April Bass at Lake Guntersville

with Curt Staley

    Most bass fishermen would pick April as the best month of the year for fishing. And most bass fishermen would pick Lake Guntersville as the best bass lake in Alabama for an incredible catch. So, put the two together and pick Guntersville as your lake to fish every chance you get right now.

    Guntersville is an incredible bass fishery with most major tournament trails scheduling events on it each year.  State trails, local pot tournaments and club tournaments are held there every week.  The lake is often covered with tournament fishermen practicing or fishing an event and hundreds of other bass fishermen are on the lake testing its waters.

    Built in 1939 on the Tennessee River, Guntersville is a Tennessee Valley Authority lake with 67,900 acres of bass filled waters and has 890 miles of shoreline.  But the shoreline is not as critical as it is on other lakes since the lake has vast shallow flats and grass beds even in the middle along the old river channel.  Guntersville is definitely a bass factory.

    In the 2008 Bass Information Team Report, (BAIT) Guntersville showed the highest average weight for a bass in tournaments and also was the lake where it took the least amount of time to catch a bass weighing over five pounds. 

    But it can be tough fishing. Guntersville ranked 19^th out of 20 lakes in the survey in percent of success and dead last in the number of bass caught per angler day. Part of those low numbers are due to the 15 inch size limit, making it harder to bring in a keeper bass in a tournament.

    So, you have a better chance of catching a five pound plus bass on Guntersville than any other lake in the state but you will not catch a lot of keeper bass. The ones you do catch will be fat and healthy, and the 15 inch size limit insures a good future supply of bigger bass, but there will be frustrating days where the catch rate is very low.

    Good advice will help you catch more bass this month on Guntersville and Curt Staley can provide the information you need.  Curt moved to the Guntersville area as a teenager 16 years ago when his father moved there for a job. Since Curt has been fishing since he was big enough to walk, and his father was a bass tournament fisherman, competing on the old Redman trail as well as others, it was like throwing a rabbit into a briar patch.  It was a perfect fit.

    Curt took advantage of living near the lake and studied it carefully.  For the past ten years he has been guiding on Guntersville as well as fishing as many tournaments there as possible.  He fishes about 290 days a year and 240 of them are on Guntersville, so he knows the movements of bass there very well.

    Last year Curt placed second in the BASS Weekend Series Alabama North circuit, after winning the points race in 2008 on that trail.  He placed third in the regionals and then came in 18^th in the nationals in 2008 and 9^th in 2009.  Curt is on the Triton Pro Staff through The Boat House in Athens and is a tough competitor, and Guntersville is his favorite lake.

    “Our major spawn on Guntersville is in mid-April, but waves of bass move into the spawning flats from late March to May,” Curt said.  He expects to catch bass shallow from now through April, and will catch prespawn fish, fish on the beds and post spawn fish.

    One great thing about Guntersville is the way you can find huge spawning flats that may contain hundreds of bass at any time this month.  You can start on the contact points where the prespawn fish first move in and where they hold in post spawn, and go just a short distance and find others on the bed.

    Curt fishes shallow this time of year, fishing water two to six feet deep. But he slows down.  Curt says the bass are less aggressive now, especially the bigger ones, so gone are the rattle baits and other fast moving baits. He will have a split shot Baby Brush Hog, a Senko, and a Lil Hustler jig and Zoom Craw rigged up for catching fish now.

    Curt does not look for bass on the bed to sight fish for them but will cast to them if he spots a big female.  His methods catch bedding bass but it is often hard to spot the beds on Guntersville so he fishes the bedding flats knowing he will drag his bait across beds.

    He will also watch for light spots that indicate a hole in the grass on them, It might be a bed, it might be a stump, or it might just be a hole in the grass where the bottom is hard, but bass will be there no matter what caused it.

    On a cold, windy day the last weekend in February Curt showed me some of his best spots on the lake for April bass. The bass were still in the winter pattern but a few were trying to move up to the pre spawn areas even that early.  Check out these ten spots now, they all be loaded with fish.

    If you put in at the ramp across from Waterfront Grocery and Fishing Tackle you will be in the middle of all these spots and can get everything you need from tackle to grub at the store. The day we put in there were several tournaments out of this ramp and both parking lots were full, but a trailer set up there provided some fantastic BBQ for hungry fishermen.

    1.  N 34 31,513 – W 86 09.825 – Run up to Preston Creek and stop at the middle point between the two forks. It is a steep point with riprap around it and nice houses on the hill.  Curt likes to start on the point where the rock seawall ends and the riprap starts and work to the right, toward the fork of the creek with the small island in the mouth of it.

    “Bass move into this creek by the thousands to spawn,” Curt said.  They will hit this main point and the island then move on back on both forks to spawn.  After the spawn they move back out to the point and island on the way back to deeper water, so you can catch them coming and going off the point and island and on the beds back in the shallow flats.

