How You Can CELEBRATE TIME ON THE WATER DURING NATIONAL FISHING AND BOATING WEEK: Two Free Fishing Days!
SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. (May 30, 2023) – If offered a chance to go boating or fishing, most people will instantly say “yes!” Let the celebration of National Fishing and Boating Week (June 3-11, 2023), which includes two FREE Fishing Days, give you a reason to extend that invite, says the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD).
“Boating and fishing are both great activities, and offer tremendous bonus benefits for everyone who participates,” said Scott Robinson, Chief of the WRD Fisheries Management Section. “When you are out on the water, boating and fishing helps you make stronger connections with family and friends; it provides an opportunity for stress relief; and it means you are actively supporting conservation efforts with the purchase of fishing equipment and boating fuel.”
National Fishing and Boating Week began in 1979 and was created to recognize the tradition of fishing, to broaden the spirit of togetherness and to share the values and knowledge of today’s anglers with tomorrow’s anglers.
How to Celebrate: FREE FISHING DAYS: This is a GREAT time to introduce family members or friends to the sport of angling, Georgia offers two FREE fishing days – Sat., June 3 and Sat., June 10, 2023 – during this special week. On these days, Georgia residents do not need a fishing license, trout license or Lands Pass (WMAs/PFAs) to fish.
Where to Celebrate: There are so many great places to fish in Georgia, from trout streams in North Georgia, to large reservoirs, to lazy rivers in the south part of the state. You can always start at one of the 11 Public Fishing Areas ([GeorgiaWildlife.com/allpfas]GeorgiaWildlife.com/allpfas) or at one of many Georgia State Parks (GaStateParks.org/) that offer fishing opportunities for family and friends. There also will be multiple Kids Fishing Events during the week-long celebration (License.gooutdoorsgeorgia.com/Event/Calendar.aspx).
“In the spirit of National Fishing and Boating Week, be sure to make it a mission to take someone new when you go, such as a child, a relative or a friend. You could be the person that inspires another person’s life-long love of the water,” says Robinson.
For more information on National Fishing and Boating Week and all it has to offer, including free fishing days, nearest kids fishing event or places to fish, visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/nfbw .
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 19th 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 18th in the nationals in 2008 and 9th 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.
Everybody should practice these tips on FISHING ETIQUETTE FOR EVERY TYPE OF ANGLER
A great day fishing is as much about catching what you’re after as it is about the experience you had while away from home. But to keep your fishing trip memorable for only the best reasons, follow Nebraska Game and Parks’ rules of fishing etiquette.
Etiquette for every angler
Remember the Golden Rule
It’s easy to get tunnel vision, especially in pursuit of a big catch, but always treat others how you’d wish to be treated. Staying considerate helps others stay considerate, too.
Communicate
When in doubt, ask. Not sure whether someone is working a shoreline north to south? Or if he or she thinks you’re too close? A simple question — “Mind if we fish here?” — can help avoid conflict.
Share the water
Don’t hog one spot or stretch of water all day and don’t get too close to other anglers — either on shore or on the water. Public waters are meant for everyone to use, so be reasonable about sharing the space. At the same time, remember some people just want to swim, kayak, ski, or leisure boat, and have the same rights to the public waters as you.
Respect the fish
Not intending to eat the fish you catch? Work hard to ensure the fish stays alive by taking care of your catch. Limit time out of water, remove hooks quickly or while keeping it in water, and do your best to prevent damaging the fish’s protective slime coat.
Leave no trace
Did you pack it in? Then pack it out, too. Your spent line, broken lures, hooks, Styrofoam bait containers, snack wrappers and cans have no business being left on shore or in the water. It risks the lives of wildlife, is bad for the environment and ruins other’s experiences in nature. Instead, leave the place better than you found it.
Follow the law
In addition to purchasing your fishing permit, know what type, how many and what size fish you can keep at water bodies across the state. Following the law helps sustain the state’s fisheries resources for the future. Find current rules in the 2023 Fishing Guide at OutdoorNebraska.gov.
