September 10 Bass at Wheeler Lake with Brent Crow

    Like the light at the end of a tunnel, September promises better things ahead for bass fishermen.  Days are finally noticeably shorter and the air is slightly cooler. Bass respond by getting active and feeding in more shallow water as the temperature starts to drop. Wheeler Lake is a great place to take advantage of this improving fishing.

    Wheeler is a TVA lake on the Tennessee River north of Birmingham and is the second biggest lake in the state.  It runs 60 miles from its dam to the Guntersville Dam and covers huge flats starting around Decatur.  Largemouth are the dominate species but smallmouth fishing is good and there are a good many northern strain spotted bass in the lake, too.

    According to the BAIT survey, in tournaments on Wheeler in 2008 average bass size was good at 1.69 pounds and the average big fish was 4.10 pounds.  Over 87 percent of tournament anglers landed at least one keeper and the average number of keepers per angler was 4.14, just short of a limit.

    Wheeler was known for its big bass in the grass a few years ago but the grass seemed to disappear and so did the fantastic catches.  The lake remained good but not up to its past standards. Right now it seems Wheeler is making a comeback in bass population numbers and size although much of the grass is still missing.

    Brent Crow grew up in the area and now lives ten minutes from the lake.  As a youth he fished ponds and creeks with a friend.  When he was a teenager, he got interested in bass fishing and tournament fishing from watching shows on TV and was a charter member of the University of Alabama Bass Association, a tournament club formed of students, faculty and staff. 

    Fishing those club draw tournaments helped Brent learn about bass fishing and gave him his start in tournaments.  He fished the Federation in 2000 then, in his first BFL in 2002, finished second on Guntersville. That fired him up and he went on to fish many more tournaments.

    For three years Brent fished the FLW Tour but this past year he concentrated his fishing on Wheeler and other Tennessee River Lakes as well as Smith Lake.  He guides on all those lakes and fishes many pot, charity and local trail tournaments on them. 

    In June and July Brent landed big fish in a weekly night tournament on Wheeler four weeks in a row, weighing in a seven pounder, then a six pounder, followed by a five pounder then another six pounder.

    “September is the month I go from having two rods on my deck to having ten,” Brent said.  The bass move up and there are several good patterns working every day. Some work better in certain areas of the lake, but there are many ways to catch bass anywhere you want to fish.

    On the lower lake largemouth move into pockets and creeks following shad and feed on them in three to four feet of water.  That is an exciting way to fish because you are seeing activity most of the time and casting topwater baits to the fish.  In the same area, smallmouth bass are feeding very shallow on main lake rocky points, especially later in the month and you can catch them on crankbaits.

    Further up the lake the river ledges on the Decatur Flats hold quality bass as do the humps back off the river on the flats. A somewhat specialized pattern is fishing barge tie-ups in the area since shad get around them and attract bass. And finally, the point at the railroad bridge creates a current break where bass will stack up and feed.

    For the largemouth in the pockets, Brent will throw a Lucky Craft Gunfish topwater lure and a Zoom Super Fluke when the fish are up and feeding, then fan cast the area with a Lavender Shad Norman Baby Deep N and a white and chartreuse War Eagle half-ounce spinnerbait.

    Out on the rocky points Brent likes the Fluke and Gunfish thrown right on the bank. He says you can’t cast too shallow and you will catch some quality smallmouth doing this.  You won’t get as as many bites but the ones you do get will be good fish, and the pattern holds up all day long.

    On the river ledges and humps Brent will throw a three quarter ounce Tight Line football head jig in rusty craw or black and blue and tip it with a Paca Chunk in some brown color.  He will also keep a Netbait 11 inch worm Texas rigged on a three eights to one half ounce lead, depending on the current.

    A Carolina rig will also work on these ledges and humps and a Brush Hog or Baby Brush Hog in Junebug or green pumpkin is a good bet.  Brent uses a three quarters ounce sinker on his Carolina rig.    All these baits are thrown on heavy P-Line fluorocarbon.

    In this area, always keep a Gunfish tied on and ready to throw to schooling fish, too. They will often come up chasing shad on the humps and ledges and a quick cast to the school can produce some good fish.

    On the barge tie-up pilings, Brent rigs a jig head worm on a spinning outfit to fish them.  A crankbait run by them will catch fish, too. Both those baits work well when fishing the railroad bridge, too.

