom on pillars.  The seawall running along this bank out to and around the point is an excellent feeding and staging area for bass moving in and out of the creek.

Keep your boat out a long cast from the bank and cast your baits right against it.  Where the grass is thin, a spinnerbait or bladed jig is good.  Chandler likes a white War Eagle bait with white blades in the muddy water but goes with something chartreuse and blue with silver blades in clear water.

Work around the point to the pocket on the downstream side. Hit the thick grass near it with your punch bait and swim jig.  Fish the dock in the pocket, the downstream point of it and the grass on that side, too.  

4.  N 33 10.712 – W 86 30.242 – Go out to the river and look downstream. Green channel marker 39 sits way off the downstream point of Beeswax Creek and a good ledge with brush on it is upstream of it. Idle over the river ledge from even with the mouth of
Beeswax going downstream toward the marker to find the brush in 5 to 15 feet deep.  Both pre and post spawn largemouth and spots hold in it this month.

Early in the day Chandler fishes the shallower brush but goes deeper as the sun gets bright.  He stays off the brush and cast a 6XD crankbait in shad colors if he sees fish holding over the brush.  If the fish are showing up down in the brush he uses a watermelon candy Ol’ Monster worm behind a three sixteenths to one half ounce sinker, a three sixteenths ounce shaky head or a drop shot worm to fish the brush.

Current moving through the brush helps the bite, as it does on all river places.  Some breeze ruffling the surface of the water will help fishing everywhere.  Try to cast up current and work your bait with the current in a natural movement way.

5.  N 33 10.179 – W 86 29.705 – going down the river, Sally Branch enters on your right where the river channel swings to the left.  Just downstream of the branch the bank is a steep rock bluff running downstream a couple hundred yards. At the end of the bluff it flattens out a little and has some grass on the edge just upstream of a small pocket.

Stop at the pocket and fish the wood cover and grass back in it, some fish will spawn in these small pockets.  Then fish the rocky point on the upstream side, working a shaky head on it as well as a crankbait and spinnerbait.  When the current is strong like it was the day we fished, largemouth will often pull inside the point out of the current while spots will stay on it in the current and feed.

If the current allows, come out of the pocket and work upstream, fishing the grass with swim jig, bladed jig and spinnebait. When you get to the bluff wall watch for little rock points, outcroppings that break the current.  Cast a half ounce spinnerbait or jig and pig into these eddies. 

This is a good pattern for big spots.  Zeke caught most of his big limit doing this and had a five-pound spot.  The current was so strong when we were here we went up almost up to the branch and let the current carry the boat downstream backwards, with Chandler pitching a black and blue jig into the eddy then Curtis, on the trolling motor, would hit it with his spinnerbait.

6.  N 33 12.005 – W 86 29.303 – Going up the river past Bulley Branch on the left, red channel marker 48 sits off the right bank. Behind it is a flat running to the bank where a riprap point with grass on it is on the upstream point of a small cove. 

Stop out from the marker and idle close enough to the point to fish it with your grass baits. Then work into the cove and fish there.  Bass feed on the point pre and post spawn and move into to the cove to spawn.  Largemouth will also pull back into the coved to get out of strong current, but spots will stay out in it and feed.

Chandler says the Jackhammer is worth its high cost because it has an action better than other similar baits.  He says when he gives it a little jerk while working it through the grass it darts in an action that is irresistible to bass.

7.  N 33 11.408 – W 86 29.892 – Across the river and downstream, the mouth of Bulley Creek has a ledge across it where bass hole both pre and post spawn.  Green channel marker 43 is on the upstream end of this ledge but it runs across the mouth of the creek downstream.

Stop out in 20 feet of water and cast a big crankbait up into the mouth of the creek, bumping bottom with it from 12 feet deep out to the drop.  Also fish it with your Ol’ Monster worm and shaky head.  Chandler puts a black Trick worm on his three sixteenths ounce shaky head.

8.  N 33 11.054 – W 86 29.891 – Going down the river past the mouth of Pope Branch, watch for a yellow and brown house on the upstream point of a small cove.  Stop out from the point and you will see a private ramp in the cove behind the boat house.  That ramp is actually the old road and you can see the bridge piling on the right bank.  The roadbed is on a ridge that runs across the mouth of the cove and holds bass.

