with Sean Murphy
Alabama River spots spawning on main river sandbars and rocks. Largemouth spawning in sloughs and creeks. This is a great time to catch both during prespawn, post spawn and bedding.
The Alabama River runs from the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers near Montgomery 105 miles southeast in twisting, turning loops. It is well known for big spots but has a good population of quality largemouth, too.
Sean Murphy is a senior at Auburn on the fishing team. He grew up in Lutz, Florida near Tampa and got started fishing at a very young age, but the first bass he caught in a pond near home hooked him on bass. He chose Auburn mainly for its Aviation program but the bass fishing team there helped him make his decision.
“Team members took me under their wing and taught me a lot about catching bass,” Sean said. Fishing Alabama lakes and rivers is very different from Florida waters and he had to learn to adapt to new methods to catch bass. He has learned well.
“Both species of bass on the River are in the spawning mood in April,” Sean said. The spots don’t like to move far from the river current to spawn, but largemouth will go back shallow in sloughs and creeks. Spots will bed on sandbars and rocks near the river, but largemouth look for hard bottoms a long way from the current.
For the two different methods of fishing Sean will have two groups of baits ready. For largemouth, a bladed jig, jig and pig, Carolina rig and spinnerbait cover the bedding areas around grass and pads. When trying for spots he uses a rattlebait and medium diving crankbait. The jig and pig and Carolina rig work for them, too.
We got on the river in early March when it was running eight feet high and the current was so strong it was almost impossible to fish on the river. If those conditions persist, fishing for largemouth will probably be your best bet but you can catch spots even under those conditions if you work at it.
1. N 33 26.346 – W 86 23.445 – Cooters Pond near Prattsville is a good central ramp for these spots. It is near the mouth of a big slough and a creek enters in the back at the golf cart bridge. There is standing timber and stumps all through it where largemouth stage, then move to the shallows to feed.
Idle toward the bridge, it is very shallow and dangerous if you don’t know it. From the timber patch on the left facing the bridge to it and down the other side is a big lily pad field. Lily pads indicate a hard bottom where bass like to spawn.
Cast a bladed jig and jig and pig around the timber for both pre and post spawn largemouth. If a cold front pushes the fish back from the bedding areas, they will move to the trees until conditions get better, too. Sean likes a three eights ounce black and blue bait in stained water and a green pumpkin jig in clearer water, with a matching three-inch swim bait trailer. He will also pitch a jig to a visible tree, let it sink beside it then work it back to the boat, hitting hidden wood.
Run your bladed jig through lily pad fields, too. Early in the month stems may be all you see, but they indicate places to cast just like the pads do. Fish all around the bridge on both sides and watch for the small channel coming under it.
2. N 32 25.838 – W 86 23.914 – The canal going out to the river from the Cooter Pond ramp offers a highway for largemouth moving in and out to feed. Across from the downstream end of the old docks there is a hole near the opposite bank where the channel runs right by it. It was 20 feet deep the day we fished, so at normal pool it is about 12 feet deep.
Bass stack up in this hole and it, like hole 1, is constantly restocked with released bass. Sean gets in close to the wood on this bank and flips a jig and pig to all the cover. There are limbs right on top and many deeper ones you can’t see. Work them all.
Sean flips a custom made Spotsticker green pumpkin and blue three eights to three quarter ounce jig, depending on current, and puts a three-inch swim bait trailer on it. If the water is heavily stained, he goes with black and blue. He wants to get his jig right in the bass’s face, so he covers the water thoroughly and carefully.
3. N 32 25.759 – W 86 23.496 – Go out to the river and go upstream past the island where the canal comes out. Cooters Pond opens up here and there is a good sandbar off the upstream point. Spots bed on the sandbar and sandy bottom along it to the point of the island back in the slough a short distance.
Idle in even with the upstream point and fish from it to the end of the island. Spots stage here both pre and post spawn, and bed on the sand, so it is good all month. There are scattered stumps on it, too, that are key places for them.
This is a good place to bump the bottom with a crankbait and drag a Carolina rig all over it. Sean rigs a dark colored lizard about six inches above a three quarters ounce sinker and covers the whole area with it. Fish from two feet deep back to the boat.
4. N 32 24.675 – W 86 24.094 – Run down the river until you see the highway 31 bridge. On your left a small creek enters the river and is a holding and spawning area for both spots and largemouth. Spots will be on the upstream point largemouth will be there, too, as they move in and out.
Fish both crankbait and Carolina rig on the point, bumping bottom from all angles. Sean fishes a shad or chartreuse with black back colored bait that runs six feet deep. Drag a lizard all over it, too.