    The following ten spots will all be good this month. Give them a try then look for similar places on the lake.

    1.  N 34 39.189 – W 87 01.871 – If you put in at the big ramp in Decatur, come out of the bay and head downstream.  On your right you will see two big signs out in the middle of the lake, just off the north side of the channel, marking a gas line crossing.  Go to the second green channel marker on your right downstream of those signs, just downstream of the mouth of Bakers Creek on the south side of the river.

    Watch your depthfinder and idle toward the bank. The river will be over 20 feet deep then come up on the river ledge to four or five feet deep.  Keep your boat out in 20 feet of water and work upstream, casting your baits to the top of the ledge and working them back with the current.  Fish for about 100 yards upstream of the channel marker.

    This is a typical river ledge. It runs for a long distance and you want to work along it, probing for a hard bottom. Shell beds are a key and bass will stack up in a small area on the right bottom. That is why a big football head jig is a good bait. You can cover water quickly with it to find the schools of fish.

    2.  N 34 38.918 – 87 01.408 – Run upstream to the last green marker on your left downstream of the signs, the next one upstream.  Stop near the marker and start fishing, working all the way upstream to the gas line signs.  Remember, the channel marker sits off the ledge so you will be inside it toward the bank.  A good depthfinder is a big help in staying just off the ledge.

    When throwing a football head jig Brent cast upstream. He lets it hit bottom then drags it along with a sweeping sideways motion with his rod. He keeps his rod low and immediately sets the hook if he feels a fish.  He says if you “go on point” and try to drop your rod tip then set the hook you will miss the fish.  If the bass knocks slack in your line, coming toward you, reel fast as you sweep your rod tip.

    You can fish a Carolina rig or Texas rig on these ledges, too, but it is faster to cover them with the football head jig. When you catch a bass make repeated casts to the same spot.  Bass will hold on a very small area along a long ledge so concentrate on the spot when you get bit.

    Current really helps make the bass bite on these ledges and you should always work upstream, which gives you better boat control, and work your bait with the current, which is a more natural movement.  If the current is slack sometimes a passing barge will turn the bass on by moving the water, so be aware of them as they go behind you.

    3.  N 34 39.100 – W 87 01.407.  Do not run from the river channel across the ledges, especially if the water is a little low.  With only three or four feet on top and stumps on them, they eat lower units. Idle across the shallow ledge until the water drops off behind them to about eight feet deep. Then go to this hump.  It is about half way between holes 1 and 2 back well off the ledge. There are many humps back on the flats like this one, topping out about five feet deep on top with nine to 10 feet of water around them. Many are shown on maps and on a good GPS chip. Any of them can hold fish so it is a good idea to fish as many as possible to find them.

    When you get to this or other humps circle it throwing a football head jig, Work all the way around it, covering it from all angles. Current helps here, too, so the best angle if from downstream, casting upstream, but it is worth fishing all the way around these humps.

    4.  N 34 38.794 – W 87 00.705 – Stay parallel to the river channel and go upstream until you are just upstream of the gas line signs. You will be behind them and straight across from the big Monsanto Plant on the south side. Brent says this is another good hump to fish. 

    Fish all the way around it but watch for the deepest water as you circle it and concentrate your cast to come from the shallows on the hump down that drop.  Drag your football head, Carolina and Texas rig across it and down the drop. Brent says he almost always keeps his boat in deep water and casts shallow.

    Another bait worth a try here and on other humps and ledges is a crankbait like a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 in the bull bream color.  Cast it to the shallow water and fish it back across the drop.  You can fish it fast.

    Always watch for schooling fish when fishing humps and ledges. A Gunfish is a good lure to throw to fish breaking on top since it is big and you can cast it a long way.  Brent caught a couple of fat hybrids the day we fished but the largemouth were not on top.

    5.  N 34 38.206 – W 87 01.110 – This pattern is a little different but pays off well. There are dozens of barge piling tie-ups along the bank between Fox Creek to the Interstate, about eight miles of river.  Most of these tie-ups are right on the river ledge so their position is perfect, and they create a current break baitfish love.

    Go to the tie-ups just downstream of the mouth of Betty Creek.  The best pilings are like this one where the channel side has 20 feet of water but it is less then ten feet deep on the bank side. Shad draw bass in to feed and Brent says all the tie-ups can be good at some time.