For the shore or pier angler
When fishing from shore or pier, it can get tight. Be aware of where you are, where your hook is and the direction of your cast. Never cast over or under someone else’s line. If you’re unsure of your skill, move away from the crowd so you can build your casting skills safely.
For the boat angler
While it can be tempting to troll where you see others having success, don’t. Give anglers ample room. Don’t cut them off or intersect their path when you see them working a shoreline or honey hole, either. Respect those who arrived before you to snag a productive spot.
For the bow fisher
When your adrenaline is coursing at spotting a big one, it can be easy to overshoot — and end up hitting a dock or a boat. Always look beyond what you’re aiming to hit. When in doubt, don’t shoot and wait for the next safe opportunity. Being aware of your surroundings and practicing caution is extremely important when archery fishing.
NSSF, USFWS, AND TAURUS RELEASE LATEST VIDEO IN THE “PARTNER WITH A PAYER” FILM SERIES: Highlighting Manufacturers and Their Support of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 24, 2023) – NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, highlights a partnership with Taurus Holdings, Inc., in support of the “Partner with a Payer®” initiative by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). In the video, titled “Building Our Partnerships,” the world-class manufacturing facilities at Taurus are showcased, which have been vital to assisting the state of Georgia and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in their economic development of creating and maintaining resources for the public to utilize for outdoor activities.
Companies including firearm and ammunition manufacturers and importers contribute to the USFWS initiative by paying excise taxes into the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (known as the Pittman-Robertson Act). More than $16.1 billion (over $25 billion when adjusted for inflation) have been contributed and distributed to individual states to allocate funds toward wildlife conservation, hunter-education programs and target shooting programs.
“This is a win-win situation for everyone involved, but especially outdoorsmen and women who are passionate about these activities and creating additional opportunities that future generations can utilize too,” said Tom Decker, Brand Manager, USFWS. “It enables manufacturers to also be active participants in managing wildlife areas and improving resources and facilities such as target shooting ranges. In return, the available facilities encourage the local community and industry partners alike to increase their regular participation and recruit others to use them as well.”
Employees from Taurus, Georgia DNR, NSSF and USFWS came together to nourish relationships and gain insight on each partner’s industry challenges. Through these shared experiences, the partners find ways to work together, support one another to overcome challenges, and understand each other’s opportunities for the betterment of wildlife resource management and public hunting opportunities. Understanding how each partner contributes to the American system of conservation funding is essential to the overall success of the initiative.
Taurus Holdings, Inc., whose 205,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is located in Bainbridge, Georgia, produces high-quality firearms with the support of employees who are passionate about the industry. A portion of each of its sales contributes to the excise tax, thus making public target shooting facilities and natural habitat more accessible to outdoorsmen and -women.
“Having more public resources, like this shooting range, made available around the country is very important to our business,” said Bret Vorhees, President and CEO of Taurus Holdings, Inc. “It makes these activities more accessible for current owners and new shooters to hone their skills, learn and practice proper firearm safety, and ultimately help expand the shooting sports and hunting alike. Without our contribution of excise taxes and the state fish and wildlife agencies’ dedication to managing these funding opportunities, initiatives like these wouldn’t be possible.”
These latest videos and others in the series were produced by Shine United LLC / Kingdom Filmworks for NSSF through a Multistate Conservation Grant administered by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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About NSSF: NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visitnssf.org.
Want a nice get-away to the mountains for some scenery, cool air and fishing? I just got back from a few days around Blairsville and Lake Nottely. On the trip I ate some good food, looked at scenic views and fished for bass. And I was constantly having flashback memories of my youth.
All the years I was in elementary school, grades one through eight back then, my family went on summer vacation for a week in the mountains. We would load up the 54 Bel Air – and later the 1962 Bel Air – and head north from Dearing. All the roads were two lane back then and it was a slow, enjoyable trip.
Each night we would stay in a cheap roadside motel, four of us in one room, and eat at a local diner. Daddy insisted on country food just like we ate at home no matter how much I wanted a hamburger or hotdog. At lunch we would stop at a picnic table, often right beside the road but sometimes at a scenic overlook, and mama would make sandwiches.
