with Randal Tharp

Say the word “Guntersville” and bass fishermen all over the US perk up their ears. The lake has an almost mystical reputation for big stringers of bass, especially in late winter.  This reputation has been built up over the years by the great catches there in tournaments and most of the national trails visit the lake each year.

From its dam near Guntersville in northeast Alabama the lake extends 76 miles up the Tennessee River into Tennessee. It is Alabama’s largest reservoir with waters covering 67,900 acres and 890 shoreline miles.  It stays very stable since the TVA requires a set depth in its channels. Water will seldom vary more than two feet in depth which is good since vast areas of the lake are very shallow flats.   

Built between 1936 and 1939, Guntersville has seen a lot of changes the bass population.  The lake is very fertile and full of hydrilla and milfoil but one of the main reasons the bass are so big now is the size limit.  On October 1, 1993 a 15-inch size limit was placed on bass.  That size limit now includes smallmouth and largemouth and it allows smaller, faster growing bass to reach quality size. 

According to the Alabama DCNR there are growing numbers of bass bigger than 15 inches in the lake each year and they are in good shape.  The numbers of bass 12 to 24 inches long has consistently increased each year since the size limit went into effect. In the BAIT survey Guntersville has the highest weight per bass and the shortest time to catch a bass over five pounds of all lakes reported.

All this does not mean Guntersville is a piece of cake when it comes to catching keeper bass.  The BAIT survey shows Guntersville ranking pretty far down the list in percent of angler success, number of bass per angler day and pounds of bass per angler day. If you don’t know the lake every acre of it looks like it holds bass and you can spend a lot of time with nothing but casting practice.

Randy Tharp knows the lake well.  Although he has been fishing all his life he got started tournament fishing with a club about seven years ago and really liked it.  He started fishing Guntersville in 2002 and now has a place on the lake.  He has learned its secrets and has had great success there. 

In 2007 Randy placed first in the point standings in both the Bama and Choo Choo Divisions of the BFL.  He came in third in the Bama BFL on Guntersville last February then placed first in that division in September and second there in the Choo Choo Division the same month.

The past few years reads like a dream come true in Randy’s resume on Guntersville.  In 2006 he placed second in the Bassmasters Series Crimison Divison in March and eighth in that series Volunteer Division the same month, won the seventh Annual Kickin’ Bass Coaches tournament there in June, got a fifth in the Bassmasters Series Crimsion Divison in September, and second in the Choo Choo BFL in September.

He also won the 2005 BITE Tournament on Guntersville in April and was second in the BITE Championship there in November.   Guntersville has played an important part in Randy’s tournament winnings and has helped him get Ranger Boats and Chattanooga Fish-N-Fun as sponsors.  He is planning on fishing the Stren Series and some other bigger trails like the BASS Opens if he can get in this year.

Randy gets excited when thinking about fishing Guntersville this time of year because he knows what lives in the lake.  He says from now to March is the best time of year to hook a monster bass here and expects to catch some of the biggest fish of the year. When asked what it would take to reach “monster” status he said a 10 pound bass would qualify and he expects to catch one that big.  He has seen bass in the low teens caught this time of year, too.

There are lots of ways to catch Guntersville bass from the end of January to March but Randy usually sticks with shallow water. He says the colder it gets the more shallow the big bass hold, and he seldom fishes deeper than 10 feet. You will be surprised at the numbers of big bass in less than three feet of water on the coldest days when the water is in the 30s, according to Randy.

Right now Randy will have a Rapala DT 6 or DT 10, a Cordell Spot or Rattletrap, a one quarter to three eights  ounce jig and pig to cast, a Texas rigged Paca Craw with a heavy weight to flip in any thick grass he finds and Pointer jerkbait read to try.  He likes shad colors in the crankbait and the red in the lipless baits.  Worms and craws are usually green pumpkin and he also casts a black and blue jig and pig.

Although the grass is not growing much right now there is still some “stubble” on the bottom that will hold bass. Randy looks for flats near a drop and it helps to have grass on the bottom.  He finds those kinds of places back in the creeks and out on the main lake but winter winds often make it impossible to fish open water.  He likes to have some protected areas as well as open water to fish.

Bass don’t have to move much on Guntersville, according to Randy. They live in the same areas year-round, not migrating long distances like they do on some lakes. They will follow baitfish some but the grass provides so many bluegill on Guntersville that Randy thinks they are the major food source for bass.

Bass are predictable this time of year and Randy finds them in similar places each year.  They move some but will usually be near a creek channel or ledge where there are good shallow water flats with grass stubble.  They may concentrate in one area then move a little but they won’t move from the main lake to the back of a creek in a day or so.  That helps when practicing for a tournament, but it also means many fishermen find the same fish.

No matter which bait you use it is important to fish as slowly as possible in the cold water.  When your crankbait gets stuck in grass pop it loose gently and let it float up. Do the same with a Spot or Trap, popping it a little and letting it flutter back down. The bass don’t seem to want to chase a bait far, especially if it is moving fast, but Randy says they still hit hard. This time of year, even with the water in the 30s, will provide bone-jarring strikes and it feels like the bass will rip the rod out of your hand.

Randy and I fished on Guntersville in December and the bass were real scattered in the remaining hydrilla although the beds were getting sparse.  Randy still landed about 20 bass that day and had two over five pounds. He could have weighed in five between 19 and 20 pounds, an excellent catch on most lakes but Randy was disappointed the big ones did not hit!

Check out the following ten spots.  They run from near the dam to far up the river.  Bass will hold on all of them this winter and there are other similar spots all over the lake. You just have to fish and find where the concentrations are to load the boat with big fish.

1. N 34 35.939 – W 86 33.106 – The long causeway crossing Brown’s Creek and the shallow humps downstream of it is one of the best places to catch a big bass this time of year.  He says if he had to pick one place to land a ten pound bass he would never leave Brown’s Creek.  Randy landed his best bass from Guntersville, 10 pound, 11 ounce hawg, from this area on a jerkbait.  You can find areas on the riprap that is also more protected from the wind than the main lake.

Work around the riprap, especially the downstream side, with a jerkbait and both kinds of crankbaits.  Also cast your a jig and pig on the rocks.  Some days the fish will be near the rocks and others they will be holding a little deeper, the rocks in some places run out 18 to 20 feet deep.  You can see on a good map there are points and drops near the riprap and hydrilla grows on the more shallow spots.

Downstream of the causeway but near it there are humps that rise to three or four feet deep and hydrilla forms mats on them in the summer. There will still be enough grass near the bottom to hold bass now.  You may have to fish around the area while watching your depthfinder to locate these shallow spots.

Throw a Spot or Trap across them and follow up with a crankbait. Fish them very slowly.  Once you locate some fish you can slow down and fish a jig and pig across these shallow areas.  You should feel the grass on the bottom and that will help you locate the best spots. These humps are exposed to the wind.

2. N 34 40.711 – W 86 20.501 – Run up to the mouth of Town Creek and stop at the ramp on your right going in. Start fishing that bank working a lipless crankbait over the hydrilla that remains in the area.  There is deep water near the point at the ramp and bass move up and down this bank feeding.

When you reach the back of the creek where Minky Creek splits to the left jump across and fish that creek, working it as you go in. You will see three big brick houses here and there are milfoil beds to fish. This creek is shallow and holds good fish this time of year.

Fish it all the way back in Minky Creek. Remember Randy says big bass are often in three feet of water or less this time of year and may be way back in the creek.  Fish Traps and Spots and crankbaits.  If you don’t get bites on them try a slower moving jig and pig or jerk bait.

3. N 34 42.026 – W 86 25.223 – Across the lake follow the channel markers going into Siebold Creek and stop when you get to the island on your left not far off the bank.  Start fishing the islands from there to your left toward the back of that arm.  There are humps, points and islands to fish along this side.

Fish are in this area now getting ready to stage for bedding. You can often catch several on a Trap or Spot from an area then work it with a black Enticer one-quarter ounce jig with a blue or black Zoom Chunk.  Cast and fish it in the grass stubble on the bottom. Work it as slowly as possible.

Randy says fish the Trap and Spot right on the bottom, crawling it along and getting it stuck in the grass. Then pop it gently loose and let it fall back to trigger a strike.  You will get many more hits if you fish it with an irregular action than if you just chunk and wind.

4. N 34 45.843 – W 86 19.364 – The bank downstream of Little Mountain Park has humps, grass and duck blinds.  Randy says get on this bank, put your trolling motor down and fish, there are always lots of big bass holding in this area.  Some of the humps come up to only a foot deep and there are cuts and holes that are nine to 10 feet deep.  

The shallows near those holes are usually the hot spots.  Some ditches cross the flat, making deeper holes. There is a grassline where the water drops deeper along here and the edge of the grass is the key.  Fish a crankbait along the drop when you can.  There is milfoil here and the breakline is always good.

You can work this whole area from the point at Meltonsville to the marina at Little Mountain.  Fish over the grass with Trap and Spot but be sure to cast a jig to the duck blinds, too. Just make sure no hunters are present!  By now that should not be a problem.

5. N 34 50.405 – W 86 17.087 – Pine Island is a huge grass island in the middle of the river out from Waterfront Grocery Fishing Tackle and Supplies.  This is Randy’s favorite spot on the river year round. The river channel splits and goes on both sides of the grass and drops off 35 feet deep but the top of the island is only three or four feet deep.  There is also a cut in the middle of the island that is more than 12 feet deep.