    These are a good place to catch numbers of bass but they also produce some quality fish.  Brent fishes them with a three-sixteenths ounce jig head and a green pumpkin or June bug Trick worm tied on a spinning outfit. He uses 14 pound test braid for his main line with 15 pound P-Line fluorocarbon leader.  A crankbait is good when run by the pilings with the current, too.

    Keep your boat downsream of the round piling and cast your jig head right to the side of it, letting it fall to the bottom.  The shallow side is usually the best since bass hold near the bottom to feed. Work your jig head worm a couple of hops when it hits bottom then reel in and make another cast.

    You will see shad around the best tie-ups and all the activity makes a crankbait work well. Cast it past the piling and run it right beside it.  Make repeated casts at different angles to cover it, especially the shallow side.

    6.  N 34 37.209 – W 86 58.721 – Run up to the railroad bridge and stop on the left side before you get to the bridge. The riprap and point comes out and makes a current break on this side where bass stack up and feed. Brent says he sat here and caught 100 bass one day last year.

    Position your boat downstream and behind the point in about 15 feet of water. You want to cast up toward the point parallel to it where the current comes around and sweeps down the side of it.  Throw your jig head worm up into about two feet of water and work it back with the current to ten feet deep.  Keep a tight line and let the current move your bait like something washing down with the current.

    A Baby Deep N works well fishing this spot, too. Brent likes the lavender shad color and he works it at about the same speed as the current, moving it just fast enough to get it down near the bottom.

    7. N 34 47.750 – W 87 22.644 – You may want to trailer down to this area since it is a long run.  Going toward the dam on your left the last pocket has a warming sign on its point.  Go back into the pocket and watch for activity on top. Shad move back into pockets like this in September and largemouth follow to gorge on them in the shallow water.

    Throw a topwater bait or Fluke to any activity you see.  This pocket has deeper water than some but there is a sunken barge or wall of some kind in the back and the shad will go up against it and the bass will follow.  You will be fishing shallow, only three or four feet deep most of the time.  Bass will hit both the topwater and Fluke while chasing shad.

    Fish all around the back of the cove, watching for activity. If nothing is hitting on top Brent will fan cast  a spinnerbait or shallow running crankbait all around the back of the cove to draw strikes from bass lurking near cover waiting a a passing shad.

    8. N 34 47.478 – W 87 21.900 – Back out on the main river run up to the next cove and stop on the rocky point on it. This point is on the second pocket upstream of the boat ramp on that side of the lake.  It is a double cove that has two arms not far off the river.  This is a good example of the type rocky points Brent looks for in this area.

    The best points are on the main river run and drop off fast.  Keep your boat out as far as you can and still cast right on the bank. Cast a topwater bait or Fluke to the very edge of the water. Brent says you can’t cast too shallow fishing like this.

    On these points current does not make as much difference as it does on ledges and humps, but wind blowing into the point does help.  When fishing the Fluke, fish it fast and make it jump out of the water.  The more wind the more commotion Brent tries to make with his topwater baits.

    9.  N 34 45.466 – W 87 18.857 – Going upstream watch for another double pocket on your right. It is the third pocket downstream of the Champion Mill paper plant.  The rocky point on it is another good one to fish with topwater and Flukes. 

    Brent says you won’t get a lot of hits on each point fishing this pattern, but he catches some good smallmouth on it.  Rocky points like this may have only one bass feeding up real shallow but it is likely to be a good on. Run the rocky points in this area and work as many as you can.

    10.  N 34 44.317 – W 87 14.743 – Run up to Goldfield Branch and go back to the causeway in it.  Water near it will be five feet deep or so and it is a good area to find schooling largemouth chasing shad.  You will be fishing in the middle of these pockets, not the bank. Bass will hold out in any cover like stumps in the middle of the pocket and wait on shad.

    Fish this area with topwater for fish you see then try a spinnerbait or crankbait for others you don’t see.  I asked Brent why he picked certain pockets and points in this area and he said he used to net shad for bait and realized certain places held them consistently. When asked what brought the shad to these places, he said “only the shad know.”

    Check out these patterns and spots. There are many similar places all over this big lake to catch bass this month.  Use these as a guide to find similar places to catch them.