My most vivid memory of lunches is not about the food. We always had Cokes in small bottles back then. I picked up mine for a swig and didn’t notice the yellow jacket on the mouth of the bottle. It took exception to being pressed against my lip and, after the burning sting eased a bit, I swelled up for two days!
The roadside attractions back then were not politically correct. At many you could buy a nickel Coke or candy bar and give it to a chained bear cub to drink and eat. I never wondered what happened to those cubs when they got too big, the owners probably ate them.
I learned about scams on one of those trips. A sign said give the owner a nickel and he would open the lid of a box cage and let you see the baby rattler and copperhead inside.
Sure enough, there was a baby shake rattle toy and a penny inside.
I loved the mountain streams and lakes but we never stayed in one place long enough for me to fish. But the year I was eight we changed our plans and I could not wait for my dream trip.
My family and another family, close friends, rented a cabin at Vogel State Park for a week. It was right beside a small stream that had trout in it, and only a couple hundred yards from the lake.
The other couple had a baby girl and she had colic. Her loud crying kept me up all night and almost ruined the trip. That is when I decided I never wanted kids of my own!
One morning before daylight I put on my overalls, slipped out of the cabin without waking anyone, picked up my cane pole and can of worms and headed to the lake. Where the stream entered it several row boats for rent were chained up. One was half full of water with its back end in the lake.
I sat on the edge of that boat for a couple hours as it got light, catching small bream, yellow perch and trout with live earthworms. I put my fish in the end of the boat that was full of water and it was supposed to work like a livewell.
Mama came hustling down the path to the cabin calling my name. When they woke and I was not there they panicked and went looking for me. Mama found me after she asked two teenage girls out walking if they had seen a kid.
Apparently they answered that yes, Huckleberry Finn was fishing down by the lake the lake! I guess that fit me with my bare feet, overalls and straw hat!
Many things have changed, you will not see chained bear cubs or baby rattlers. But a trip is still fun and fishing is good on Nottely and other area lakes.
My trip was to go out with guide Will Harkins and get information for my June Georgia Outdoor News article. Although Will is in college he is a great fisherman and knows Nottely and Chatuge well.
I stayed in a nice fifth wheel camping trailer through brooksiderv.com in a retirement camper community. It was cheaper than area motels and more comfortable and quieter than a motel would have been. It was only a few miles from Nottely and Blairsville.
About a mile from the camper and Nottely Dam is Papaw’s Bac-yard BBQ where I got some of the best brisket I have ever eaten, delicious and tender enough to cut with a fork. He has a wide variety of sauces and his Brunswick Stew was very good, too.
Next door at the Amish Store some interesting jelly is available. Frog jelly is fig, raspberry, orange and ginger. Toe Jam is tangerine, orange and elderberry. Traffic jam is mostly strawberry for some reason. There are also many other things, from furniture to funny signs, for sale too.
The first night I drove into Blairsville and ate at Mike’s Seafood. The scallops were delicious, cooked just right, and the bite of grilled tuna I tried was excellent. I always like walking into a place like Mike’s and see you order at the fresh seafood counter.
I planned on eating there on Saturday night before I left. Although Google Maps said they got less busy after 8:00 PM, an hour before the close, at 8:00 that night the wait to order was 90 minutes!!
Sicily’s Pizza & Subs Pasta was just down the street and there was no wait. The pizza I got was great but it was not the scallops I wanted! Till next time – Gone fishing!
Find Out WHY LITHIUM BATTERIES SHOULD BE IN YOUR BOAT
Be sure to buy from a reliable source, not just the cheapest lithium battery. I made the mistake of buying a ECO-WORTHY battery and charger and had constant problems – never worked right. They are sitting on the floor in my garage now.
New Hope, Minn. – Many early adopters of lithium marine batteries have strong opinions. It’s true—a lot of the first products to hit the market were prone to failure, offered questionable performance, and were very expensive compared to lead acid, AGM, and gel cell alternatives.