This area is so vast it is hard to fish. You can spend many hours here fishing what seem to be excellent grass lines and drops without catching anything, then hit a spot that is loaded with quality bass.  For some reason they will school up in one small spot that seems to us to be just like the rest.

Fish a Trap, Spot and crankbait along the breaklines and over the grass until you find the sweet spot. Once you locate a good school of fish they should hold there for a good while.  The head of the island creates a current break and the shallows near deep water make excellent structure for bass.

6. N 34 30.943 – W 86 09.017 – Run up to channel marker 372.2, a big marker on a pole.  The South Sauty Creek channel runs into the river channel just upstream of this marker and the channel edges and grass lines along it are good this time of year. Work all your baits along both creek channels looking for concentrations of bass.  Cuts and points on the old channels are good holding spots for the fish.

 If you start near the channel marker and fish upstream you can follow the river channel. The break for the creek channel is not far from the channel and if you look almost straight up the river but a little to your right you will see the creek channel markers.  It doe not run out straight from the creek but swings out then runs down parallel to the river for a long way.

Randy says you can start at the channel marker and fish up into the creek or stay on the river. You can fish the river ledge and grass stubble along it for seven miles going upstream and find schools of bass all along here. That gives you a good idea of the amount of water you have to cover to find schools of fish at times.

While fishing this spot and others Randy says to watch for any action on the water. Often a bass will chase a baitfish making it flick on top of the water giving away the position of a school of bass. It is always worth your time to go to any activity you see and fish around the area.

7. N 34 61.747 – W 86 11.057 – Run back into North Sauty Creek past the second bridge. Fish above the bridge around the lily pad stems, stumps and milfoil with lipless crankbaits and a light jig and pig.

This creek offers three causeways to fish and is more protected than the open river.  Randy says you can start at the second bridge and work the creek edges all the way past the first bridge and out to the river channel. The first bridge has some riprap to fish.  Also fish the bridge and riprap at Goose Pond on the side creek coming in.

The creek channel that winds across the flat downstream of Goose Pond Marina out to the main river channel is a good place to work carefully. There are a lot of tournaments at the marina and lots of fish are released there, restocking the area constantly.  The concentration of keeper size bass is good here from those that are released. Randy says lipless crankbaits, shallow running crankbaits and a light jig and pig will catch them here.

8. N 34 60.472 – W 86.00.655 – Run up the river to the power lines. Both the outside channel ledge and the inside channel ledge from here to BB Comer Bridge have good grass stubble on them and holds a lot of fish.  This time of year Randy likes to fish the back side of the ledge so work in behind the grass, too.

Keep your boat in 10 feet of water and cast out toward the river channel. You will be covering the ledge in about five or six feet of water.  Work Traps and Spots as well as a lipped crankbait across this area. As in other places, watch for any change like a cut or rise and slow down when you catch a fish.

9. N 34 64.971 – W 86 00.000 – Go into the mouth of Rosebury creek back to the ramp on your left.  Start fishing the bank across from the ramp working toward the back of the creek.  Keep your boat near the creek channel and cast to the edges, working your bait over them.  Fish all the way to the causeway in the back of the creek. There are stumps and milfoil to fish here.

This creek is where Randy has his camper and was his first stop in one of the BFL tournaments. He limited out here then went looking for bigger bass to cull. He often finds good numbers of bass back in this creek this time of year.

10. N 34 76.768 – W 85 90.325 – Go up to Mud Creek and in past the boat ramp. When the channel markers stop be careful but keep going to the second bridge and under it.  The big area where the creek splits into Owen Branch and Blue Springs Branch often holds big bass this time of year. Back in this area are huge stumps near the creek channel and you don’t want to hit them with your motor, but they are what attracts the bass.  There is also lots of shallow milfoil in this area. 

Keep your boat in the channel and follow it, casting to both sides to hit stumps and other cover along the drop.  You will be in about six feet of water and casting to very shallow water but Randy says this is where he found fish holding for several weeks   when the water was 36 degrees and his rods were freezing up.

These places show you the kinds of cover and structure Randy looks for this time of year. You can fish them to get an idea of what to look for then find some similar spots of your own. These are big areas but the fish can be anywhere in them so take some time to find where they are holding. Once you get on them it will help you find them in other spots.

with Ed Reeves

     July can be a tough time for bass fishing in Alabama but Mitchell Lake offers a variety of cover and structure where bass will feed this month.  The spots and largemouth there feed well during the summer and you can catch them in a variety of ways.

     Mitchell is a 5850 acre Alabama Power lake on the Coosa River between Lay and Jordan Lakes.  It has 147 miles of shoreline and there was a lot of wood and rock cover left in the lake when it was dammed in 1922. The lake is very fertile and has a good population of bass and the baitfish they feed on.

     In the Alabama Bass Angler Information Team report Mitchell ranks seventh in the state in numbers of bass caught per angler day, a good indication of the numbers of bass in the lake.  There were not a lot of tournaments reported on the lake but in those reported the average bass weighed 1.67 pounds.

     Ed Reeves grew up in Wetumpka and still lives there.  He has fished Mitchell all his life, starting as a kid with his father and now fishing tournaments on it.  Following his family tradition of law enforcement he works for Montgomery as a police officer in the K-9 unit. 

     About five years ago a friend invited Ed to partner with him on the Fishers of Men Central Alabama trail and he was soon hooked on tournament fishing.  He bought a Skeeter bass boat in 2004 and now fishes with the Prattville Bass Anglers club as well as some other local tournaments. He is also fishing the BASS Weekend Series this year.

     A few years ago Ed started pouring his own jigs and now sells them through his W-3 Tackle Company.  He fishes both shaky head jigs and a jig and pig a lot so pouring his own was a good way to save money and an interesting hobby.  So many people in his club wanted to buy his jigs he started his business.  His Tip-Up shaky head and his Finesse skirted jig are favorites that he uses a lot.

      “By late June almost all the bass have come out of the spawning areas and are setting up on their summer holes,” Ed told me.  You can pattern them and catch them consistently on places where they live all year except for the spawn.  Some of these spots are subtle and it takes a lot of time on the lake to find them.

     “Spots on the lake especially like main lake rocks and wood on steep banks,” Ed said.  They like a place they can move up and down in the water column quickly and feed.  Rocks are a favorite but they will also hold on wood cover.   Largemouth can be found in the same cover at times but they tend to like more wood and grass, and Ed says he usually catches four or five spots to every largemouth in the places he fishes.

     Ed also likes to fish docks, especially on sunny bright days when the fish seek shade.  There are not a lot of docks on the lake but they are in clusters and Ed will often get on a line of docks and fish them all.  Brush around them helps and most docks are on posts but the shade is the main thing Ed fishes.

     Ed usually has four rods rigged and ready. All his rods are Walt Higgins Custom Rods, one of his sponsors, and he likes Pflueger bait casting reels for all his baits.

     He will have a three-sixteenths ounce Tip-Up head rigged with a dark plastic worm on 15 pound test Big Game line on one and one of his Finesse jigs, a three sixteenths ounce skirted jig with a crawfish trailer on another. Two more rods will be rigged with a spinnerbait and a crankbait on them. Most of the time in the summer he throws one of the two jigs.

     A few weeks ago Ed showed me the following ten spots where he catches summer bass.  We had about ten keepers that day, including two spots about 2.5 pounds each and a largemouth about the same size. We lost several good fish that threw the bait, too.  And the fish were just setting up on these spots.

     1. N 32 54.670 – W 86 29.747 – Head upstream to where the lake widens and there are several big islands, not far downstream from the Lay Lake Dam.  The first island you come to is Bo Lee Island and it is an excellent place to start first thing in the morning and any time there is current.

     As you approach the downstream end of the island you will see the end of a log sticking out of the water a long way off the bank to your right.  The right side of the island has grass on it.  Ed likes to go to the upper end of the island and fish back down this side with the current. He will throw a topwater popper like a Pop-R some but his main baits is the spinnerbait.

     Current is important on many of these spots but this hole is dependent on it.  If the current is not running Ed usually does not fish it.  Stay well off the bank and throw right to the edge of the grass with a topwater bait or spinnerbait. Fish either one back quickly since the bass will be in a feeding mood in the current.

     Ed chooses a Strike King Premiere white three-eights ounce spinnerbait with two silver blades for this spot. The bass will be holding near the grass and wood cover and feeding on shad as the current moves them down the bank and this combination spinnerbait imitates them.

     2. N 32 53.803 – W 86 29.172 – Going downstream from the island watch for a high rocky bank on your left with a small creek entering just downstream of it.  Just inside the creek mouth there is a big pine standing above all the bushes on the bank to your left and on the right side you can see where bank fishermen have camped. 

     Ed calls this “Cottonmouth Cove” because of the two huge snakes he has seen here.  He hates snakes but still fishes here because it holds fish, and we both had keeper spots here when we fished.  Start on the main lake point on either side and fish all around the mouth of the pocket, working a jig from very shallow to about 15 feet deep.  Bounce the jig down the rocks and jiggle it at each stop.

     Ed does not go way back into the creek but concentrates on the mouth of it this time of year.  The fish will have moved out to the deeper water and be holding here by now.  This spot is good without a current but current will make it and all others even better.