    For a guide trip on Wheeler or other area lakes to see first hand how Brent catches bass, you can call him at 256-466-9965 or visit his web site at http://northalabamabass.wordpress.com/reports/ for contact info and fishing reports.

August Bass at Alabama River with Mike Presley

     The singing bass that was so popular a few years ago begged you to “Take me to the river.”  Maybe it knew something.  In the heat of August you would be wise to take yourself to the Alabama River for some fast action for largemouth and spotted bass.

     Officially named R.E. Bob Woodruff Lake but also known at Jones Bluff, most locals simply call the long, winding backwaters above the Robert F. Henry Lock and Dam “the river” or “the Alabama River.” 

     Starting near Prattville, the lake runs through Montgomery all the way to its headwaters where the Coosa and Tallapoosa join.  It is a narrow river lake so any power generation at the dam quickly creates current that puts bass in a feeding mood and positions them on structure and cover the whole length of the lake.

     As the uppermost of the Alabama River Lakes, Woodruff is the most river-like lake and winds its way for 80 miles and covers about 12,800 acres.  There are 11 Corps of Engineers parks with various facilities like campgrounds and boat ramps as well as several other private and public facilities on the water, so the lake is readily accessible for all of its length.  Last year there were over 2 million visitors to Woodruff.

     There are some good largemouth in Woodruff but spotted bass will make up most of your catch.  In the 2008 Bass Anglers Information Team (BAIT) report there were only three club tournaments reported on Woodruff but the success rate was very good at 89.80 percent. Club anglers averaged just over four bass a day in tournaments. That does not sound high, but it was one of only seven out of 29 lakes over four fish per day in the survey.  The average bass weigh was 1.63 pounds, respectable for a lake with a 12 inch limit, and about two thirds of the bass weighed in were spots.

     Mike Presley has lived in the area most of his life and loves bass fishing. He was hooked on the river when, at five years old, he caught a 4.5 pound spotted bass while fishing with his dad.  Until they moved to Florida Mike was Tournament Manager for the Bass Angler’s Sportsman Society. Now he works in the area and fishes as many tournaments as he can on the river.

     In early summer Mike had a streak going of two first place wins, a second and two third place finishes in six tournaments on the river.  He fishes the Fishers Of Men trail, the Weekend Angler Tournament Trail, the BASS Weekend Series and as many local tournaments on the river as he can.

     “In August you can average a 2.5 pound per bass stinger pretty easily,” Mike said.  It takes a string of 16 of 18 pounds to win most tournaments, so you need a couple of kicker four to five pound bass to do well.  And the river can produce big fish. Mike’s best spot from the river weighed six pounds, he landed a 7.5 pound largemouth there, and his best tournament catch of five bass pulled the scales down to 24 pounds.

     “In August most of the bass are set up on deep structure and relate to the current,” Mike told me.  You can always catch a few good bass shallow by flipping heavy cover, and many times your kicker fish will come that way, but for numbers you will be fishing the main river structure.

     Mike has a wide variety of baits rigged and ready to cover any situation he finds on the water each day in August. He will have a half to three quarters ounce football head jig in green pumpkin with a green pumpkin trailer, a deep diving crankbait, a shaky head jig and finesse worm tied on his rods.  Those baits allow him to cover the deep structure quickly.  He also keeps a flipping jig on a heavy rod ready to probe shallow cover for a kicker fish.

     Fluorocarbon line is a key to getting bites in clear water and Mike rigs all his plastics and jigs on it, even when flipping pads.  He also runs his deep diving crankbaits on it since it will allow them to run a little deeper and the lack of stretch makes them work better.

     We fished the following ten spots a few weeks ago and bass were on them.  Most of the morning we tried smaller baits and got a couple of small bass, but, as predicted, the bigger fish started hitting after the current turned on at noon.  Within an hour we put three largemouth in the boat that would have pulled the scales to about 12 pounds. That shows how important the current can be.

     Check the following places Mike likes to fish on the upper river. You can put in a Cooter’s Pond and fish them without too much running. There are similar spots all over the river but if you want to fish the lower lake it would be easier to trailer down to Swift Creek since it is a long run in a boat.