Despite these growing pains, it seems the entire world has gone the way of lithium battery power. It’s all around us, from inside the computers and phones we rely on every day to medical devices implanted in the human body. Power tools, lawnmowers, snowblowers, generators, and anything you might have in the garage that once took fuel or AC/DC can now be efficiently and safely powered by lithium batteries.
With chemistries changing for the better over the past couple years, lithium batteries are not only being used in our homes, they are the backbone to many mission-critical industries—from medical devices to aerospace. And it looks like the marine electronics/boating markets are next…
If lithium batteries are so great, then why aren’t more anglers and boaters using them?
Many anglers—even guides and pros—have only a limited understanding of how lithium battery technology works and its many benefits. First, potential customers shy away from the price tag, having no idea that it’s actually more cost-effective to operate lithium in the long-run. Amortized over 10 to 12 years, the cost of running lithium is actually less than having to replace a boat’s lead acid battery banks every two to three years.
Another issue? A lot of anglers are still living in the past, and rigging their boats each season like they did ten years ago.
Problem is, power consumption on your typical fishing boat has drastically increased as fish-finder screens have grown larger, brighter, and like technological leaps in personal computing, now operate with faster but power-consuming processors.
Same goes for the progression we’ve experienced with trolling motors, electronic shallow-water anchors, forward-facing sonar, and other imaging technologies and their requisite power requirements. Not only do these technologies require a lot of power—they need a clean source of power with steady voltage for optimum screen resolution, brightness, and on-screen fish/structure imaging. Compare the imaging on a graph being powered with lithium versus lead acid; the difference in picture quality is very noticeable.
Yes, running today’s fishing electronics requires a lot of juice—and you better have it or you’re destined for compromised performance, short days on the water, and sad songs back at the dock.
Battery Types Explained
First, let’s walk through the three major types of marine batteries so we can compare the benefits of lithium to what’s traditionally been used for onboard, marine power.
12-volt marine batteries fall into three main categories: Starting (aka “cranking”) batteries, deep-cycle batteries, and dual-purpose batteries.
Hence the name, starting batteries are designed to start the main boat outboard; deep-cycle batteries are intended to power accessories, electronics, and trolling motors; and lastly, dual-purpose batteries will power both outboard engines and accessories/fishing electronics.
Marine starting batteries allow quick bursts of power via cold-cranking amps (CCA) to turn over an outboard; then, when the engine is running, they provide power for accessories, with battery power constantly replenished by the outboard’s alternator.
A starting battery does not work well in a deep cycle application because of the internal arrangement of the plates and its inherent design.
Deep-cycle batteries—as opposed to starting or “cranking” batteries—are designed to provide lower amp draws over a longer period of time to marine accessories like fishing electronics, trolling motors, livewell and bilge pumps, radios, etc.
*Note: Your outboard does not need to be running for deep-cycle batteries to do their job. They are not replenished in any way by an outboard’s alternator.
In terms of construction, a deep cycle battery has fewer bulky and thick lead plates than a lead acid starting battery. A starting battery has thinner plates but more of them. Operation-wise, starting batteries require ample surface area through which to release more current in a short amount of time—what is required when starting an outboard.
A dual-purpose battery has a mixture of both starter and deep cycle battery plates, and, as is true with most products intended to serve double-duty, the dual purpose battery makes a serviceable starting or deep cycle battery in a pinch but isn’t perfectly designed for either application. The attraction to some anglers to the dual-purpose battery is thinking that, if they need to start their outboard in a pinch, they could start their big motor with a dual-purpose battery that is primarily used to power accessories.
Lead Acid Batteries
Lead acid batteries are the marine standard and have been used by anglers for countless decades. Design-wise, lead acid batteries are composed of big, heavy lead plates that are surrounded by acid which is the medium through which the charge travels from one plate to the next.