For bedding largemouth, work into the creek as far as you can go, depending on water level. Pitch your jig and pig to all the wood cover on both sides. Try to get it right on the bank under overhanging limbs and drag it along the bottom. Run a bladed bait through any grass. Here and other places you may see fish on the bed if the water is clear, and you can sight fish for them.
5. N 32 24.684 – W 86 24.261 – Spots love to hold on offshore rocks and there is a good ledge just downstream of hole 4. If you idle downstream toward the bridge about 50 feet off the left bank and watch a side scan sonar, you can see the rocks as they come off the bank and drop down. There is a wooden structure that looks like a box deer stand and the rocks are just upstream of it.
When you find them, sit downstream of them and cast a jig and pig upstream far enough to get it down to the rocks. If the current is running strong, you need to go to a heavier jig, up to three quarters an ounce. Fish it slowly, keeping it right on the rocks and it comes down current with a natural action.
6. N 32 24.098 – W 86 26.637 – Go under the highway 31 bridge. There is an open pasture along the right bank. Where it stops at the end of a small bluff bank a small creek enters the river. The downstream point of this creek runs upstream and has stumps on it. It is a good holding area for both species and spots bed on it, too.
Stop just downstream of the ditch and cast a crankbait and Carolina rig upstream, working them back with the current. In places like this Shawn will also fish a rattlebait like a gold with black back Rat-L-Trap over the point for both species. Probe with your Carolina rig for stumps and stop it when you hit one. Both species will hold on the downstream eddy of them and spots will be there, too.
Then work into the ditch, fishing the wood cover on the upstream side as well as on both sides of it. Sean says he moves more and covers water with bladed bait and spinnerbait when looking for largemouth in most places but sits in one place more and covers specific areas for spots since they tend to stack up more in one place
A spinnerbait works better here and other places with lots of wood cover since you can bump it without getting hung up as easily. Sean chooses a three eights ounce white Spotsticker spinnerbait with silver willowleaf blades around all wood cover as well as pads and other grass.
7. N 32 24.923 – W 86 22.071 – Go back up the river past Cooters Pond. In the long straight section past the bend, power lines cross the river. On the right side the base of the tower is in the water near the bank. There is gravel and rocks around the bottom of it and wood is usually hung up on it from the top of the water down to the bottom.
Spots hold here and will spawn around it, too, and Sean says he can almost always catch a fish on it. The key area is the outside corner. He will position his boat downstream of it and cast rattlebait or crankbait up past the wood and concrete pilings and work them with the current along them. Fish both baits through the eddies formed by wood and pilings, too.
8. N 32 24.495 – W 86 22.028 – A little further upstream the river opens up a little as it swings to the left. There is a round point on the right where it opens up that drops fast and has rocks on it. Spots hold on this deep point, they like a place where they can change depth quickly. Work your jig and pig from the edge of the water down ten feet or deeper.
As you round the point going upstream, the water is shallower near the bank. Largemouth hold on wood and any grass all along this bank and Sean will fish upstream all the way to the house several hundred yards away. Cast spinnerbait, bladed jig and jig and pig to all the wood cover and grass along this bank.
9. N 32 23.904 – W 86 21.278 – A little way upstream the river narrows back down some and a big slough is off to the right behind an island. The opening to has a smaller island in it. It is sandy and spots bed here, and both species stage on the point of the small island.
Fish the point with all your baits, using crankbait, spinnerbait, rattlebait, crankbait and Carolina rig on the sand. Then fish back into the slough with your largemouth baits. Work all the wood cover and watch for bedding fish if the water is clear enough to see them.
If the water is stained but warm enough for them to be bedding, a Carolina rigged lizard or jig and pig dragged slowly along the bottom will get bedding fish you can’t see to hit. Fish fast if you think they have not gone on the bed yet, but slow down it the water is warm enough for them to be on the beds, especially around the full moon this month.
10. N 32 23.787 – W 86 21.120 – Going upstream, a golf course runs along the bank. There is a small wooden deck right on the water and the bank on both sides of it is riprap. There is natural rock along the bank, too.
Fish all the rocks with crankbait, spinnerbait and jig. Watch for a drain pipe on the bank, it is a key place for bass to hold. Work all this bank carefully, spots and some largemouth stack up on it in April.
Just upstream of this bank an island sits not far off it. The area behind the island is shallow and is a good spawning area. Work it for largemouth bedding on the sandy bottom.
All these places are good right now and will be all month long. Give them a try, look at the kinds of places Sean fishes, and you can find many more on the river.
You can see some of Sean’s catches on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sean.murphy.3781