     1.  N 32 23.590 – W 86 19.132 – Just north of the amphitheater on the river in Montgomery, Northern Boulevard crosses the river and the bridge pilings on the right going upstream are usually good for a keeper fish, according to Mike.  Fish around the pilings with a jig head worm and a jig and pig.  Work the eddies behind each piling carefully. There was a tree hung up at the upstream piling when we fished and wood cover there can be a key, so fish any you see from different angles.

     Mike throws his Davis Shaky Head on a spinning rod loaded with eight to ten pound test fluorocarbon line.  He likes a one-eight ounce head and puts a Finesse or Trick worm on it.  Green pumpkin, Bama Bug or June Bug are all good colors.  He will also flip a black and blue Arkie style  jig and pig around the pilings, letting it fall and move with the current.

     2.   N 32 22.997 – W 85 18.811 – In front of the amphitheater in Montgomery the river makes a bend and there is a ledge out from the seawall.  It is on your left going downstream.  This was a some-what secret hot spot for local fishermen until a pro was filmed catching fish on it in a big tournament. Mike says it produces good catches at times and you should fish it when in the area.

     Stop out in front of the seawall about even with the end of the walkway part and keep your boat out in 18 feet of water or so. Cast up toward the seawall and you will be casting into six feet or less about 20 feet off the bank.  There is lots of rocks and rubble here on the flat out to the drop and fish hold all in it.

     Work from the pier out to the end of the point.  Try your big crankbiat then follow it up with a jig head worm. You will get hung up a good bit here but the bass hold in the cover so you need to get into it.  Cover on spots like this is important and you should always probe for sweet spots where the bass hold.  Once you hit the cover on structure, concentrate your casts to that area.

     3.  N 32 24.517 – W 86 21.920 – Running down the river, go under the I-65 Bridge and you will see powerlines crossing way ahead of you after the river straightens out. Watch for a small opening on your right about half way down this straight-away.  The opening goes back into an old oxbow lake.  There is a water depth post on the upstream point and you can see the sand on it when the river is down a little.

     Mike says you can pull up on this point and catch 50 bass when the current is right. Sit out in 15 feet of water and cast up toward the point on the upstream side of the cut.  Work a football head jig, jig head worm and big crankbait across the drop. There is some good cover out on the point and it drops into the river. Fan cast all the way around the point.

     When fishing a football head jig, Mike goes as light as the current allows.  He starts with a half-ounce jig with a green pumpkin Netbait chunk on it and dies the tips of the chunk tails chartreuse with JJ’s Magic.  Go to a three quarter ounce jig if the current is strong and fish the jig on the bottom with a sliding motion, much like fishing a Carolina rig. 

     4.  N 32 24.837 – W 86 22.071 – Run down to the power line pilings on the left and fish them.   Mike says this vertical structure holds bass and the depth of the water around the pilings means they stay here all summer. Wood hung up on the pilings provides additional cover and makes them better.

     You will be in 25 feet of water on the river side of the pilings.  Throw your jig head worm up to the pilings and let it fall down the face of them. Count it down – if you get hit at a certain depth there is a good chance other bass are holding at that depth.  Run a crankbait across the face of the pilings, too. Try to bump it as it works along the concrete.

     Fish all the way around the pilings, hitting them at different angles with jig head worm and crankbait. When the current is strong work your bait from the current into the eddies like a baitfish moving with the current. Bass will usually hold in the eddies waiting on an easy meal.

     5.  N 32 25.868 – 86 22/071 – Run downstream to where the big opening going back into Cooters Pond starts on your right. Stop on the upstream point of this opening. There is a ledge that runs all the way across the mouth of this big opening and bass hold all along it.  Mike says you will catch a lot of keeper size bass here.

     On the upstream point there is a danger marker sitting downstream of the point and Mike will start at the bank and work out past the danger marker.  Stay out in the deeper water in the river channel and cast up onto the ledge, working your bait from shallow to deep. Mike likes to run his Fat Free shad so it bumps the bottom shallow then runs off the bottom at the drop.   Citrus Shad and white are his favorite colors in this bait.

     If the crankbait doesn’t draw a strike work the area again with a slower moving bait like a jig head worm or football head jig. Current makes this spot much better and you can catch fish all the way across it. Mike likes the upstream point best but if bass are hitting keep working the ledge all the way across.