Stay a long cast out from the ramp and work across the cove, casting a shaky head, spinnerbait and jig and pig across the roadbed and point. Work it up the inside drop, across the top then down the outside drop.

9.  33 09.219 – W 86 29.175 – Run down the river to the mouth of Flat Branch on the right. Paradise Point Marina is back in it.  The upstream point of the branch is a steep rocky point and there are two signs on it, one for the marina and one for land for sale. Both spots and largemouth hold on the point pre and post spawn.  

Chandler says this is a “twofer” point. First you can fish the grass along the edge with your grass baits. Then you can work around the point with shaky head and jig and pig, targeting fish holding in seven or eight feet of water.  There are big chunk rock on the bottom at that depth the spots love.

10. N 33 09.927 – W 86 29.060 – Going back up the river the right bank is steep and there is no development on it.  Where it opens back to the right you will see some low brown buildings marking part of the Alabama 4-H Youth Development Center.  Downstream of it a bluff bank runs out to a couple of small points on the river.

Depending on current, stop on the downstream point and fish it with crankbait, shaky head, jig and worm. Then work up the bluff, casting spinnerbait and jig and pig into eddies behind any protrusion on the bank. Rocks and blowdowns will break the current and offer a feeding spot for bass to hold. 

If the current is strong, go up to the end of the bluff and fish it drifting backwards with the current, using your trolling motor to control speed and boat position.

Fish were hitting on these spots a few weeks ago, our best five from them weighed about 14 pounds. Zeke, fishing similar places, had 20 pounds. You can catch Lay Lake spots and largemouth like that for the next six weeks.

Pre-spawn bass in the grass and feeding on points leading to bedding areas, eating just about any bait you cast.  Neely Henry can’t be beat for March fishing, where those hard fighting Coosa spots are fighting with quality largemouth for your lure.

Neely Henry is an 11,235-acre lake on the Coosa River at Gadsden running 77 miles from its dam to the Weiss dam upstream.   The upper lake is mostly river, with some oxbows and sloughs. The lower lake has big flats and creeks to fish. The whole lake has extensive shallow grassbeds, docks, rocks and sandy bottoms that are important in the spring.

Peyton Nance grew up right on the lake in Attalla. His father and grandfather took him fishing as far back as he can remember.  His father entered them into a tournament on Neely Henry when Peyton was ten years old, and he fell in love with bass tournament fishing.

Peyton’s uncle, Brian Colegrove, was a well-known tournament fisherman in the area for years. He also taught Peyton a lot about bass fishing.

 He fished some high school tournaments but concentrated on playing football and made the Auburn football team. He has been on the football team and the fishing team at Auburn the past three years.

Peyton also fishes local pot and buddy tournaments on Neely Henry as often as his college schedule allows and does well in them.  As we fished, he constantly pointed to places and said things like “we got a limit there weighing 18 pounds,” or “thats where we won the tournament in the last hour, catching five weighing 19.5 pounds.”

Two days after Peyton and I fished Neely Henry, he and his dad won the big ninth annual Rat-L-Trap tournament at Guntersville with five bass weighing 22.79 with a 7.03 kicker!

“By the end of February, water is warming enough, and days have gotten long enough that both spots and largemouth are concentrating on spawning,” Peyton said.  They are positioning themselves near spawning flats and feeding heavily to get ready.  They may move some with changing conditions day to day, but they will be near the spawning flats all this month.

“I usually keep it simple in March with just five baits out, and three of them are crankbaits,” Peyton said.  He always has a DT 4 and DT 6 as well as a Little John squarebill in shad colors rigged.  Those baits cover the water depth he fishes this month.

To back them up, he has a white swim jig and a white and chartruese bladed jig ready to fish in the grass. Although those five baits will cover almost all situations, he will also be ready to pull out a rattlebait, bladed jig, shaky head and jig and pig if the situation calls for them.

Peyton and I fished the first Friday in February, the day after the flooding rain. The river current was ripping as the Alabama Power Company released water trying to get ready for all the new water coming in, and it was muddy everywhere.  The lake dropped four feet from Thursday afternoon to Friday morning, making it tough for us.

The following places are good all month long. You may have to adjust some based on daily conditions, but you can have great catches of both spots and largemouth right now.