    Keep your boat out in about ten feet of water and work a jig and pig, Senko or Baby Brush Hog on the rocks around the point. Concentrate on the areas where there are bigger rocks and also the wood cover.  Fish around the docks carefully, bass often hold on them. Jump over to the island and fish around it, too, working the shallows where there are rocks and blowdowns.

    After hitting these areas work on into the back of the creek, slowly working each of your baits along the bottom, dragging them through the beds that will be there even if you don’t see them. The bass will bed all over the right fork in two to six feet of water so don’t just cast to the bank, work the whole flat in those depths.

    2.  N 34 30.756 – W 86 08.419 – Across the lake you will see a line of islands across the mouth of a big slough. There is a church in the back so this is called Church House Slough and it a major spawning area.  The bass will hold around the islands then move back into the slough to bed.

    Start out in front of the islands and work them, fishing through the grass beds with one of your slower moving baits for bigger bass. We got a good keeper here the day we fished and bass will feed around the islands year round, so it is a good spot to hit.

    Work on back into the slough, fishing slowly and looking for light spots in the grass in two to six feet of water.  If you cast and hit a stump, work it hard.  Hit it from all anglers. Curt says he is sure there is at least one bass beside every stump this time or year so he does everything he can to make it hit.

    It is not unusual to catch more than one bass off a stump, too. Curt says he often takes three or four good fish off the same stump, so don’t move too fast.  Give the bass a chance to bite. Remember that these bass tend to get sluggish near the spawn, so even if they are holding in the same areas where a rattle bait worked a few weeks ago you will do better now by slowing down.

    3.  N 34 29.293 – W 86 09.654 – Head down the lake to the next big slough on your left.  Curt says this is Murphy Hill and it is just downstream of a big island. There is a small island in the mouth of Murphy Hill.

    The downsream point of this slough has some rocks and as you go into the slough on that side there are a lot of blowdowns on the right bank back in the slough.  Bass often hold in the wood cover to feed both pre and post spawn and will spawn around the trees, too.

    All over the cove in the middle you will see lily pad stems sticking up and bass will feed and spawn around them, too. Work all around these shallow flats, probing for stumps and casting to light spots. Fan cast the whole area to drag your bait by a bedding bass.

    Curt says one of his tricks it to rig the Baby Brush Hog on a split shot rig. He crimps two small split shots about 12 inches up the line from his bait and fishes it slowly over the flats. He says the split shot rig seems to catch more bass than either Texas or Carolina rigged baits. The light shot come through the grass and also makes you slow down.

    4.  N 34 29.019 – W 86 10.576 – Run downstream and you will pass two riprap points that run well off the bank. Past the second one a slough will open up on your left just past a duck blind on the point.  Go into the slough and start fishing just inside the duckblind.

    Curt said last year he and a partner fished this slough for three hours and landed 65 bass in April.  That gives you an idea of the numbers of fish that can be spawning in these coves.  This one has a little deeper water in it that some others and seems to attract bigger bass.

    One of the reasons Curt likes this slough so much is he landed his best Guntersville bass here. He caught a 12 pound, 4 ounce beauty here in April and released it to spawn, and possibly be caught again.

    As you fish this slough work both arms of it. As you round the middle flat point with another duck blind on it, you will see a refrigerator on the bank, which will tell you this is the right area to be working.  There are also some blowdowns on the bank past it toward the river that hold fish.

    5.  N 34 28.172 – W 86 11.321 – A little further downstream a string of islands sits out from Mountain Lakes Resorts and you want to fish around them.  Go in behind the first island, the one out from the campground, and fish the back side of it up to the firs gap. Work the gap, especially if some wind is blowing through it. Wind will move the baitfish through gaps like this and bass will follow to feed on them.

    Fish the front side of the next island and work it carefully. Wind blowing in on this bank will improve the fishing it is not too strong.  Keep your boat well off the band make long casts, probing for underwater cover like rocks.

    Behind the islands look for shallow flat points running out and you will find bass spawning on them.  Fan cast all over shallows you find here.  Stumps hold bass here as in other places.

    Curt likes to fish his Lil Hustler jig on 17 to 20 pound fluorocarbon line and uses 15 pound fluorocarbon on his split shot Baby Brush Hog and Senko. The heavier line is necessary for the big fish you will hook and the grass they can get into.  But the clearer line helps you get more bites.

    6.  N 34 33.605 – W 86 07.947 – Head back up the river on the other side to the first opening into Mink Creek.  There are several islands across the mouth of the creek and the main channel is upstream, but go in through the first gap you come to running upstream.

    Ahead of you when you come through the gap you will see a shallow flat point with a two door beige boat house to the left of it.  Out on the end of the point there are several stumps and rootballs piled up on the bank right at the water’s edge.

    There are lots of shallow flat points covered with stumps in this area.  Curt starts at the boathouse, fishing around it then working out onto the big flat point.  Work all around it, staying way out on one pass then closer in on the next. Try to cover all the water two to six feet deep in the area.

    There are some incredible five-fish limits caught at Guntersville each April.  Curt’s best was five weighing 27 pounds, nine ounces and he sees 30 pound plus limits in many tournaments.  Fishing areas like this are where many such limits are caught.