     6.  N 32 24.971 – W 86 26.601 – Running downstream the river is fairly straight below the Highway 31 bridge.  Before you get to the bend you will see a pasture on your right and a small creek enters the river at the end of the pasture.  Stop and fish the upstream point of this small creek.  There are a couple of big stumps on it that usually hold bass. Then fish the downsteam side, working the flatter point with the sandbar on it on that side.

     Fish both sides with a crankbait then work your jigs across them.  With the jig head worm, Mike likes to shake it in one place with his rod tip. This often makes sluggish bass hit.  Try to keep your bait in one spot and make it wiggle and shake there. This action is where the name “shaky head” came from and it works well, especially on spotted bass.

     7.  N 32 24.416 – W 86 27.399 – Right in the bend of the river not far downstream of hole 6 Autauga Creek enters on the right going downstream.  It is just downstream of a water intake tower on the edge of the river.  Mike likes to fish the downstream point of this creek. There is a big dead tree on the point.

     A good ledge forms here from the river and the creek mouth with good drops to fish and mike says bass stack up on this point.  He fishes it with a jig head worm.  If you like to throw a Caroliana Rig, this is a great spot for that, too. Mike says right a finesse or Trick worm in the same colors as you use on the jig head and drag it along the bottom. Fan  cast the point, covering it from different angles and work you bait down the drops.

     8.  N 32 23.224 – W 86 27.680 – Downstream of the mouth of Autauga Creek the river runs straight and there is some water off the river channel on your left going downstream.  You will pass a small island then see an opening across a shallow flat that goes into a small creek.  A river ledge runs from downstream of that island downstream.  Further downstream is a red channel marker.

     Start fishing near the island, staying out in the river and casting up onto the ledge with crankbaits, jig head worms and football head jigs.  Work the area probing for cover.  If the current is running strong it will be easier to start down past the mouth of the ditch near the red buoy and work up toward the island. Fishing into the current helps you control the boat and allows you to angle your casts upstream so your bait has a more natural movement with the current.

     Mike says he found this placed accidentally when idling across the river ledge going into the small creek. It was a good accident – he caught enough bass here to come in second in a tournament.   This is a long ledge and the bass may be holding anywhere along it, so work it thoroughly.

     9. N 32 22.555 – W 86 27.810 – Further downstream Catoma Creek enters the river on your left going downstream.  Mike says bass stack up on the points of this creek since it is the biggest creek on the river.  The downstream point comes almost straight up out of the river and tops out at about 7 feet well off the bank.  This is the side where Mike expects to catch the most bass.

     Stay out in 20 feet of water and cast up onto the point. There are stumps on it to hold the bass. Work a crankbait across it then follow up with slower moving baits.  When you hit a stump, make several casts to it with different baits.  Mike checks this point every time he is near it during the day since current may start moving and turn the bass on.\

     10. N 32 26.415 – W 86 23.406 – For a change of pace for a kicker fish, go all the way back into Cooters Pond.  Be careful running once you get off the river, there are stumps and shallows, but you want to get back and go under the golf cart bridge.  Past it the water is full of lily pads, cypress trees and grass and several islands break up the area. 

     Mike likes to flip a big jig and pig into the pads. He says you won’t get many bites but the ones you do get will be from grown bass. One or two bass in here after you get a limit on the river ledges will give you the kickers you need to win tournaments.

     Flip a black and blue jig with a blue twin tail trailer on a heavy rod.  Mike sticks with fluorocarbon line even in heavy cover like this. He thinks the invisible line gives you a slight edge in getting strikes, even when flipping.

     Work all around the islands and fish as many of the pads as you can. The water in the channels is deep enough to keep bass in here all year long, and big largemouth love this kind of cover.

     These spots give you an idea of the kinds of places Mike fishes in tournaments. Check them out and see how they look, then you can find many other similar spots all over the river.

     To give you an idea how important current is, Mike told me we needed current to turn on the fish. He called 334-682-4896 and found out they were turning on one generator at noon.  Sure enough, within 15 minutes Mike got a solid 4.5 pound bass, then I got a three pounder, then Mike got another four pound plus fish.  We left soon after that to get out of the heat. You can call and plan your trip around the generation schedule.

April Bass at Lake Guntersville

with Curt Staley

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March Bass at Tuscaloosa with Brandon Ligon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

January Bass at Jordan

with Greg Vinson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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