     3. N 32 52.594 – W 86 28.999 – Heading downstream the river will start to bend to the left and you will see a line of docks starting on your right. Just upstream of the first dock is a small creek and the upstream point of it is an excellent place to catch a spot, according to Ed.  There is a small grass bed on it and it runs out a short distance across the mouth of the pocket.

     Start by fishing the point, working a jig head worm or jig and pig along the sloping bottom. Fish it from the edge of the grass out to 20 feet deep or so.  Hop and shake either bait as you fish them along the bottom.

     Back in the pocket there is a good blowdown to fish. You are more likely to catch largemouth back in pockets around wood cover like this.  It is worth your time here to fish on around the downstream side under the overhanging trees to the dock. This bank is rocky and drops fast. Fish it with either bait to the dock.

     4. N 32 52.031 – W 86 28.123 –  The line of docks starting at the pocket in hole #3 runs all the way to the mouth of Walnut Creek and is one of Ed’s favorite dock areas to fish.  He usually waits until the sun is bright to drive the fish under the docks then works the line of docks, fishing every one. 

     Ed usually starts at the Walnut Creek end at the first dock upstream. It is blue and white striped and he will fish it and the others until he runs out of docks at the small creek in #3.  Fish the outside of the docks first, probing for brush, then move in and cast under them.  Don’t move in too close until you fish around the dock or you will spook bass holding in the brush in front of them.

     If you see shad around the docks or see fish swirling try the spinnerbait or a shad colored Bandit crankbait.  Work them along the sides of the dock and across the front of them. Bass holding in the shade will run out to hit a bait moving along the dock.

     If there is no activity Ed will start with his jig head worm and fish it, then try the jig and pig.  He says he catches more fish on the jig head worm but the jig and pig produces bigger bass and not as many little ones, although the bigger ones will hit the jig head too.  Ed caught our biggest bass of the day off one of these docks on a Tip-Up head and worm.

     5. N 32 51.346 – W 86 26.639 – Downstream on your left there are several islands in the mouth of Hatchet Creek.  Ed starts on the downstream point of the first one, near the small clump of dirt with one tree in it that is surrounded by grass, off the downstream end.  He will fish upstream across the small gap between the island and the bank all the way up to the mouth of the next pocket where a fish attractor sign is on a tree.

     This bank all along here is the outside bend of the river and drops off fast. There are rocks and blowdowns to fish as well as smaller dips and juts in the bank.  Bass hold all along it and we caught several here and lost a couple, too.  You can spend a lot of time here if you fish slowly and carefully.

     The upstream end of the island at the gap has some good rocks on it and bass often hold on them and in the gap. As soon as you cross the gap you will start fishing some blowdowns, some that run way off the bank. Fish them slowly to get your bait down to the outer ends in deep water.  Both kinds of jigs work well here.

     6. N 32 50.855 – W 86 26.722 – Across the mouth of Hatchett Creek the downstream point has two logs laying on it at a steep angle. They show how fast the bottom drops. You will be sitting three boat lengths off the bank and be in 50 feet of water where the channel swings in right by the bank.

     Start at the two logs and work into the creek, fishing everything along it until you get to the next point with a brush top on it.  Fish this bluff bank by casting either jig right to the bank and moving it very slowly so it falls along the rocks.  Bass will suspend along the drop and you have to get your bait in front of them for them to hit.

     If there is current moving across this bank Ed will get in close and cast a crankbait, paralleling the bank with it. Bass will move up shallow enough to hit the crankbait when current is moving baitfish along this drop.  You will often find a big school of bass feeding here.

     7. N 32 50.268 – W 86 27.116 – Downstream on your left is Airplane Slough.  There is a big house with a brown roof on the upstream side and a gazebo near the water.  On your right as you go in a small cut will run off downstream. Start at the inside point of the cut and fish the steep bank with your jigs, working back into the creek to the next point where the creek opens up.

     Work a jig under the overhanging brush down the steep rocky bank. There are also a couple of trees in the water along here to fish. 

     When you get to the next point you will be across from a dock in front of a house that has a brick lower level.  Jump across and fish this and the next three docks. There is a little brush in front of some of the boat houses but try to get your bait back under the dock into the shade.  Fish both jigs on these docks to the dock with the three fish on it.  We took a couple of keepers off them when we fished.

     8. N 32 49.076 – W 86 27.350 –  Head down the river and you will pass Finger Slough on your left and the mouth of Cargile Creek on your right. You will see a big red roof house with cream colored walls running down to the water and a power line crosses the river.  Just downstream of the power line on your left watch for a big rock on the bank.  About 75 yards downstream of this big rock there is some exposed rock showing at the edge of the water.

     Start fishing at the exposed rock and work downstream past a very small dip in the bank to an overhanging tree. Ed says he has no idea why this spot holds fish but it does.   The bank has rocks under the water so try to bounce your jigs along the fast dropping bottom for fish holding in them.

     9. N 32 48.811 – W 86 26.304 –  Going down the river it makes a sharp turn to the left then back to the right at the dam.  Just before the river turns back to the right you will see an old wooden pier or some kind of wood structure running parallel to the bank out in the water on a point on your left.  Just past it is Big “Y” Slough. Go into it and start fishing on the right bank at the little pocket across from the point.

     Fish all along this steep bank working into the slough until the bottom flattens out.  You will be back in the slough and see the split forming the “Y” where the bottom of the bank you are fishing flattens out. Bass move out of the slough and hold along this steep bank in the summer.  Fish it with both your jigs.

     10. N 32 48.631 – W 86 26.419 – Downstream of Little “Y” Slough is a small pocket that has a little point on the upstream side.  Start at the pocket and fish upstream toward the downstream point at Litte “Y” Slough, getting in close and fishing a crankbait parallel to the bank. Fish to the point of the slough.

     Ed says you will catch a bunch of small fish here at all times but the bigger ones turn on when there is current. You might catch a dozen throwbacks without current then catch a limit of good keepers as soon as the current starts moving.  Call to find out the generating schedule and plan on fishing this spot when they start pulling water.  You are only a few hundred yards from the dam.

     Give this small lake a try to enjoy some good bass fishing for largemouth and spots right now.  Hit Ed’s spots then look for similar subtle structure and cover all over the lake.  Fish when the current is moving if possible but you can catch fish off most of these spots and others you will find even if it is still. 

Generating Schedule for Mitchell – 1-800-LAKES 11

with Karen Rae Elkins

    There is something special about Coosa River lakes in June.  The bass, both spots and largemouth, are stacking up in predictable places and feeding.  Neely Henry is one of the best on the chain for a trip this month.

    The Alabama DNR calls Neely Henry “one of the best-kept fishing secrets in Alabama.” Running 77 miles from its dam to the Weiss Dam, it covers 11,235 acres that vary from a river run on its upper end to shallow flats and creeks on the lower end.

    Built in the late 1950s, many of the creeks and ditches are silted in and the shallows are full of grass. It can be a dangerous lake to run since there are few markers and many creeks have stump fields and shallows that will eat lower units.  Be very careful when running this lake.

    Largemouth are in the lake in good numbers in the 15 to 18 inch range according to the Alabama DNR. The DNR also calls the spot population “exceptional” for large fish and the numbers of spots in the 14 to 20 inch range is one of the best in the state.

    Karen Rae Elkins was born in Huntsville but moved closer to Neely Henry Lake when ten years old.  She grew up fishing and loves it. The farm she lived on had five ponds and she would fish for anything that would bite, but one day she got her fathers’ bass fishing equipment, caught some bass and was hooked herself.

    Her father owned The Fishing Hole bait and tackle store in Anniston so she was exposed to a lot of fishing talk. When her father retired he asked her to fish tournaments with him and they competed on the Guys and Dolls and Cartersville Couples Trails, as well as in many local tournaments.

    When the Women’s Bass Tour was started Karen saw how many lakes in her area were on the schedule so she signed up.  She really likes the camaraderie and fun from this trail and says it has made her a better fisherman.  

    This spring Karen agreed to run the Team Trails tournament trail on the Coosa River and is also starting a Youth Tournament Trail in this organization. She fishes the tournaments as well as running them.

    Karen’s best five fish limit came a few years ago on Neely Henry when she brought in 18.18 pounds. And she won a tournament on April 4 this year with five weighing 14.4 there. She likes fishing and likes competition so tournaments are a good fit for her.

    Sponsors mean Karen is able to fish more than she would be able to without them and her sponsors include: Mojo Weights, Reel Grip, Bo’s Jigs, Team Trail Tournaments and JJs Magic.  She also supports the Magic Foundation and Second Chance, to organizations that are very important to her.

    “The bass are feeding in the grass in June and are fun to catch,” Karen told me.  The spawn is over and the bass are hungry.  She likes to start out shallow in the mornings catching these bass, then moves to points, humps and ledges later in they day when water is moving.  And a third good pattern is fishing docks.

    For fishing the grass Karen likes the Mojo rig and says it gives her a slight edge over the more common Texas or Carolina rigs most fishermen use. The Mojo rig gives the bait a little different look.  It is a thin cylindrical weight with a rubber band you insert so you can “peg” it on your line.

    “Start with your weight six inches from the        bait then move it closer if you aren’t getting bites” Karen said. A variety of plastics will work in June and she tries different ones until the fish tell her what she wants.  A Sweet Beaver is always a good choice but she also catches bass on Zoom Finesse Worms and Brush Hogs and Strike King Lizards.