1.  N 33 56.624 – W 86 01.221 – Going up the river just upstream of the Highway 77 bridges, a slough enters the river on your right.  AS you enter it splits to the left and right. To your left two small pockets are full of grass where March feed heavily. The point coming off the left bank at a blue pumphouse runs way out across the slough and holds staging bass.

Peyton eases into the slough and stops in the middle of the left side, out from the point between the two arms. But that is not the point he fishes; the point to fish comes off the left side across the mouth of the left pocket. It has big stumps on it the bass use for cover, ambushing shad moving into the coves.

Sit in about eight feet of water at full pool and make long casts across the point.  Depending on water level, you want to bump the bottom two to five feet deep, and Peyton chooses the DT right for that depth, a four for hitting up to four feet deep and the six for up to six feet deep.

After fishing the point, go into the grass and fish around both pockets with swim jig and bladed jig. Watch for birds in the grass, indicating baitfish is present. When we fished white cranes were feasting on shad that had gotten trapped in the grass by the rapidly dropping water.

This short pocket right on the river gives early bass fast access to the shallows.  There were a few bass chasing shad here, and a couple bumped Peyton’s bladed jig out in front of the grass, but the muddy water made it tough to hook up.

2.  N 33 57.048 – W 86 00.885 – Going up the river from the bridges, a roadbed runs right along the edge of the water on the left. Go to where the bank swings back to the right and leaves the roadbed.  There is a brown fishing dock with blue chairs on it, in front of two camping trailers. Start at that dock.

The river channel swings in right on this corner and largemouth, with a few spots mixed in, feed on the riprap alone the bank.  Cast your squarebill right on the rocks and bump them as you reel out.  Peyton likes a shad colored bait most days, but if the water is stained up bad, he will go with a red color.

Fish up to the first small point past the dock and fish it hard. It is rocky and worth a few casts with a shaky head or jig and pig after using your crankbait.  Sometimes fish on the point just want a slow-moving bait.

3.  N 33 56.846 – W 86 00.379 – Going upstream past the big pocket with the marina but before you get to the small island, a white wood fence is on a point on your left.  The point out from it is pea gravel and holds pre-spawn bass going into the cut behind it to spawn, but spots will spawn out on the point.

Peyton will fan cast it with his crankbaits, bumping the bottom with them. He will also try a rattle bait and likes a chrome with blue back Rat-L-Trap, buzzing it across the point. Some days the bass just seem to want that noisy vibrating action more than a wiggling crankbait.

4.  N 33 57.096 – W 86 00.453 – Go back into the big pocket with the marina in it.  The water in the mouth of it is very shallow but a channel is marked with poles to get into it. Big grass beds all around the back hold feeding fish all month, and some will spawn in here in March since the shallow water warms fast.

Peyton says he starts at the marina on the right side of it and fishes all the way around the back. He says if you hit every blade of grass in here with a swim jig like a three-eights white 6^th Sense jig with a white Rage Craw trailer on it, you will catch a limit most days.  He normally uses a half ounce swim jig, but this shallow water calls for the lighter one.

You will be fishing shallow water, most less than two feet deep, and you will have to trim up your motor to keep it from dragging.  But the fish are hear even in the very thin water.  Toward the end of the month in warmer water, a frog like a Ribbet, reeled over and through the grass, will also catch fish here.

5.  N 33 56.101 – W 86 02.090 – Going back down the river under the bridges, a development with rainbow colored houses is on your left. At the end of them is the opening to the slough that runs back up parallel to the river.  The upstream point of the opening is a major staging area for bass moving into the slough to spawn.

Peyton says there are big logs and stumps on this point that the fish use.  Stop out on the end of it on the river side and fan cast it with crankbait, bumping bottom at different depths, then buzz a rattle bait on it.  Work upstream covering the end five or six feet deep all the way up to a foot deep at the bank.

Since this slough runs upstream, muddy water does not push into it fast and it will be clearer than the river when it first muddies up.  There was a definite mud line across its mouth the day we fished.  When this happens, shad and bass will often move back into the clearer water. 

Under those conditions, go back into the slough and fish the grass with swim jig and bladed jig.  We tried that, but the fast dropping water must have pulled the fish out with it. Under stable conditions, this pattern will work on tough days.

