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.