    A few basic colors work well on Neely Henry. Watermelon Red, Junebug and Green Pumpkin are all standard colors.  And Karen always dips her baits in JJ’s Magic, saying that attracts the bass and makes them hold the bait longer.  She will often dip the tails in either red or chartreuse but if she does not want this flicker of color she uses the clear to add scent.

    Around docks Karen flips a Bo’s Jig and really likes the color named for her. The “Karen’s Jig” color has green pumpkin, black and root beer strands in it.  She tips it with a Sweet Beaver or a Zoom Chunk and works the jig under the docks, around all pilings and in any brush around the docks. This works well when the sun is bright.

    If current is moving bass will stack up on points, humps and ledges to feed. Karen likes a crankbait that runs seven to ten feet deep for fishing those areas and her favorites include Lucky Craft CB Square and Jackall Muscle baits.

    Karen showed me around Neely Henry a few weeks ago and the bass were just starting to move onto their June holes.  We put in down the lake and fished early, then took out and went up to Gadsden and fished the river some.  The lake is varied and the patterns can differ.

    The following spots all hold bass this month:

    1.  N 33 53.547 – W 86 06.603 – Back in Canoe Creek just downstream of Canoe Creek Marina you will see some brush tops out in the middle. This brush is on a hump where the channel swings across the creek and grass grows on it in June, too. It is a good place to find bass, especially if there is any current moving down the creek.

    Going up the creek watch for a nice house on your right with a gray dock with a “For Sale” sign on it. Stay on that side of the creek since the shallow hump is out in the middle. When you get near the gray dock look to your left and you should see the brush on the hump. If you get to the marina you have gone too far.

    Karen will start on the channel side and fish all around the hump, pitching her Mojo rigged Sweet Beaver of Brush Hog into holes in the grass and moving it through the thinner areas of grass.  For some reason Junebug with a chartreuse tail seems to work especially well here.

    Drag your bait through the grass and work it slowly and carefully. Be ready to set the hook when you feel any weight or your line moves at all. If there is current try to throw your bait so you work it with the current in a natural movement.

    2. N 33 51.375 – W 86 03.217 – Running down the main river from Canoe Creek you will see the opening to Greens Creek on your left.  Off the upstream point are two small islands.  Idle in to the point but do not go between the islands. There are lots of snags here. 

    When you get to the point you will see an older dock to the left of two cement boat ramps that are side by side. Start at that dock and work around the point, fishing around to the inside of the point.  Fish the grass here with a Mojo rig, work a crankbait over the shallows and pitch a jig and pig to the docks.

    The jig and pig is especially effective if the water is clear and the sun is bright, driving the bass to the shade.  Fish all the cover carefully. Karen says she has caught several five-pound-plus bass on this point.

    3. N 33 50.619 – W 86 04.472 – Beaver Creek is a good big-bass creek and Karen has several types of cover and structure she fishes in it.  As you go into the mouth you will see Greenport Marina on your right.  There is a seawall in front of the store and storage area then a long point runs upstream. There are picnic tables on the point. Off the end of this point is a hump or island, depending on the water level. When we were there it was slightly under water.

    Start near the store and fish the seawall toward the point.  Fish the Mojo rig and crankbaits along here. This is the only place Karen will rig an Old Monster worm on her Mojo rig. The extra big worm attracts quality bites on this spot.  Work from right on the seawall out to several feet deep. There are patches of grass to fish and some other cover.

    When you get out near the end of the point fish the hump and around it into the cove behind it.  Work the whole area carefully but Karen says the best area is the seawall at the store, so pay extra attention to any cover here.

    4.  N 33 50.175 – W 86 05.807 – You can run into Beaver Creek on plane until you see the silo ahead on your right. Stay to the left side going in.  When the silo comes into view it is a good idea to slow down and idle the rest of the way due to stumps and shallows. 

    When you get back about even with the silo on your right you will see a grass point on your left.  There are cattails, rocks, grass and stumps starting at this point working upstream and the channel swings on this side making it even better.  Shallow grass near deeper water is usually better, but keep in mind deeper water here might mean seven feet deep.

    Fish along the left bank working your Mojo rig through the grass.  Try to hit any stumps you can see and also probe for hidden stumps with your weight.  Fish on up this bank and there will be a grass island on your right and some big rocks on your left. There is a spring in the rocks that keeps the water cooler and moving some here.  Fish around the rocks and the island, too. This is one of Karen’s best tournament holes.

    5.  N 33 50.054 – W 86 06.448 – Idle on back into the creek until it narrows down. The bottom back here is sandy and there is lots of grass and stumps to fish. And overhanging trees in some areas provide shade. Work all the cover in the water, including the fence rows running off the bank, with a Mojo Rig and a crankbait. 

    Fish slowly and carefully. Some big bass hold up back here in June.  When you catch one bass work the area hitting every bit of cover, there is often more than one in a spot.  You should go as far back as you can get your boat if you are catching fish.

    Karen says two or three kinds of cover together makes for a hot spot to catch a bass. Look for wood in the grass, combining two kinds of cover.  If there are also rocks or a drop it makes it even better. Fish any combinations of cover carefully.

    6.  N 33 44.973 – W 86 03.559 – Run downstream and watch for a big round point on your right. On the upstream side is a boat ramp and there is a dock on the downstream side. The house has a “For Sale” sign. 

    This point has deep water just off it where the old channel swings by but it comes up quickly with a shallow ledge on the downstream side.   Current coming down the river hits this point and moves across it, creating an eddy on the downstream side.     Fish a deep diving crankbait here, casting up near the bank and working it across the shallow water, making it dig bottom, and then over the drop into deeper water. Fish with the current, moving water makes the fish bite much better here and other spots. Fish all around this point, covering both the upstream and downstream sides.

    7.  N 33 48.742 – W 86 04.032 – At the mouth of Shoal Creek the downstream point is good and all three kinds of cover you want to fish is one it. Current hits this point, too, and there is deep water just off shallow water. There is a wood house with a tin roof and three dormers on it.  AS you go into the cove on the upstream side there is a gray boathouse with turquoise doors on it.

    Start at the dock and flip a jig to it, especially if it is sunny.  Work a crankbait all around the point and the upstream cove. Then fish a Mojo rig in the grass.  Work each as you come to them to cover the area completely.

    Current hitting this area makes it better but wind blowing in helps, too. Wind will create a chop on the water, breaking up the light and making it more likely a bass will hit an artificial bait, and it also moves water, creating a current. Wind is your friend as long as it is not too strong to control your boat.

    8.  N 33 48.634 – W 86 03.764 – Across the river is a big bluff rock wall and a small rock island off it.  The bluff wall is on the upstream side of the opening to a big cove and the water is very deep off it.  Three was an old trotline hanging on the rocks with some dried fish on it the day we fished. It looked like some kind of voodoo charm!  This is a great spotted bass hole and Karen works all around it.

    This is a good spot to rig a Finesse worm on your Mojo Rig and throw it right on the bank.  Move it slowly and let if fall down the face of the rocks. Don’t move it much or it will fall too far, dropping past fish too quickly.

    There is a stump row on the downstream side of this point, too, another combination of types of cover. Fish them with the Mojo Rig but also flip a jig and pig right against the rocks and work it out, trying to hit stump.

    9.  N 33 48.891 – W 86 05.325 – Run back into Shoal Creek and watch on your left for a yellow house with a brown roof and a boathouse with two doors in front of it.  All the way across the creek is a big flat and hump with stumps on it. On the bank on that side you will see a mobile home on the bank. Idle straight toward the mobile home and watch your depthfinder.

    You will be in about 10 feet of water on the flat then it will come up to about five feet deep. You will still be a long way off the bank, in front and upstream of a red door dock in front of the trailer.  There is a stump rod on this shallow hump and a small ditch runs out near it.

    Karen will work back and forth along this drop fishing crankbaits and a Mojo Rig. She will work it a long time because she says you never know when bass will move up on this spot and feed. And it constantly replenishes itself from the deeper water nearby.

    10. N 34 00.816 – W 85 57.072 – It is a long run upstream of the bridges in Gadsden so it is a good idea to trailer up here if you can. Going upstream from Gadsden watch for a rock bluff wall on your left just as you see the trailers at Tillison Bend Park. You will be upstream and the same side of the mouth of a fairly big creek that has a blowdown across it.

    Start at the beginning of the rock wall and fish it all the way past the first three docks, a very long way upstream. Karen says it takes a long time to work this spot correctly and you can spend most of a day on it. It is worth it, this is where she caught the 18 pound limit in a June tournament.

    Karen keeps her boat in close to the wall in about 11 to 12 feet of water and makes three casts before moving up the wall. On cast will be in toward the wall as a slight angle with the Mojo Rig. She then makes a long cast to the wall ahead of the boat and works it back at an angle to the boat The third cast will be straight ahead of the boat and is worked back to the boat.

    Fishing like this covers all the water from the face of the wall out to 12 feet deep or so. To do it right can take hours working along here. When she gets to the docks Karen fishes a jig and pig around them.  Current always makes this spot better. Karen says she does not even fish it if the water is not moving.

    11. N 34 01.170 – W 85 58.766 – Run back downstream and you will see a golf course on your left and more holes across the river on your right.  You are close enough to see the sharp bend back to your left going to the bridges and the water station in the bend.