    7.  N 34 34.644 – W 86 07.255 – Go to the bridge and under the tunnel in Mink Creek and start fishing the riprap on your right. Work it to the bank, crawling your jig and pig along the rocks and grass in this area. The riprap holds both pre and post spawn fish.

    When you get to the bank fish across the mouth of the small inlet and up the bank past the area where people fish from the bank. Further up the bank you will see an old boat filled with tires in the shallow water. Fish past it, working the grass. Curt got two nice keepers here on his jig and pig and a smaller keeper on a rattle bait the day we fished.

    Toward the bank of the creek you will see a power line crossing and on the right bank there is a sign about dredging.  If you head toward the sign, as a 90 degree angle to the power lines, you will find a spring.  You can see it by the green water coming out of it.  The bottom around it is two to four feet deep but it drops to 15 feet in the spring. 

    The GPS coordinates on the spring are N 34 34.885 – W 86 07.335.  Fish all around the spring.  Fish often hold in the deep hole and feed on the edges, and the water coming out is a stable temperature.

    After fishing this hole ease toward the power lines there is another hole that drops to over 20 feet deep. There is no water flow here to see but fish still hold in the deep water and come to the edges to feed. The holes are just a few yards across so you may have to look hard to find them.

    8. N 34 32.266 – W 86 06.314 – Run across to South Sauty Creek and go in between the upstream bank and the first island. The main channel is downstream and there will be big open water to your right past the island.

    Ahead of you there is a group of houses then banks with trees and some pockets with reeds in the back.  Curt starts fishing on the clay point on the left  across from the last house and works around the point, then across the big flat. Fish into the pockets with reeds in the back. Bass bed all over these flats and in the pockets between the clay point and the houses.

    If the water is fairly clear Curt likes a watermelon, watermelon/purple flake and watermelon candy Baby Brush hog on his split shot rig. He will use a black and blue jig in stained water but go to a watermelon jig and trailer in clear water. For his Senko fishing Curt usually uses green pumpkin or black.

    9.  N 34 31.723 – W 86 06.573 – Out in the middle of the big open water the creek channel makes a sharp bend around a four foot deep hump and bass hold on the channel and feed on the hump, and will bed around it, too.  To find the hump line up the last downstream island out in the mouth of the creek with the red boat house on the far bank.  Also look to the bridge and line it up with the last upstream gap in the islands. That will put you near the hump.

    Fish all around this area, watching your depthfinder until you find the shallow hump. Then work around it, fishing the edges of the channel and on top of the hump, too.  This area is especially good when water is being pulled at the dam and current moves across it.

    10.  N 34 31.154 – W 86 05.252 – Run to the bridge in South Sauty Creek and go under it. To your left you will see a campground on a big point across from a big two story house sitting by itself on a flat bank. Go toward the front of the house and look for a seawall just to the right of it, going into the big cove there.  There are two big trees standing in the open behind the seawall.

    The seawall is hard to see but you need to start fishing out in front of it and work all the way around the cover to your right.   Fish to the big shallow point on the other side of the cove. Bass will hold on the points and bed all over this shallow area.

    These ten spots will give you a starting point for catching April Guntersville bass. Fish them and get an idea of the kinds of places Curt likes to fish, then you can find similar places all over the lake, from the day all the way up the river.  Get in on some of the fabled spring fishing at Guntersville right now.

    To book a trip with Curt to see how he fishes the lake call him at 256-990-0376 or visit his website and email him through it at ww.gundervillebass.com. 

March Bass at Tuscaloosa with Brandon Ligon

     March is a magical month when the world seems to be waking up after a long winter nap. Signs of spring are slowly emerging as the days get longer and warmer. And best of all, bass are becoming more and more active and getting easier to catch.  Lake Tuscaloosa, a nice surprise in a small package, is a great place to take advantage of those active bass right now.

     Lake Tuscaloosa is five miles north of the cities of Northport and Tuscaloosa and covers 5885 acres with 177 miles of shoreline.  It was created at a water supply reservoir for Tuscaloosa and Northport by damming the North River in 1971.

     The lower lake has steep rocky shorelines and the water is usually extremely clear.  All the rain this year has put a little stain in it, making it a little easier to catch the spots that predominate in that area. 

     The upper lake is more river-like and the water is usually a little stained and more fertile than the lower lake.  You can catch more largemouth the further up the river you go, and you will find more shallow water cover to fish.

     Although there were only five tournaments sent in from there, the Bass Angler Information Team survey shows Tuscaloosa as the second highest lake in the state as far as angler percent success, so you can catch a lot of bass there.  In tournaments it ranks first in bass per angler day of all Alabama lakes in the survey, so catching large numbers of bass is not a problem on the lake.

     But the bass tend to be small, with an average bass caught in a tournament weighing only 1.47 pounds, 16^th of the 20 lakes in the survey.  Just over half the bass weighed in are largemouth but that is skewed by the fact tournament fishermen target the heavier largemouth and cull spots with largemouth.