Prior to AGM, gel cell, and lithium, lead acid was the only game in town. The drawbacks? Limited longevity/charge-discharge cycles, weight, and outdated technology for producing DC current. But the major drawback with your average lead acid battery is you can’t use it to its full capacity, something most anglers and boaters are completely unaware of.
While big, heavy lead acid batteries may give a boater or angler the impression they have a significant power supply, the reality is you can only utilize about 50% of the capacity before you start damaging a lead acid battery. Frequently discharge your lead acid battery beyond 50% of the capacity and the damage occurs rapidly–and the damage is permanent.
The result? Before long, if you’re fishing long and hard, you’ve got a battery that needs replacement. The average life of a lead acid battery for an angler who fishes long days is just under two years. Toward the end of its life, a lead acid battery is apt to only provide 5 or 6 hours of on-the-water runtime, which is unacceptable to most serious anglers.
Lead acid batteries’ power curve – how they discharge current – exhibits a huge voltage drop when you apply a load. The voltage will go from 13 volts into the low 12s, even with small loads, in a very short amount of time. Thus, the battery you started with at the beginning of the day is not the battery you end up utilizing in your boat by lunchtime.
Depending on how you use the lead acid battery—like if you’re powering lights—you’ll notice that the lights dim and aren’t as bright over time. You also see that a lot with trolling motors. As that voltage curve drops, the trolling motor power head and prop will start to slow down so the user experience—even fairly early in the day—is already starting to suffer. Fish-finder screen brightness and image clarity also diminishes as lead acid voltages drop.
Of course, the other big drawback to lead acid batteries is weight. Average marine lead acid batteries weigh between 50 and 65 pounds, while a comparable lithium battery weighs between 22 or 25 pounds.
Absorbed Glass Mat Battery (AGM) Batteries
AGM batteries are an improvement over standard lead acid batteries. They are non-spillable, maintenance-free, and feature separators made of fine fiber Boron-Silicate glass mats between the internal plates. Most AGMs are pretty hardy and will not leak acid if broken and feature a much longer lifespan. However, the lifespan is still only measured in hundreds of discharge cycles, much like a lead acid battery.
AGM batteries also feature low internal resistance so the battery doesn’t overheat even under heavy charge and discharge currents. An improvement over standard lead-acid batteries, AGMs offer a low self-discharge rate, which allows for storing the batteries without a maintainer or charger.
On the downside, AGM batteries are heavy—and they’re not “smart”—so if you’re not careful you can over-discharge and destroy an AGM battery and essentially discharge it to the point that it will not accept a charge of any kind no matter the charger used. It is simply dead and beyond resurrection and you’re off to the battery store to spend good money to replace another AGM battery rendered useless after being accidentally over-discharged.
Gel Cell Batteries
In terms of construction, gel cell batteries are an improvement over both standard lead acid and AGM batteries. Like it sounds, gel cell batteries feature an internal gel within the electrolyte that reduces movement inside the battery case, making its non-spillable design more suitable for vibrations-prone environments.
On the downside, gel cell batteries must be charged at a lower voltage than standard lead acid and AGM batteries. Many gel cells have been destroyed through charging at too high of a voltage with typical automotive-style garage chargers.
While AGM and gel cell marine batteries offer slight improvements over lead acid, there’s a jump in cost. An AGM of similar voltage and amperage of a comparable lead acid is double to triple the cost—and you still haven’t really solved many of the problems with lead acid batteries.
When you then compare the cost of AGM or gel cell to lithium the answer is pretty simple. Don’t make incremental steps in solving problems. Solve it right when you buy the boat. Start with a set of lithium batteries and you’ll find they probably outlast the life of your boat.
Why Lithium Batteries Make Sense
While trolling motors, fishing electronics, and outboards get all the press, it’s the quality and reliability of your boat’s batteries that make all the fun stuff happen on the water. Think that’s an exaggeration? How much fun is that shiny 250 horsepower outboard when you turn the key and, instead of being greeted by the growl of an outboard roaring to life, you are left with nothing but the disappointing “click” of a starter starved of the amps it needs to bring those 250 ponies to life? In that moment, the boat ramp or tournament weigh in has never felt further away, while your boat has never felt smaller due to those uncomfortable stares coming from your fishing partner.