    Watch for a creek opening on your right that goes back to the golf course. You will see some big PVC pipe going into the water and some smaller pipe running out above the water and dropping down on the river side. As you idle into the creek there is another set of pipes and they are for the pump house you see on the bank that waters the golf course.

    When you get back a ways from the river the creek splits and straight ahead it will go around and under a wooden golf cart bridge.  Go back to the bridge area and fish all the grass and stumps in the back of this creek. Karen will pitch a jig to wood cover in the grass and also run a shallow diving crankbait over the grass that is under the water.

    Another trick Karen uses in this and similar spots is to Mojo Rig a big lizard like the Zoom Magmum or the Strike King 3X lizard. These big baits draw strikes from big bass. Work them through the grass back in this creek in June.

    12. N 33 59.205 – W 85 59.855 – Run downstream past the bridges and watch for a big three story yellow house with white roof and trim on your right. The house sits on the beginning of the upstream point of Big Willis Creek on that side and looks like it is in a park.

    Across the river from the house is a small ditch that is not real noticeable as you run by. You will see the bank flatten out and go back a little. This old ditch has filled in but it creates a shelf in front of it that holds good fish.

    Keep your boat out from the bank and cast a crankbait to the bank. Dig the bottom coming out the shelf to the edge of the drop. This is a good spot that does not get a lot of pressure since it is not real noticeable.

    13. N 33 58.493 – W 85 59.664 – Run down the river past the old closed park on your left and watch for a small creek opening on that side. There are to white PVC poles on either side of the opening and a pasture or field on the downstream side of it. The poles mark two big stumps.

    Karen fishes the mouth of this creek and works the stumps with her baits. She fishes on down the bank a hundred feet or so, fishing the grass and wood cover. Bass often stack up here and current helps.

    Also work into the small creek. There are stumps, fence rows and grass beds to fish in it.

    14.  N 33 57.190 – W 85 57.768 – Run down the river until you see a long narrow island well off the left bank. This small island sits in front of a river ledge with trees on it that separates the river from a big slough behind it.  There are houses and docks in the slough and a bunch of wood duck nests, especially on the downstream end around the docks there.

    There is a small opening on the upstream end of this slough and Karen often starts there in the morning, fishing into the shallows, working grass and stumps. When you get to the other end where it opens back up there are two PVC poles, one with green paint on one side, that mark the channel going it.

    Karen will fish the edges of this cut and the area around it, probing for stumps and trash. She will also work up the river side of the ledge, it drops off pretty quickly and is hard clay. Bass hold all along it.

    These 14 spots offer a wide variety of kinds of places to fish, with some on the main lake and more up the river. There are many more similar spots. Check these out to see Karen’s patterns then explore to find more, just be careful.

   

with Damon Abernethy

     Catching spotted bass weighing three or more pounds is a thrill anytime.  When they hit in the dark it is even more exciting.  Jordan Lake just might be the best lake in Alabama to catch a big spotted bass at night right now and it is accessible to most fishermen in the state.  Plan a May trip to Jordan for some fast action.

     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 good largemouth lake but the big spots live in Jordan and are the target of most bass fishermen.

      Since Jordan is very fertile there are excellent populations of baitfish in the lake.  Much of the shoreline of the lower lake is lined with cabins and docks but the river up toward the Mitchell Dam is more natural shoreline.  The banks of all the lake are very rocky with steep drops in most areas. 

     A good bit of natural wood cover from blowdowns and stumps has been increased by numerous brush piles and dock posts.   Almost all of the shoreline looks “fishy” and you can catch spots all over the lake, but the bigger spots tend to feed in specific kinds of structure and cover this time of year.

     Damon Abernethy loved fishing so much while growing up in northern Alabama he decided to become a fisheries biologists.  He went to Auburn and got a Masters in fisheries biology. After a few years working in South Carolina he moved back to Alabama and now works in the Montgomery office of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as the Fisheries Development Coordinator.

     One of Damon’s jobs is to compile the Alabama Bass Angler Information Team (BAIT) data so he keeps up with bass fishermen and tournament results on a daily basis. He is in charge of state public boat ramps and the past year has kept him very busy trying to keep them open with the low water levels.  Damon also coordinates the reservoir sampling program so he knows about the populations of fish in Alabama lakes.

     Damon has fished all his life and bass fishing it his passion.   Jordan is close to his house and he really likes it this time of year.  Damon helped me set up the lakes for these articles and, when asked which his favorite lake was, did not hesitate in saying Jordan at night in May.

As a member of the Prattville Bass Club Damon fishes many state lakes in their tournaments.  He also fishes the central Alabama Fishers of Men tournament trail and enters some of the pot tournaments on Jordan, especially this time of year. On most of his days off he will be on Jordan studying it and looking for new spots to catch spots.

 Jordan had produced several spots weighing over five pounds for Damon in the past few years. His best is a 5.5 pounder and his best five-fish limit of spots from Jordan weighed 23 pounds.  He has a seven-pound largemouth but does not target them on Jordan. The fishing for big spots is just too good.

“In late April most of the spots have spawned and are moving to deeper water,” Damon said.  They follow predictable patterns of movement and feed heavily from late April through May.  Although you can catch spots all day this time of year, night fishing is by far the best way to catch the grown ones.

Damon looks for steep banks near spawning areas that drop fast into deeper water. Wood cover helps as do rocks.  The bass are holding on these steep banks and feed all night long but Damon usually fishes from about an hour before dark until midnight or 1:00 AM. He says the fish will hit later than that, especially later in the year, but he just gets too sleepy to keep fishing.

You need only two rods rigged and ready to fish at night, according to Damon. One will be rigged with a three-quarters ounce black spinnerbait with a big #6 Colorado blade and a dark colored Zoom Swimmin’ Chunk.  The other rod will be rigged with a half-ounce spinnerbait and chunk in the same colors. That is all you need.

Both of Damon’s Calcutta reels will be loaded with 20 pound test monofilament or fluorocarbon line.  You can get away with the heavy line at night and need it for the big fish around cover.  Damon does not use braid because he says it causes too much trouble at night. If you get a backlash you can not see it to pick it out.

Damon showed me the following ten spots he likes at night. We fished in early April and the night bite had not started. Most of the spots were on the bed. Damon said it was his worst day ever on Jordan but we still had ten keeper spots with two better than three pounds each, even fishing in the daylight.

1. N 32 38.237 – W 86 15.926 – The last big creek on the left heading toward the dam is Sofkahatchee Creek and YMCA Camp Chandler is in it.  Damon said most folks call this “Swayback Creek” because of the swayback bridge up the creek a ways. 

Run in past the marked shoals and two small islands to the first small creek to your left.  The upstream point of this creek runs way out across the mouth of the smaller creek. The point has a metal seawall or bulkheads around it and there is an open metal roof dock on the inside of this point.  A concrete walkway goes up the hill from the point.

The main creek channel runs in on the outside of this point and hits it well up from the point.   The point runs out between the big creek and the smaller one and drops off good on both sides. There are rocks on the point and along the bank upstream of the point itself.  The smaller creek is a good spawning areas.

This is an excellent example of the type place Damon likes to fish at night.  He will keep his boat in about 18 feet of water and throw up onto the top of the underwater point, slow rolling his spinnerbait back to the boat.  Work out 100 to 150 feet until the point ends.  Then fish on up the bank where it drops off, too, fishing it the same way.

Damon says to hit places like this several times each night.   You may fish it at dark and not get bit then come back two hours later and catch a 20 pound limit.  Spots move up onto the points to feed and a school will feed together, with a lot of fish active at the same time. Don’t give up on a place after a few casts.

2. N 32 37.405 – W 86 16.521 – Run across the lake to the cove just upstream of the canal.  As you go in you will see a lone tree growing on an underwater hump out from an island just off the bank. The island has a big tree and a smaller tree on it and there is a walkway going to it from the shore.  The island has a metal seawall around it and the point just inside the cove past it has concrete poured around it, with some areas broken up into slabs.

Start on the point of the island and work around it then into the cove. Fish the next main point with the concrete around it. Stay out deep and fish your spinnerbait right on the bottom all the way back to the boat. Damon says cast to the bank since the spots will often be very shallow at night but keep your bait in contact with the bottom out to about 15 feet deep.

Damon got a nice 2 pound spot here on a Fish Stalker jig head with a centipede worm on it here when we fished. That is one of his favorite baits when fishing during daylight but he would not be using it at night. If fishing during the day you can catch spots on most of these holes but they tend to be smaller and you need to use jig head worms and other baits.

  3. N 32 38.479 – W 86 17.552 – Back across the lake and upstream you will see a cream colored house with a bright red roof on your right going upstream.  The point upstream of it has a green house on it and it is the downstream point of a big cove.  This is another place the big spots stack up as they move out of the cove after spawning.

Start where the rock riprap on the point starts and work around the point and into the cove. There is a big flat on the inside of the cove out from an island that sits just off the bank. Damon will fish the outside of the main point all the way to the outside of the island at night, keeping his boat in deep water and casting up toward the shallows, but he says the outside of the main lake point is the best area.