     It may surprise many anglers that it takes less time to catch a bass weighing over five pounds in a tournament on Tuscaloosa than many other more well known lakes.  Tuscaloosa ranks above Lay Lake, Weiss, Logan Martin, Jordan and several other lakes in the amount of hours an angler has to fish to catch a five pound plus bass.

     If you go to Tuscaloosa expect to catch a lot of small spots and largemouth, but if you target bigger largemouth you can catch a five pound plus bass.  For those reasons Tuscaloosa ranks fifth in the state in the overall value ranking on the BAIT survey.

     Brandon Ligon grew up just five minutes from Lake Tuscaloosa and still lives there. He considers Tuscaloosa his home lake and has fished it all his life, making many trips there when very young with his father.  He has become an accomplished tournament fisherman and does well in pot and charity tournaments on the lake. 

     For years Brandon would fish Tuscaloosa several times each week, hitting it after school and at night, and fishing all the local tournaments on it. He keeps up with the bass there and knows where to find them.

     After fishing a few tournaments with the West Alabama Bass Club Brandon started concentrating on pot tournaments on other lakes, too. He became a member of the Grammer Marine Fishing Team and fishes many local tournaments and trails. Last year he slowed down some while he built a house, but the year before he won the Woods and Waters Solo Trail point standings and has done well in many other tournaments on Tuscaloosa.

     A five fish limit over 16 pounds is Brandon’s best weigh-in at Tuscaloosa and he has landed a five pound plus spot and a couple of seven pound largemouth from the lake.  He says a 15 pound five-fish limit is a good catch here and most limits will weigh less than ten pounds since most will be small spots. 

     “In late February the bass here start the transition from deep water toward the spawning areas,” Brandon said.  The bass move up shallower on points and into the first parts of the creeks. Warm days make them move up more but a cold spell can move them back, so they tend to hold near deep water.

     As the days get warmer into March this movement becomes more pronounced and greater numbers of bass can be found shallow. By the end of the month you will catch more bass but they will still be in the same areas, feeding and getting ready for the spawn.

     There are grass beds all over the lake and they are a prime feeding area for bass, even before its starts greening up and growing. Baitfish are attracted to the old brown grass to feed and bass follow. As the grass puts out new growth it just gets better.

     Rocks are common and rocky points and bluff banks hold bass year round. They move up toward the points at the ends of bluff banks and then up onto the shallow areas of the points as they make their seasonal migration.  And wood cover like blowdowns, stumps and logs hold them on those points and other shallow areas.

     A variety of baits will catch bass right now and Brandon will have several rigged and ready.  A crankbait like a Bandit 200 or 300 series works well on the points, especially early in the morning.   In the clear lower lake Brandon will throw a natural color but switches to chartreuse in the stained water.

     In late February and early March a jerk bait will often pay off in the clear water, too. Brandon likes a Rogue but says your favorite jerk bait will catch fish, so use the one you have the most confidence in.  Rattlebaits like a half-ounce Rat-L-Trap or an XR 50 also catch a lot of fish this time of year.

     For slower fishing Brandon says a Carolina rig is hard to beat and will catch a lot of spots on the lake.  He likes a Zoom Finesse worm or small lizard in watermelon, green pumpkin or pumpkin in the clear water or something with chartreuse in it if the water is stained.  He also throws a small worm on a shaky head a lot on the lower lake and says spots love it.

     For a kicker fish up the lake, Brandon will use a jig and pig and flip or pitch it around heavy cover for largemouth.  Since the water is usually stained a black and blue combination of jig and trailer usually works well.

     Brandon showed me around Lake Tuscaloosa a couple of weeks ago on a cold, sunny day.  We hit the following ten spots and fish were on several of them and more will move onto them now.

     1. N 33 17.493 – W 87 30.671 – If you put in at the dam run up to the first bend to your left and  you will see the North River Yacht Club back in a cove on your right.  The up stream point of this cove runs way out and is very shallow on top, only five feet deep 50 yards off the bank. It is a perfect place for bass to move up to feed this time of year since it runs out to very deep water, is shallow on top and leads into a good spawning cove.

     You will see some picnic tables on the bank on the point and there is a dock on the upstream side of it where it transitions into a bluff bank. The dock had a rusty tin roof on it.  The water near the bank in shallow but it drops  off very deep on both sides out on the point.  

     Brandon says you can catch a thousand small spots here on any day but he got a nice two pound plus spot here the day we fished. It hit his Bandit crankbait and Brandon said he would love to have a limit of them in the tournament he was fishing the next weekend.

     Start well off the point and work all the way around it, casting a crankbait over the shallow water and covering it at all angles. Then go back over it with a jig head or Carolina rigged worm. Work from shallow to deep then try deep to shallow.

     Before you leave fish up the bluff bank, casting a jerk bait near the rock wall and working it back to the boat. Bass will often hold along this bluff bank and this pattern will often catch fish on all the bluff banks on the lake, but the ones that end in a shallow point near a spawning cove are better this time of year.