And what role do quality, reliable lithium batteries play in making all the advancements in sonar technology possible? As all too many anglers have experienced after they’ve made the investment to upgrade their boat’s electronics, if you overlook how they’ll be powered on the water, you’re in for a very disappointing first trip putting all that fancy sonar to use.
Fact is: You cannot power three big graphs at full brightness all day with a lead acid battery and avoid the dreaded low-voltage alarms popping up time and time again on your sonar screens. Sorry, ain’t gonna work. Collectively, those big screens simply draw too many amps for even the largest lead acid battery to handle and, if you add in MEGA Live, LiveScope, or Active Target, you can tell your wife when you leave in the morning that you’ll be home for lunch and actually keep that promise, albeit reluctantly.
NORSK Lithium CMO, James Holst, remarks: “With our LifePO4 chemistry, we guarantee 80% percent capacity will remain after 4000 discharge cycles. You’d have to be a retired person who fishes every hour of every day for over a decade to get to those numbers. To get that out of lead acid batteries you’d be looking at replacing your batteries 8 to 10 times.”
“Who wants to spend that much money on a boat and fish-finders so you can fish for half a day? Personally, I want to control my experience completely on the water. Cutting yourself short by choosing subpar batteries as foundational power is ridiculous. After a lot of bad experiences on the water, a lot of anglers are waking up to that and moving to lithium.”
Holst continues: “I’ve used the same set of NORSK lithium batteries in my past four boats: two Skeeters, a Lowe jet boat, and now a Warrior 238, and they still pull like a tractor. I have not seen any reduction in capacity over this time. I fish long and hard days, deeply discharge my batteries, and there’s no chance I’d be able to say the same thing about a set of lead acid, AGM, or gel-cell batteries. I would have plowed through numerous sets in that span of time and had multiple days on the water ruined due to batteries that were no longer up to the task at hand.”
An additional and often overlooked advantage of lithium is the voltage discharge curve of a lithium battery is very flat, ensuring that your first 10% of discharge will be almost the same as the last 10% of the discharge cycle.
Why does this matter? A flat voltage discharge curve means the trolling motor head and blades will turn at the same speed at the end of the day that they did at the start of it, giving you the control and speed you expect from your expensive bow-mount trolling motor.
NORSK Lithium founder and Engineering Director, Derek A., interjects: “With lead acid batteries, as soon as the second and third year of operation you aren’t getting full utility out of your boat because your batteries are only running half as long as they did the year before.”
Derek continues: “It’s amazing how disabling but predictable lead acid batteries are. If you’re fishing like I do and constantly discharging them below 50% and recharging them back up, you probably need to change them annually. That adds up year after year. That’s precisely why I founded NORSK Lithium. As an angler, I knew there had to be something better. So I—along with a very knowledgeable team of other engineers and anglers—designed it.”
Gain Boat Speed
Given the decrease in weight from lead acid or AGM, anglers/boaters who have switched over to lithium batteries report an average boat speed increase in the neighborhood of 2 to 5 mph. Do we recommend you buy lithium batteries for a couple more MPH? We conceded that likely shouldn’t be your primary motivation. But going fast is fun and, given all the other foundational benefits lithium batteries provide, who’s going to turn up their nose at being able to walk away from the competition at the next shotgun start?
Lithium: Lighter and More Compact
Lithium is also very light in comparison to lead acid, AGM, and gel cell batteries—what typically amounts to about 45% less weight than the similar size group size lead acid or AGM.
For example, a NORSK Lithium 100AH battery weighs approximately 25 pounds. A comparable battery would be a 31 series lead acid deep cycle that weighs approximately 60 pounds.
Lithium batteries often have a smaller footprint, too, which makes installation in a lot of boats easier. With NORSK’s new advances in starting/deep cycle lithium battery combinations, finding a spot in your boat for a fifth battery (frequently referred to as a “house” battery), is no longer required.