4. N 32 39.763 – W 86 18.697 – Run upstream to the second point on the right past the mouth of Weoka Creek.  There is a rock and wood house on this flat point and it has a streetlight, bench and two deer on it.  The point goes way out and Damon says this is an excellent example of a main lake point where the bass hold after spawning.

Stay way out until you learn how the point drops off and cast your spinnerbait up onto the point, working it back to deeper water. Damon says he likes to tick the bottom fairly often to know he is right on the bottom when slow rolling his bait back.  He wants to feel the thump of the big blade as it turns and the bump of the bottom to know where his bait is. 

Depending on how fast the bottom drops, Damon will go with either the three-quarter ounce or half-ounce bait.  The bigger bait keeps in contact with a fast dropping bottom better but will get hung more. If the bottom has a flatter slope or lots of wood cover the lighter bait will not get hung up as much.  You can fish the heavier bait a little faster.

5. N 32 39.915 – W 86 19.649 – Across and up the lake a little is a cove with the remains of an old marina and restaurant in it.  The point is flat where it has been graded off and is covered with brush. It has a steel sea wall around it and there was a chair sitting on it when we fished. Near the chair is a monument sign that is made for reading while standing in front of it and another sign you can read from the water saying “Hungry Horace Restaurant” nearby.

Start on the outside of the point keeping your boat in about 18 feet of water and slow roll your spinnerbait from the bulkhead out to deep water. Work into the cove on the back side of the point. Damon says this is a good night time spot but he has not caught many fish here during the day.

     6. N 32 40.277 – W 86 19.854 – Just upstream on the left you will see a rock and wood house with a pretty green yard around it. Damon says this homeowner keeps his yard in pretty shape all year long.  There is a wood seawall with a walkway built on it going around the point.  Just upstream of the seawall the bank is very deep and drops fast.  A lot of brush has been cut on the bank and fallen into the water, giving a lot of cover here.

     Damon will stay about 25 feet off the bank and the water will be 20 feet deep. He makes short casts to the shallows and works his bait back. He usually wants his bait to hit within a foot or so of the bank.  When fishing close to the shore where there is a lot of wood he will sometimes turn on a light to help make casts that don’t get hung up.  He uses the black light type fluorescent light but only when he needs to see where to cast.  Normally he likes to let his eyes adjust to the dark and he can see well enough without any kind of light.

     Fish up this steep bank to the next pocket and work the docks and brush in the pocket, too.  It is a small cove with several docks in it and another secondary point that is worth a few casts before leaving.

     7. N 32 41.222 – W 86 20.156 –   Upstream on the right you will see a green roofed dock on a steep bank at the mouth of a small creek. There is a small wooden dock with white caps on the posts and a block seawall here.  Big rocks are on the bank here, too.

     Start fishing in front of the first dock and work around the point, slow rolling your spinnerbait down the bottom. The bank and bottom is very steep between the docks and this is a good spot to find bass holding.  Work the point carefully before leaving.

     Current helps here and on all other spots on the lower lake.  You are more likely to find current here since the lake has narrowed down a lot.  Current can come from the generation of power at the Jordan dam or from upstream from the release of water at the Mitchell dam.  There should always be a little current since there is always one generator on-line at the Jordan dam, according to Damon. Stronger current will make the bass bite better.

     8. N 32 45.389 – W 86 22.764 – The last three holes are really river holes and bass are hard to catch unless there is a good current. These spots do offer good places to try later in the month. Damon says river bass stay shallower later since the water is cooler and current makes them move up and feed.

     Run upstream until you see an airplane on a dock on your right. You will run a long way and not see any docks or houses then this one will be on your right.  It is on the upstream side of the mouth of Pinchoule Creek.  Damon says he has never seen the airplane move but if it is gone the heavy dock with wooden ramp is plainly made for an airplane. Also, on the point there is a wide concrete ramp with a divider in the middle, probably for the plane, and a smaller boat ramp.

      Start just upstream of the airplane and dock and work up.  This bank is rocky and drops fairly fast but you will be sitting in about 14 feet of water 30 feet off the bank. Fish upstream to the next point, a long way upstream.  Cast close to the bank and work your bait out some but Damon says most bites will come near the bank here so be ready for a hit as soon as your bait lands in the water.

9. N 32 47.520 – W 86 25.645 – Head upstream past the underwater pipeline crossing and the river makes a sharp bend to the right. When you come to this bend you can see the Mitchell dam, the bridge and the above water pipeline crossing.  There are some docks on the right and the current makes an eddy here since it is the inside of the bend.

Bass hold in the brush and rocky bottom off the first two docks. Start out about even with the first dock with a mercury vapor light on it near the gravel on the bank and fish upstream to the next dock with a mercury vapor light. The water will not be real deep here but it is deep enough to hold good fish feeding in the current.

10. N 32 48.177 – W 86 26.389 – On the right side of the dam facing it you will see two signs.  There are some big rock walls here running down into the water. Start fishing just downstream of the second sign and fish down to the rock point outcropping. There is a rock shelf that runs out under the water here and bass often hold on the drop and move onto the shelf to feed.

Damon says there is usually not much current here at night but the bass still feed well in this area.  If there is some current it might be better to start on the downstream end of the bank and work upstream. Make fairly long casts and work your spinnerbait across the rock shelf and over the drop.

Rig up a couple of rods and head to Jordan at night for some fantastic fishing.  Fish Damon’s spots then find similar places all your own. You don’t have to do much experimenting with baits this time of year, just fish your spinnerbait on the right places to catch some of Jordan’s magnum spots.

with Skip Spurlin

     The Alabama River has some great bass lakes on it and Millers Ferry ranks high among them.  All the river lakes contain excellent populations of largemouth and spotted bass and this is a good time to catch both species on Millers Ferry.  As the water cools they follow patterns that you can take advantage of right now.

     Millers Ferry is officially known as William “Bill” Dannelly Reservoir and covers 105 miles of the Alabama River south of Selma.  It contains about 17,200 acres of water and over 500 shoreline miles.  A Corps of Engineers Lake that officially opened to the public in 1974, it has more than three million visitors each year.

     Skip Spurlin grew up near Millers Ferry and has fished it for a long as he can remember. It was the lake he fished in his youth with his Uncle Jerry Hollinghead, Grandfather J.C. Hollinghead and father Gordon Spurlin.  He has learned what the bass are doing there over the years with them and fishing on his own.  The patterns they follow each fall make finding and catching bass a good bet.

     Skip now lives in Opp and fishes several tournament trails including the BFL and Airport Marine tournaments.  He also fished some of the Fishers of Men tournaments and a lot of local pot tournaments and charity tournaments on Millers Ferry.  He is on the Airport Marine Ranger Pro Staff.

     Some of Skip’s best catches at Millers Ferry include a spot weighing a 5.5 poounds, a good fish anywhere, and a 7.5 pound largemouth.  His best tournament catch on the lake was a five fish limit weighing 22 pounds.  There are plenty of quality spots and largemouth in Millers Ferry.

     “Fall fishing is all about the shad,” Skip told me.  The shad move off the river into the pockets as the water cools in November and the bass follow them.  Then in late December the shad will head back out to the river and bass will say on them.  You can catch them on the points at the mouths of creeks and pockets coming and going.

     Skip and I were on Milers Ferry in late October, the first cold front of the year and the coldest day up until then, and the shad were already back in some of the creeks.  That seemed a little early but you need to follow them and not worry about why they are moving when they do, just stay on them like the bass do.  Find the shad and you will find the bass.  At times you can see them feeding on top and other times you will need to watch your depth finder to spot the balls of shad in deeper water.

     “When you catch a bass on a buzzbait it will be a fat one,” Skip said.  Each morning Skip will start with a white or black Lunker Lure buzzbait around wood cover in the mouths of pockets.  He will throw this bait on shady banks back in the creeks as long as the fish are hitting. 

If they don’t want a topwater bait he will try a silver blade white spinnerbait in the same areas.  He will also offer them a Trick worm or Senko around the shallow cover if they don’t seem very active, working the Trick worm by cover and dropping the Senko beside logs and letting it sink to the bottom.

     As the sun gets higher or if the bass are not hitting the  spinnerbait and buzzbait he will try a crankbait.  Skip likes to start shallow with a bait like a Rattle Trap and will throw it around the mouths of creeks and pockets.   He likes a one half ounce shad colored bait in clear water and a gold bait in stained water.

     After trying the Trap shallow work deeper with a Norman’s Deep Little N then a DD22 in the same colors. Probe for drops, cover and fish around shad in the mouths of creeks on points with these baits.  The point between the river channel and creek channel is often an excellent crankbait hole this time of year.

     If nothing else works Skip will go to a jig head, Carolina or Texas rigged worm, but they tend to catch smaller bass.  He likes a Zoom Speed worm for largemouth and a Zoom Trick worm for spotted bass.  On sunny days a green or green pumpkin color is best and on cloudy days he will switch to the same worms in Junebug or redbug colors.

     Skip likes the Gee’s Bend area this time of year.  He and I put in at Roland Cooper State Park and fished the following holes in late October. There were shad and bass on several of them but we had a tough bluebird sky/cold front day to fish.  Each will be even better now and you can catch bass on them on through December or even later. Just remember to find the shad to find the bass.

1. N 32 03.363 – W 87 15.031 – Going upstream from the opening at the ramps at the state park you will pass a long island on your right.  Watch to your right for an opening going back into a big area at the state park golf course. There is a small island in the middle of the opening and a green channel marker is lodged in some stumps on the downstream point.