     2. N 33 18.696 – W 87 31.787 – Running up the river it makes a big sharp bend back to your left. If you go straight ahead and a little to your left you will see a green boathouse with two white doors on the water and a green house on the bank ahead of you. Just upstream is a nice brick house on the bank. Start fishing at the green dock and fish toward the point to your left.

     The bottom here is clay and sand but there are good grass beds in the shallows that attract baitfish and bass.  Brandon says spots will pull up to the edge of the grass to feed and largemouth will get back in the grass and feed, especially on a warm sunny day. The sun hits this bank all day long, warming the water.

     Fish a crankbait or rattlebait along the edges of the grass then work a worm or jig through the grass, hitting holes and pocket in it.   Fish all the way out to the point and a little ways around it, as long as there is grass to fish.

     3.  N 33 20.051 – W 87 32.490 – Run upstream past the two creeks that enter the lake, one on each side, and slow down just before the river makes a hard left turn.  Downstream of the point on your left you will see a cove with a no wake buoy in it and a dock with a big “Private No Trespassing” sign on it. There is a gazebo on the flat area of the point and a boat ramp on the bank, too.

     Start fishing upstream of this cove, near the point. There is a lot of grass here to fish and you will see a metal post in the water near the point. Fish the shallow grass to the point then work out from the bank, following the point.  It drops off fast on the upstream side so cover the drop, then work back to the bank and hit the grass there, too. It does not run too far up that bank and it turns into a bluff bank rock wall.     

     This point is a good example of the type place Brandon likes to fish from both directions. He says sometimes Tuscaloosa bass will orient one way or the other and want a bait coming shallow to deep or deep to shallow.  It is not because of current since there is seldom a current here.  But you need to try all directions and let the bass let you know what they want that day.

     4.  N 33 21.318 – W 87 33.024 – Run up the river to the Highway 69 Bridge and go to the small creek just downstream of it on your right. There is a bluff bank on the last point on the upstream side of the creek and a roadbed comes out off a bank across a small cove from the bluff bank. The roadbed has a danger buoy on it and there is a dock on the bluff bank side.

     The road bed runs out shallow from the bank where a barricade has been put up and there is a stop sign there.  After the road crosses the cove it runs along the bluff bank, making a shelf off it.  The roadbed holds bass from the bluff bank all the way to where it comes out of the water.

     Fish from the end of the bluff bank across the cove and out on the shallow area around the danger marker with a jig head worm of small jig and pig like a Bitsy Bug rigged with a small chunk.  Green pumpkin and brown colors are best. Work your bait along the bottom of the whole area. Brandon says a these baits are the most effective way to fish this spot.

     5. N 33 21.326 – W 37 36.184 – Further up the river the Tierce Patton Road bridge has a long causeway on the right side going upstream.  Brandon says if he had to catch a bass on the lake this would be where he would go. Riprap on bridges is almost perfect cover and structure and bass hold and feed on it.  There is deep water off the rocks on both sides and the sun warms the rocks, attracting baitfish and bass this time of year.

     Keep your boat out from the rocks and cast to them. Brandon says he has tried paralleling the rocks, but there is a good bit of wood cover out from them so it is best to make cast that cover the water from the rocks out to the boat well off them.   There is also grass along parts of the rocks to fish. Fish both sides of the riprap like this.

     Brandon will start with a crankbait and fish it on both sides of the bridge then work the area with a jig head worm or small jig and pig for less active bass.  Some tournament fishermen work this riprap all day, knowing the bass will bite at some time.

     6.  N 33 21.469 – W 87 36.286 – Just upstream of the bridge is a creek on your left.  The upstream point of this creek has an A-Frame house with a red metal roof on it and there is a cut rock seawall running around the point. There is a little pocket just upstream of this seawall where is ends and a dock is in the pocket. The upstream point of the pocket is a block seawall and is rocky.

     Brandon will start in front of the A-Frame house and fish a jerk bait up to the next point, casting it right to the seawall and working it back. He will also cover the area with a crankbait and jig head worm. We caught one keeper spot here when we fished and missed a couple of hits so they are already holding on this point.  Brandon will hit it quick to see if they are feeding then move on.

     7.  N 33 22.069 – W 87 35.313 – A little further up the river opens up and makes a bend to your left. There is a big flat point on your left at the bend and it has four danger markers on it. The point runs way out, forming an underwater island, and has some big stumps on it that hold bass. We got one keeper here when we fished and missed several bites.

     Back well off the danger markers and make long casts up onto the top of the point and island.  Fish the edges of it all the way around the area, probing for the stumps. When you hit one make repeated casts to it.  Use all your baits. Brandon says crankbaits, Carolina rigs, and shaky heads all catch fish here. The bass hold here year-round and move up into the shallows in the early spring.

     8.  N 33 22.821 – W 87 35.323 – Across the open water to the right you will see two big islands. The river channel swings around them to the right on the upstream side of them.  There is a channel between them but Brandon says it is full of stumps so don’t try to run it. You can go between the bank and the island closest to it, but you want to fish that island, and you need to fish all around it.