6.  N 33 54.707 – W 86 04.031 – Going down the river channel marker 12 sits on the downstream point of one of the islands in the string of them out from the bank.  Behind it is an old sand quarry and big spawning flats, and Peyton says the point is a place many bass hold on moving in during the month. Late in March there may even be some post spawn fish moving back out during a warm month.

Stop out on the river side. With the water down we could see the point of the island behind the marker drops down into a saddle that comes back up onto a hump with a big log on it. Peyton says that saddle is the key spot for holding fish.

Get your boat in close to the marker and cast toward the bank, across the tip end of the island in close to it in a foot of water.  Use both crankbaits, bladed jig and rattle baits. Work them all the way across the saddle, bumping bottom until you get to the log. Unless the water is real high you should be able to see them. Work a jig or shaky head through them.

Peyton chooses his jig based on water color, using black and blue in stained water and green in clear.  But with both he uses a green pumpkin chunk trailer.  Work the log carefully with it.

7.  N 33 51.527 – W 86 05.733 – Canoe Creek is a big creek on the right downstream where the river makes a sharp turn to the left. It is wide and shallow, so be careful back in it. Go in to where is swings to the right. Straight ahead is Permeter Creek and a bridge crosses near the mouth of it.

Peyton says bass hold on the riprap and move to the bank on the downstream right end of it to spawn back in the flat there.  Start at the bridge and cast your crankbaits along the rocks, bumping them from right on the bank down to six feet deep. Sun on the rocks will warm them and make the bite better, especially early in the month. And Peyton likes a little breeze in all the places he fishes, enough to ruffle the water and break up his baits silhouette.  That improves the bite.

Fish to the end of the rocks and the area at the end of them.  Bass bed back in here so later in the month, drag your shaky head and jig on the bottom in likely bedding spots.

8.  N 33 51.686 – W 86 05.678 – Just upstream  of the mouth of Permeter Creek a long shallow  point runs out.  If you have a good GPS map on your electronics, or a paper map, you can see how the Canoe Creek channel hits the bank upstream of it then turns and runs a long way along it. Fish hold all along the channel drop and move up it to spawning areas.

Leaving the riprap you have to swing way out, it is only a couple feet deep going across the point.  Get way out on the end of the point with your boat in the channel in 10 – 15 feet of water.  You will be a short cast from the top of the point that is three to five feet deep.  Cast your DT 6 up on top then bump it along the bottom until it clears the drop. Your bites will usually be right on the lip of the channel.

Also work your shaky head the same way. Peyton rigs a green pumpkin Big Bite Baits finesse worm on a three sixteenths ounce Spot Sticker head and crawls it along the bottom. When it gets to the drop, feed it line so it falls down the slope on the bottom.

This drop is long enough you can spend a lot of time fishing it, and going back over places you catch fish is worth it.

9.  N 33 51.768 – W 86 06.077 – Going up Canoe Creek a big ramp, Canoe Creek Park, is on your left.  There are a few houses downstream of it with a riprap bank in front of them. Stop downstream of the last house from the ramp and fish upstream to the pocket above the ramp.

This bank is an outside bend of the creek. The riprap and docks along it hold bass as does the wood cover along the bank. Just downstream of them there are a lot of blowdowns that are good to fish and there are stumps all along the bank, too.

Fish your squarebill crankbait, bumping rocks and wood, then follow up with your jig and pig, fishing it close to all the cover.  Released fish refresh this bank every weekend.

10.  N 33 52.343 – W 86 06.223 – Muscadine Creek enters Canoe Creek on the left a little further upstream. A big house with some big tall trees in front of it sits on the point between the two creeks. It is a big, flat, shallow point where spots and largemouth stack up pre-spawn moving into both creeks.

Peyton says you can have your best day ever for spots right here in March.  To prove his point, he hooked a spot that looked like it weighed about five pounds but came off right at the boat.

You should sit on the Muscadine Creek side in about seven feet of water just off the end of the point.  Fan cast it with your crankbaits, that is what the big spot hit.  Also try crawling your bladed jig on the bottom. We got a good three pound largemouth here on one.

There are some big stumps and gravel on the point. 
A shaky head will catch fish here, too.  Fan cast all over the point, hitting water three to five feet deep.

These places are producing spots and largemouth right now.  Check them out and catch some!