     Start here early throwing a buzzbait and spinnerbait around the wood and grass cover on the point. Work back into the pocket behind the point and around behind the island.  Fish school up on shad in places like this and feed early around shallow cover.  Make several casts to the best looking spots.

     Later in the day or if nothing hits shallow work around the island with your crankbaits. Work deeper if you don’t get bit shallow.  The water drops off fairly fast on the river side of the island so work this areas back to the downstream point.  You can also fish a plastic bait around the cover here.

     2. N 32 04.194 – W 87 14.206 – Run up to the next cut on your right and go into it.  Be careful if you run in on plane, there are some stumps near the channel.  Go around the point on your left and head to the left.  Near the back of the creek you will see a concrete seawall and dock on a point on your right. Start fishing on this point.

There is a good grass bed to fish around this point and some wood cover. Work up this bank hitting grass beds and wood cover with buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. This bank stays shady for a good while so it will be better a little later in the morning. Fish all the way up to the last dock on that side. Just past it you will see a causeway coming across the small creek. 

If the fish don’t hit a buzzbait or spinnerbait work a plastic bait around the cover. A Trick worm or Senko can be good in the shallows if the bass don’t want to chase your faster moving lure.  If shad have worked this far back into the creek there should be bass feeding on them.

3. N 32 04.246 – W 87 14.629 – Back out at the main river stop on the upstream point of this creek. The point between the creek and river has a lot of visible brush off the bank on the river side and you will see a long cedar tree growing on the point. On the map this point is near mile marker 46.

Fish around the shallow cover with spinnerbaits and buzzbaits on the point between the two channels.  Also work a jig head worm or Texas rigged worm on it. Skip says the bottom is nasty here with lots of rocks that will eat your bait.  You can’t fish a crankbait here without getting hung up on every cast.

Current is critical on these points.  Bass will feed much better when there is some current moving. The current will move the shad across the points and position the bass.  You will catch some bass without current but not as many and not as big as when it is moving. This point is mostly a spot hole.

4. N 32 04.385 – W 87 14.770 – Across the river is an opening going back to flats of an old oxbow and Skip likes to fish the left bank going it. Start about even with the point on the island between the river and the oxbow and fish all visible cover.  The left bank going in is the side the old river channel was on and is deeper and better.

Fish from the area across from the river side island to a point where there is a deep pocket going further in. You will see a field across this pocket and that is as far as Skip usually fishes this spot.  The sun gets on the water early here so he likes to start here in the mornings.

This is a good area for pattern that works on some spots. Look for patches and pockets of water hyacinth and flip them with a heavy jig and pig. You need a half to three quarters ounce jig to get down under the mat. Skip says this pattern can be good all day since bass hold in the shade on sunny days.

5. N 32 04.687 – W 87 14.508 – Another good pattern on Millers Ferry is to flip and pitch to shoreline cover along outside bends in the river.  Back out on the main river head upstream and the river will start bending to your left a little.  Watch for a big oak tree leaning over the water on your right and start fishing there, working upstream.

Flip a jig and pig to all wood cover along the outside bend. The bottom drops off fast and there are lay down trees and logs as well as stumps along this bank.  Also watch for any change in the bottom like a ditch or the change from dirt to clay. Those things can concentrate the fish.

Skip likes to flip a three eights to one half ounce jig to the wood along the bank.  He chooses a black and blue Eakins or Lunker Lure jig with a Zoom sapphire blue Super Chunk.  Fish it on heavy line like 15 to 20 pound Seaguar fluorocarbon to pull bass out of the cover.

6. N 32 05.367 – W 87 14.905 – Up the river you will come to the mouth of Buzzard’s Bay on your right. You can see a lot of standing trees back in the bay and there is a red channel marker just off the upstream point.  The upstream point is where you want to fish.

Skip likes crankbaits and plastics on this point. There is a good break in eight feet of water and wood washes in and hangs up on it. Bass will hold in the cover and school up on the flat behind the break.  Start with your boat out in 15 feet of water and cast up shallow, covering the flat and drop. Then move on the shallow side of the break and work your plastic baits through the wood cover, fishing deep to shallow.  

Skip will throw a Carolina rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hog on this point.  He likes green pumpkin and dips the tails in JJs Magic chartreuse dye.  The Carolina rig is good for fishing the cover on the bottom. Moving water makes shad pull up on the flat on this point and bass will follow them, too.  Watch for surface activity while fishing the deeper water.

7. N 32 02.394 – W 87 16.671 – Run down the river past the state park and watch on your left for a line of tall post that run along the bank.  They were put there for a seawall or some other structure but stick up by themselves with some wood along their lower edges. 

Start fishing at the downstream side of these posts and work upstream.  This is another good outside bend area and working upstream helps you position your boat if there is any current. Current really makes the bass bite better so you want to be fishing it when the current is moving.

Skip says you can take a limit of spots weighing 15  pounds if the current is moving and everything is right. Flip a jig and pig to shoreline cover here like in hole number 5.  There are also riprap banks and docks along this area to fish. 

Fish upstream to the double dock with the workboat tied to it.  There was an American flag flying here the day we fished.  Skip says flip to all the post on this dock, that wood washes in and hangs up here and holds bass. Work this whole bank probing for wood cover as the water drops.

8. N 32 02.315 – W 87 16.920 – Just downstream of the posts on the same side is a cove that holds shad and bass this time of year.  There is a big gray house on the upstream point with a gazebo out on the point.  Across from that point they are clearing brush on the lot on the downstream side. That is the side Skip likes to fish.

Start fishing on the riverside of the lot they are clearing. There is wood and grass along that bank that holds bass as they move in and out of the pocket following the shad. Try all your baits along this bank, hitting visible grass and wood cover.

9. N 32 02.903 – W 87 18.535 – Further downstream on your left is the opening to go back to Ellis Ferry landing.  The downstream point of this creek has a two story white house behind and a little downstream of it.  This point has a bar that runs across and upstream of it and is an excellent place to find spots schooled up.

Fish a crankbait and jig head worm on this point, covering it from all angles. Watch your depth finder to see how the bar runs and work it out to deeper water.  A jig head worm is especially good fished along the bar out toward deeper water.

10. N 32 02.493 – W 87 18.493 – Go back into the creek until you see the ramp at Ellis Ferry ahead of you as you round a point on your right. Start at that point across from the boat ramp and work into the creek. Ahead of you there is a causeway that cuts off part of the bay. This is a good bank to start on if you put in here.

Shad will often hold along the grass beds on this bank and they were thick in there in late October.  Bass were schooling on them when we fished it and it will be even better now.  Fish this bank with buzzbait and spinnerbait early, then work a Trap a little later.  It is a shallow bank so stay way out and make long casts.

Fish the docks and grassbeds back until the water out from the bank where your boat is sitting is only two feet deep.  Watch for action on top and make casts to it. Also hit dock pilings and brush under the docks.  There are enough tournaments held from this ramp that the area is constantly restocked, adding to the fish that are moving in following the shad.

Try these ten spots Skip likes to fish and see what kind of structure and cover he is looking for. Check other areas of the lake that are similar and find the shad on them and you will catch bass.

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!

March Bass at Pickwick 

with Roger Stegall

     Many national tournament trails are drawn to Pickwick Lake because of the amazing smallmouth fishing.  The lake is known nation-wide for producing stringers of quality smallmouth.  Four and five pound fish are common and in many tournaments five-fish limits between 20 and 25 pounds are weighed in.  It has an excellent population of largemouth and some spotted bass as well.

     Pickwick is a 43,100 acre lake with 490 miles of shoreline.  The dam on the Tennessee River was completed in 1930 so it is a very old lake. Although its dam is in Tennessee and some waters back up into Mississippi, most of the lake is in Alabama.  Two locks at the dam provide barge traffic access as does the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway that connects with the upper end of Yellow Creek.

     Roger Stegall has been fishing Pickwick for 31 years and guides there about 200 days a year.  He has been bass fishing all his life and got his tournament start in college. Roger and some of his friends started a bass club and he liked the competition.  He fished clubs for several years and has fished tournaments with prizes ranging from a trophy to $200,000.

Roger is well known on the tournament trails and has done well in the BFL, Stren Series, FLW and Bassmasters trails, especially in the Pickwick area.  He has won six BFL tournaments and at least that many second place finishes where he was within ounces of the winner.  He has many top ten finishes in all the trails he has fished.

In 1998 Roger won the BFL point championship for the Mississippi Division. In the Division Championship that year on Pickwick he set a record catch of smallmouth that still stands in the BFL. He brought in an incredible five-fish limit of smallmouth weighing 27.5 pounds.  His biggest smallmouth that day weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and he culled a 4.5 pounder.

Roger shared his knowledge of Pickwick with me on a very cold day in late January and showed me the spots where he will be fishing from late February through March.  His record catch came on March 18 so this is an excellent time to be on the lake.

     As soon as the water starts warming in late February both smallmouth and largemouth start moving toward spawning areas, according to Roger.  They will hold and feed in predictable area and will hit a variety of baits.  Roger firmly believes lake bass spawn on the lake and creek bass stay in the creeks to bed, but there are plenty of quality fish in both kinds of areas. 