NORSK Lithium has done significant testing to design the ultimate starting/deep cycle lithium battery.
Company founder and Director of Engineering, Derek A., remarks: “We’ve figured out which cells can deliver that big, quick burst of energy in the shortest period of time to turn over very large outboard engines. We’ve also made sure the internal wiring as well as all the conductive cells can handle that current. Lithium batteries sold as starting batteries up to this point have had significant issues. If you don’t have the proper internal wiring to carry high current, that power surge can melt the terminals right off the top of the battery. It all comes down to managing the resistance, something we’ve been able to do with our new dual-purpose NORSK Lithium starting/deep cycle battery design.”
Holst interjects: “We took Mercury’s requirements for a starting battery—the specs that spelled out their stringent guidelines and warranty expectations—and used that as a starting point. We have the absolute best starting battery on the market in our 180Ah Starting + House battery and we added a lot of extra capacity to it so an angler struggling to find space for a “house” battery to power their sonar units doesn’t have to tear their boat apart and give up valuable storage space looking for room for yet another battery. Our 180Ah Starting + House battery performs both roles beautifully and frees up anglers to stop worrying about battery capacity and runtime and just focus on fishing!”
Holst continued: “With NORSK Lithium, anglers can uncomplicate things a bit and, in the case of a traditional 36V setup, pare down to three 12V batteries rigged in series for the 36V trolling motor set-up and one dedicated “Starting + House” battery for both your outboard engine and electronics. Our new design has plenty of capacity to run everything all day long. It meets and exceeds Mercury’s warranty requirements for starting batteries, offers up to 1200 cold cranking amps (CCA) and is going to last a long time—10 plus years, easy—or a minimum of 4000-plus discharge cycles. It’s a great solution. Solves two problems with one battery.”
Prismatic vs Cylindrical Cell Lithium Battery Design
NORSK Lithium is one of a few marine battery manufacturers offering a design consisting of prismatic vs cylindrical lithium cells.
What’s that mean?
“Cylindrical cell-based lithium batteries are made up of 80 to 100 cells, usually all spot-welded together—what amounts to a lot of components that could potentially fail,” says NORSK Lithium’s Derek A.
“We went the route of prismatic cells, which reduces the cell number from nearly 100 to four primary cells with large connection points, a whole lot less to potentially fail.”
Derek continues: “Obviously, anglers are attracted to the long warranties lithium battery companies are offering, which is a good thing, but what they’re ignoring is the actual battery construction—internal hardware and electronics that are continually subjected to a violent working environment of waves, water, wind, and cold/heat. Having too many small, weak parts is just a recipe for disaster. I saw this working in aerospace for nearly 20 years. All of the FAA-certified lithium batteries used in aerospace are prismatic cell-based for that same reason. The FAA has very harsh test requirements for vibration, and cylindrical assemblies tended to break down on the test table, whereas prismatic cell battery designs tested much better with fewer small, internal components.”
Buy Right The First Time
If you’re a buy-right-first kind of guy who gets only two years out of lead acid and is tired of dying batteries and fishing trips cut short, lithium batteries make complete sense.
The math is self-evident. For example, a standard lead acid battery costs around $200; quality AGM or gel cell batteries are priced between $300 and $500 each.
While lithium batteries are more expensive ($900-$1000 each), you can buy right, once, making the investment up-front to get batteries that are incredibly light, have a flat discharge curve that provides consistent voltage from sunrise to sunset, offer a lifespan measured in many thousands of cycles instead of hundreds, while offering advanced monitoring with Bluetooth-connected apps, like the advanced Norsk Guardian App, that allows an angler to set up the batteries in the boat in logical groups and monitor them all simultaneously from a smartphone.
Changing Technologies
What does the future of lithium hold? For starters, lithium technology will continue evolving, becoming even more powerful, efficient, faster-charging, and lightweight.
“It would be naive to believe that LifePO4 is the chemistry we’re going to stick with forever,” says NORSK Lithium’s Founder and Engineering Director, Derek A.