     The upstream side of the second island going up is sometimes is a little better and that is where we took the GPS reading, but Brandon will fish all the way around this island, working his jig and crankbait on all the little points and pockets, and fishing the grassbeds and wood cover hard.  

     This is a big area and you can stay on it all day, going round and round and catching bass. Fish will move into the cover and start feeding all day long so you can keep working it and keep catching fish in the spring.

     9.  N 33 23.264 – W 87 34.682 – Go up across the big open water toward where the river comes in and you will see a sail boat club back on your left in a cove right where the lake narrows down.  From that cove upstream there is a flat bank on your left to the next small pocket.  There is a lot of wood and grass to fish along this bank.

     Start on either end and fish the whole bank. Wind may make it easier to fish it going one way or the other, and wind sometimes helps when it blows on grassbeds like you will find here.  Fish the whole bank with a crankbait and a jig and pig. This is a good area to catch largemouth.

      10. N 33 24.088 – W 87 34.826 – Run up above the Highway 69 Bridge and the river will stay to your left. To your right is a creek coming in and you want to go into the mouth of it. A point on ahead of you where two arms split has a “Swimming Water Quality” sign on it that was green the day we were there, but the color can change.

     Start near the sign and work all around the island it is on. There are lots of logs and blowdowns to fish here and this is the kind of area Brandon would look for a kicker fish. Flip or pitch your jig and pig to each piece of cover and work it hard. Also fish the grass beds, working points and dips in them, as well as fishing back in them.

     These places will show you the kind of spots Brandon catches late February and March bass on Tuscaloosa, and the way he fishes them. There are many other good spots on the lake you can find if you check these out and then look for similar places. You will catch a lot of bass, and there could well be a five pounder in the mix.

January Bass at Jordan

with Greg Vinson

    January weather often drives bass fishermen indoors since watching others catch fish on TV is much warmer than fighting the cold in a bass boat. But wise bass fishermen are out on Jordan Lake fighting big spots this month.  Jordan is an excellent place to catch some quality fish right now.

    Jordan is a 6800 acre Alabama Power lake on the Coosa River 25 miles north of Montgomery.  It backs up to the Mitchell Lake dam and connects to Lake Bouldin with a short canal.  Jordan was built in 1928 and Bouldin added in 1967.  Bouldin is a better largemouth lake but the big spots live in both and are the target of most bass fishermen this time of year.

    Coosa River lakes are known for big spotted bass and Jordan is one of the best for them.  Its has many steep rocky banks and points that are favorite structure for spots this time of year and the current that usually moves through the lake make them feed more, even in the colder water.

    Greg Vinson grew up in the area and has been bass fishing all his life. He fished many tournaments with his father and joined the Kowaliga Bassmasters bass club in Tallassee as soon as he was old enough to be a member. His first full year in the club he won the point standings.

    For several years Greg fished local tournaments and did well.  In 2004 he made the state team and qualified for the Southern Regional Bassmasters Tournament. There he was the top fisherman on the Alabama team and made the national championship. That really fired him up to fish bigger tournaments.

    In his first BFL tournament ever, he won on Lake Martin in 2005.  That year he finished 4^th overall in the points standings and qualified for the Stren series, where he was the top rookie.  He made the top ten in that series the next two years and that was his introduction to professional bass fishing.

    Although he had a good job he decided to go for it and fish professionally in 2006.  In 2008 he qualified for the Bassmasters Elite Series through the Southern Opens and was the fourth place rookie on that top trail last year.  He will be fishing the Elite series again this year.

    Skeeter Boats and Yamaha Motors are two of Greg’s major sponsors on the Elite trail and he is also sponsored by Davis Baits jigs and spinnerbaits and NetBait plastics.

    Greg writes a fishing column for Lake Martin Magazine and co-hosts the Sportz Blitz TV show with Brent Pritchard on Charter Network Channel 80.  You can see that show on Sundays from four to five PM and on Saturdays from eight to nine AM.  Although he grew up on Lake Martin and still fishes it, he considers Jordan his home lake and spends a lot of time on it.

    Greg says spots are easy to pattern on Jordan in January. They are holding on main lake and major creek points and banks with easy access to deep water. Although they have not started to move to a pre spawn pattern, they are feeding heavily on baitfish getting and can be caught on a variety of lures.

    A variety of baits will catch those spots and Greg relies on a Davis jig, X Wire spinnerbait and Shakey Head jig head.  He rigs a NetBait T-Mac or finesse worm on the Shakey Head and puts a three inch NetBait twintail trailer on his jig.  He says the twin tails give a little more action and resemble swimming shad, and he often dyes the tips of the tails chartreuse, a color Greg says drives spots crazy.

    A Bandit 300, Bomber Fat Free Shad or Norman Deep Little N are his choices in crankbaits and Greg starts off with a shad color but also goes to a chartreuse bait, especially if the water is stained.  Each of those crankbaits have a little different action and Greg tries to offer each to the bass until he finds what is working best that day.