     Bass will be on rocky points in creeks and on the main lake and you can catch them there during this time. They will also move up on grass flats to feed and spawn so that is another kind of spot to find them.  When the water temperature is between 49 and 59 he expects them to be feeding well in both kinds of areas.  Smallmouth will spawn when the water gets to 59 and the largemouth will follow when it hits 64 to 65 degrees.

     Most of the bass on Pickwick will be pre-spawn from now to the end of March.  Roger will fish rocky points with a Strike King Wild Shiner jerk bait, a Strike King spinnerbait a Series 5 crankbait and a football head jig. On the flats he will be throwing either a Red Eye Shad or Diamond Shad lipless bait and the spinnerbait.

     The following ten spots will all hold both largemouth and smallmouth this month and they will give you a variety of kinds of spots to hit on the lower lake and in Yellow Creek.  Fish them like Roger suggests and you will catch fish.

     1. N 34 59.515 – W 88 14.324 – If you put in at the ramp at Sportsman Boat Storage and One Stop on Sandy Creek you don’t have to go far.  Look down the creek to your left and you will see a small island sitting just off the bank.  Roger says he has caught the lunker in a bunch of tournaments off this island.  You will be sitting in 12 feet of water not far off the bank and there are rocks all around the island.

     Roger fishes this spot like a rocky point.  He stays out from the bank and makes casts in close to the bank. He will work his jerk bait back in short pulls at a right angle to the bank rather than getting in close and making parallel casts. He says he wants to cover the water at a variety of depths.

     If the jerk bait doesn’t draw a strike he will follow up with a spinnerbait, slow rolling it down the slope of the bottom, again working it straight out from the bank to deeper water.  Fish all the way around this island, covering all of it on both sides. 

Before leaving Roger will work a football head jig in the same area to find fish that are very inactive. Sometimes fish will not move up to chase either the jerk bait or spinnerbait so he wants to tempt them with something on the bottom.

2.  N 34 59.584 – W 88 14.249 – The point behind this island is also rocky and an excellent place to catch bass this time of year.  There is a sign on a tree that says “Cheerio” and Roger calls it Cheerio Point.  There is a dock on the point with two white poles holding it in place and it has blue floats under it.

You will see there are two pockets, one on either side of this point.  Both are good spawning pockets so bass hold on this point before moving in to them to spawn.  Fish all the way around the point with jerk bait, spinnerbait and jig.

Roger likes the Denny Brauer Pro Model football jig with the Rage Craw or Rage Chunk on it.  Natural colors like green pumpkin are best.  The football head does not hang up as bad as other shapes and it gives the bait a wobble the fish like.  Roger fishes the heavy football jig rather than a Carolina rig to cover water and keep in contact with the bottom.

3.  N 34 58.996 – W 88 14.170 – Start up Yellow Creek and you will see Yellow Creek Port on your right. There are usually some barges tied up along the left bank.  Upstream of them are some rocky points and Roger starts at the one with a small pine leaning over the water and two small old logs running from the bank out into the water.  There are stumps and chunk rock on this point and it holds bass.

Fish all the way around this point with all three of your baits.  Roger fishes Pflueger reels and All Star rods with all his baits and says the Pflueger best reel for the money on the market. They are two of his sponsors and he likes and uses their products.

The channel swings in close to the bank here and you will be sitting in 35 feet of water a cast off the bank.  Roger says some wind blowing in on the rocks helps as does some current. When water is being pulled at the dam there is often a noticeable current here. Sometimes there is a slight upstream current when the lock is operated on the Tennessee-Tombigbee canal upstream but it is inconsistent and you can not depend on it.

4.  N 34 57.764 – W 88 13.692 – Run upstream and watch for red channel marker 447.2 on a point on your left. This point has stumps all over it and is rocky.  There is a small gravel pocket upstream of the point.  Fish all your baits all the way around this point, from the pocket below it to the rocky beach upstream of it. The other points around this one also hold bass.

 The colder the water the slower you should fish. Roger works his Wild Shiner jerk bait in short pulls rather than jerks. He says that more imitates the action of an injured baitfish.  They don’t dart around, they move slowly then suspend or slowly move up. He wants his jerk bait to look like they do.

     5.  N 34 57.123 – W 88 13.299 – Upstream Goat Island runs way out from the right bank.  This was really a long point where the creek made a sharp bend before the channel was cut through near the bank.  There were some goats on the island the day we fished and that is how it got its name.

     On the upstream side there is an underwater point running out near the outside edge of the island.  The channel swings in right beside it and it looks like a bluff bank but the point is the key.  Watch you depthfinder as you fish along this bank and you will see it.  Keep your boat out in at least 20 feet of water and cast all three of your baits all around and across the point.

     6.  N 34 59.261 – W 88 13.448 – Head down Yellow Creek past the first spots following the channel and you will go through the narrow cut on the right. Downstream of it watch for red channel marker 449 on a rocky point on your right. The point with the channel marker and the one upstream of it are both good March spots since they run out to the old channel and have rocks and brush on them and there are spawning pockets behind them.

     Fish all around both points probing for rocks and brush. When you hit heavy cover make several casts over it with a jerk bait and run your spinnerbait just above it. Then work your jig through it. Roger says you will get bit on a jig here is you can fish it without hanging up, but you will lose a lot of baits in the rocks.

     7.  N 34 59.800 – W 88 12.355 – When you get to the mouth of the creek you will see a Spanish style house on the main lake point on your left.   There was a US flag on a pole in front of it the day we fished.   Roger calls this “YMCA Point” since there used to be a YMCA camp on it. On the creek side of the point you will see a steep rocky bank change to chunk rock and gravel then to flat rocks. 

     Roger fishes the creek side of this point from the steep bank to the flat rocks. He will use the same three baits as in the creek but will add in the Series 5 crankbait here. He likes the sexy shad color if the water is clear but will throw the bright chartreuse with green or black back if it is stained.  He stays way off the bank with the crankbait and makes long casts to the bank, fishing it back from shallow to deep.

     8.  N 35 01.267 – W 88 11.289 – Run across the river and go behind the big island. Head downstream but be careful until you find the deep water here. You will see a duck blind on your right near where there is a gap in the island on your left. Just downstream of the duck blind it gets very shallow and there are some big stumps and rocks so be very careful.

     This is a good example of the kind of grass flat Roger likes this time of year.  The water is fairly shallow way off the bank and grass grows on it. Right now the grass is just starting to grow so you won’t see a lot of it, but both largemouth and smallmouth will hold in the grass and feed.

     This is where the lipless crankbaits work best. The Diamond Shad has a good wobble and will flutter down when paused, but the new Red Eye Shad will swim down like a hurt baitfish when it is paused. Try both for different actions.  Roger likes shad and bream colors in both baits.

     Roger will also throw a spinnerbait here.  He likes the Strike King with either a single or double willowleaf and goes with the double willowleaf if there are shad present. White is his choice if the water is clear and he uses a white and chartreuse combination if the water is stained.

     Bass move in to feed up on these flats before the spawn and they will also spawn on them, so this spot is good the whole month of March and into April.   They will also feed here after the spawn.  Stay about two casts off the bank and make long casts, covering lots of water as you work this flat.

     9.  N 35 02.749 – W 88 10.756 – Go downstream, being very careful until you learn where to run since there are shallow flats on this side.  Go to the rocky point on the upstream side of Dry Creek and fish it with jerk bait, spinnerbait, crankbait and jig. The point is rocky and there are cedar trees on it.

Start on the upstream side and work to the creek side. Roger does not fish up the creek side. It gets very deep on the creek side but runs out shallow on the river side so stay way out and make long casts.  Two boat lengths from the bank the water will be only six feet deep and you want to cast to that depth, not sit over it.

     Roger likes Sufix Elite line since it does not have much stretch and he can feel his baits better with it.  He fishes the green line so he can see it and watches his line on every cast. Sometimes you will see a bite you don’t feel. Also the low stretch means he feels the lipless baits and crankbait vibrating better and knows to set the hook if the vibrations stop.

     On the lipless baits Roger uses 14 to 17 pound Sufix to feel it better and get the fish out of grass.  He throws his jerk bait on 10 pound clear Sufix Seige and fishes both jig and spinnerbait on 12 pound Sufix line.

     10.  N 35 03.079 – W 88 10.927 – On the downstream side of Pompeys Branch, just below Dry Creek, you will see a big shallow point running out to a flat on a good map.  This flat comes up to a hump on the end about 300 yards off the bank.  The hump is a ridge about 200 yards long and grass grows on it.  Bass feed and spawn here and hold here before moving back into the branch and creek to spawn, too.

     Stay on the outside of the ridge and make long casts across it with lipless baits.  Keep your boat in deeper water and cast to the top of the ridge, covering the slope back to you.  Fish it from one end to the other then go back along it with your spinnerbait.

     Roger likes the middle of the day on this spot and others. He says that seems to be the best time to catch fish on the flats.  On the points you can catch fish any time of day but the first three weeks of March are going to be best because a lot of the fish will move back into pockets to spawn after that.

     Check out these spots and see the kinds of patterns and places Roger fishes. There are many others all over the lake that are similar.  You can catch fish on these spots then find others after learning the pattern.

To get Roger to show you how he catches bass on Pickwick call him at 662-423-3869 or E-mail him at rogstegall@fishpickwick.com for a guided trip. You can see more information and pictures at his web site at http://www.fishpickwick.com