    A jerk bait will sometimes pay off in the cold waters but it has to be worked slowly. Greg says he will let his Pointer 78 sit still for up to ten seconds between jerks, giving the sluggish bass time to hit it.

    On some spots a Davis X Wire spinner bait with one willow leaf and one Colorado blade imitate the shad and slow rolling one right on the bottom can be the best tactic to use. 

    A Carolina rig will catch bass on Jordan, too, and Greg sometimes uses a finesse worm on one but he keys on bigger rocks this time of year. A Carolina rig is harder to work through the chunk to boulder size rocks he fishes but if the wind is strong it may be needed to keep your bait on the bottom. 

    Try all these baits on the following ten spots Greg showed me in early December.  They will hold bass now and the bass will feed on them some time during the day.

    1. N 32 35.670 – W 86 17.253 – If you go into Lake Bolton and head toward the dam you will see a point on either side with big signs on them.  This is an old dam built so they could work on the main dam and when it was taken out a lot of rubble was left on the bottom.  It narrows the lake down above the dam so there is a strong current here is there is any power generation.

    Greg says he catches fish anywhere on this rubble field that stretches across the lake between the danger signs, but he likes to start on the left side facing the dam and works across it.  He positions his boat so he can throw up the current and work his baits back with the flow of water in a natural action.

    On this spot Greg starts with his jig and pig and tries to find “seams” in the current. What he is looking for is a break in the current caused by a big rock under the water.  He throws his jig upstream and lets the current wash it down into the eddies at the seams. That is where the bass hold, waiting on food.

    This is also one of Greg’s favorite places to throw a Davis X Wire spinnerbait. He ties on a bait with a silver willowleaf and gold Colorado blade and a glimmer blue skirt and cast it upstream. After letting it fall to the bottom he fishes it very slowly, almost like a jig, pumping it up and letting it fall back. 

    Keep your spinnerbait in contact with the rocks. Greg says spots will hit this bait hard and you will feel a definite thump when they take it.  Use a heavy enough bait to keep it on the bottom, depending on how strong the current is running.

    2. N 32 37.344 – W 86 16.340 – Go back through the canal and stop on the right side point when you get to where it opens up. There is a long ledge of rock running out off this point and you will see some kind of cement structure on it with a pole holding swift houses.  This point causes a current break and the water moves into the canal when power is being generated.

    Hold on the down current side and throw a jig up toward the lake and work it back over the point. You will feel the rocks as your jig washes along with the current.  You can usually see the seam or current break here and you want to get your jig on the bottom where it breaks.

    Also throw a jerk bait across the point and work it slowly in the cold water.  Reel it down then jerk it and let it sit and move with the current.  Greg says bass really don’t want to chase a bait in the cold water so offer them an easy meal. The jerk bait should look like a dying shad, fluttering then suspending before fluttering again.

    3.  N 32 37.475 – W 86 15.607 – Run across the lake just above the dam and you will see a clay point on the left side going toward the dam. It has a big danger sign on it.  Go upstream past the pocket to the rocky point upstream of it. There is no house on the point but there is a ladder coming out of the water and a rope swing hanging from a tree.  A platform to stand on and swing out over the water is on the point.

    This is one of the first spots on Jordan Greg learned to fish and it consistently holds bass.  It is ideal, with as steep drop into deep water and it has big rocks, not gravel, on it. That is a key in the winter.

    Start on the downstream side of this point and work up the bank, casting your jig and pig or jig head worm at an angle so you can work it slowly down the drop but moving it with the current.  You can also get in close and cast your jerk bait upstream and work it back parallel to the rocks out a few feet off the bank.

    There is almost always a good flow of water here and the black rocks seem to warm from the sun and attract the bass. This is also and example of the points that stick out a little further than the ones around them, making them even better.

    4.  N 32 27.869 – W 86 15.895 – Go into the mouth of Sofkahatchee Creek past the boat ramp to the second point past it.  This point starts a series of rocky points on the right side going into the creek that Greg says are real consistent areas for January spots. 

    Start fishing the second point with your boat out in 25 to 30 feet of water and work in, casting your jig and pig right on the bank and working it down the drop. The channel of the creek swings in here and the bottom drops fast.  Current flows out of the creek across these points, encouraging feeding here.

    Both a jig and pig or a jig head worm work well, and a jerk bait will catch fish here, too. Get your boat in a little closer with the jerk bait and work it more parallel to the bank, fishing it slowly for suspended fish.

    5.  N 32 38.225 – W 86 15.919 – Go into the creek past all the danger markers and straight ahead a big cove opens up. The creek channel goes off to your right.  The point between the creek and the cove is a steep rocky hill and there is a steel bulkhead seawall around it.  There is no house on the point but there is a dock on the cove side.

    The point runs way out under water and there is a good drop to 50 or more feet of water on it on the creek side.  Greg likes to sit inside the point on the cove side and cast his jig and pig and jighead worm across it, working up the creek side over the top of the point.  He will also run a crankbait across it.

    Start out in 25 feet of water and cast up to eight feet or so on top of the point toward the bank. Work the whole point with all three baits, running the crankbait over the point and bumping the bottom with the jigs.  Greg says many tournaments are won by fishermen getting on this point, staying all day and weighing in 16 to 18 pounds of spots. They will feed here some time during the day.

    6.  N 32 39.451 – W 86 18.148 – Back out on the lake run up to the upstream point on the mouth of Weoka Creek.  The main point has some camping trailers on it and a small cabin, with a post and wood seawall. Just upstream of the main point is a pier on a flat point with some grass on it and that point runs out and doglegs down toward the dam. There is a danger buoy on the point and it drops off on both sides, with over 20 feet of water between it and the main point.

    Greg says this is a good place to throw a Carolina rigged finesse worm since the rocks are smaller here,  but a jig and a jig head worm both work well, too.  And don’t leave before running a crankbait across the point.

    Sit on the creek side of the point where it drops off and fish the end, out in 20 or more feet of water, then work up the point, casting across it and fishing the top of the point. Work all the way in until you cover the eight foot depths on the point.

    7.  N 32 39.327 – W 86 16.674 – Run across the lake and watch for a point with a cabin with blue siding up on the hill.  The point has riprap around it and there is a flag pole on the point and a duck crossing sign on the upstream side of it.

    This is a good example of a main lake channel point where the water drops off fast and there is good current running past it. When the current hits the point it turns out and makes a seam and an eddy to fish on the downstream side of it.  Bass hold here in the eddy and feed on the seam in the current and on the upstream side of the point, too.

    Watch your depthfinder for schools of shad. If they are present the fishing will be better. The day Greg and I fished we stopped here first and he got a nice 3 pound spot. We came back to it just before dark and I got a big striper on a Sebile Magic Swimmer swim bait, so all kinds of fish feed here.

    Stay out from the point and cast your jig and pig close to the bank. Let the current move it naturally and wash along like an injured baitfish.  Also run a crankbait with the current, trying different speeds but letting the current do most of the moving so it looks more natural.

    Greg says he likes to hit a spot like this for ten to fifteen minutes then run to the next one. He says fish will move on these places so he may hit them several times during the day, but does not stay on them a long time each visit.

    8. N 32 39.279 – W 86 19.640 – Run into the creek upstream of this point, known locally as Blackwell Slough, to the bridge in it.  Greg fishes the riprap points on both sides of the bridge. There is a big bay above the bride where spots live and he says they move to the bridge to feed.

    Stay on the downstream side and cast up the current.  Work your jig and pig or jig head worm back down the rocks, hopping them along until you get out to about 20 feet deep. Also fish the base of the outer two pilings with both baits. There are rocks piled at the base of them and bass often hold on them.

    On each end of the bridge watch for eddies or seams in the current where it breaks as it comes under the bridge. Big spots often hold just inside the calmer water and watch for bait being washed along the current break so make your jig move along the break where they are used to finding food.

    9. N 32 41.013 – W 86 20.061 – Run up to where the lake bottlenecks down into the river channel. There is a power line crossing here and you want to stop just downstream of it on the right side going upstream, at the last small pocket on the right before the powerlines.  The upstream point of this pocket is the start of a bluff wall that runs upstream.

    There is a dock with for sale sign on it – it was upside down the day we fished.  Current breaks off the wall there and bass sit in any eddy they can find and watch for bait. Big rocks cause the current breaks and sometimes you can find them by the way the current moves.

    Throw your jig and pig or jig head worm upstream at an angle and work it back with the current.  Greg says he works his bait at about a 40 degree angle to the bank.  He will fish up the bank for about 200 yards, fishing at that angle as he goes upstream.

    There are dozens of places like this that hold bass on up the river all the way to the Mitchell Dam.  You may have to fish for 200 yards along a bluff but when you catch a fish you should catch several in a 50 yard stretch where the school if feeding. Greg says this is a very consistent pattern all winter long since there is nowhere else for the bass to go in the river and they don’t leave.

    10.  n 32 48.356 – w 86 26.666 – For a change of pace, run to the Mitchell Dam and fish the dam buttresses on it. These concrete wings stick out from the dam and bass live around them all the time. There is about 20 feet of water at the base of some of them and Greg will cast his jig and pig or jig head worm up to the dam and work them in short hops along side them.

    Current here may make the bass hit better but these walls are often in eddies, and Greg says bass will feed on them all the time. This is a good pattern when fishing is tough. Greg will use a one – eighth ounce jig when he can since if falls slower but will go to a heavier jig when current or wind call for it.

    Give these spots a try and you will catch fish. Then use what you learn from them and find others on the lake. There are many similar places to catch some big spotted bass on Jordan right now.

    Greg is guiding some for stripers and will guide for bass on Jordan and Lake Martin when his tournament schedule allows. You can call him at 334-546-1151 or contact him through his web site – gregvinson.com