“There are other lithium battery chemistries not currently on the market that in testing beat LiFePO4 in every single way, they’re just not commercially ready yet, but they will be. And our marine battery case design is intended to accommodate these emerging technologies. Any NORSK Lithium technician can open one of our batteries and repair or replace every single part in minutes.”
Derek continues: “First, our easy-to-service case design was intended to allow our batteries to be serviced if a component fails over the 10 Year Warranty period. We’re not worried about the cells dying during the warranty, it’s the other parts like the BMS module and other little electronic parts that have some limited potential to go bad. If you can’t open the case (like we can) if a small component does fail your lithium battery might just be junk. Secondly, we anticipated the emergence of better cell technology in our case design so we could support upgrading customers in the future with the latest and greatest lithium chemistries.”
Epilogue
It’s an exciting time in history to be an angler. Lithium has become the de facto power source for ice anglers; open water is next.
As you read this, countless anglers are getting boats ready for the season or re-rigging based on springtime experiences already on-the-water. Many are focused on replacing lead acid batteries for a more reliable experience.
While that’s great, the burgeoning acceptance of lithium power is also allowing the entire sport of sport fishing to evolve. Prior to today’s lithium batteries there is no possible way you could have run multiple 12-, 13-, and 15-inch screens and forward-facing sonar/live imaging sonar with lead acid unless you created a multi-battery grouping of the large, heavy, and outdated power source. Given the space in most boats, there is no way you would have been able to house that much lead acid power.
Trolling motor design and functionality is starting to evolve, too. Not only is the trend toward brushless technology, we’re starting to see the first 48-volt trolling motors and standalone electric outboards powered by lithium batteries–a design paradigm that may just replace small two- and four-stroke outboards. For walleye and muskie anglers, higher voltage bow-mount trolling motors may just eliminate the need for a kicker outboard on the bow.
So, you can start to see all the advancements, both here today and just over the horizon made possible by lithium batteries. The future is bright… and it will be powered by advancements in lithium battery technology with NORSK Lithium leading the way.
About
When it’s time to start catching fish and taking names, you want NORSK Lithium on your side. We aren’t some overseas battery manufacturer. We are open-water anglers and ice fishermen who traverse the U.S. and Canada chasing the best bites. We make the bone-jarring 50-mile run across big water. We live for the adrenaline rush of a 40-mile trek by snowmobile in the freezing cold just to snag the best ice fishing hits. Our lithium batteries have been tested in the harshest conditions by the harshest critics – us. We push our lithium batteries to the limit because we crave the finest fishing experience possible. No angler should be thwarted by second-rate battery performance. You don’t need to settle for your grandpa’s technology. Utilizing the super-efficient, unbeatable potency of lithium technology, NORSK Lithium batteries reduce cheap knock-offs to fancy paperweights. Every NORSK Lithium battery is built to endure. Our batteries outwork the competition every time. Norsk Lithium powers your passion so you can chase adventure. We personally rely on these same batteries to power our pursuit of an exhilarating outdoor experience. Our commitment to you is the same promise we make to ourselves – we will never cut corners, we will never stop improving our battery technology – and we will always take care of our customers after the sale. Your story is our story. We have intentionally tethered our business’s success to our customers’ satisfaction. Including us. NORSK Lithium exists to power your passion for the great outdoors.
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, 16th 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.
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It’s one of bass fishing’s most broadly used techniques and for good reason. Pitching baits offers a highly efficient way to cover a shoreline with quick, accurate presentations, allowing you to slow down and pick apart promising cover.
Targets will vary, so keep a selection of rigs handy.
Light Cover: Sparse hydrilla and milfoil, patchy lily pads, or thin eel grass; bass may relate to this thin cover during early mornings or during their spawn. Here, you don’t need much weight — just enough to allow for accurate casts and the ability to navigate through the cover.
TUNGSTEN TITANX WORM WEIGHT
A classic Texas rig with a 3/16- to 1/4-ounce Mustad Tungsten TitanX Worm Weight and a craw or creature bait on a 3/0-4/0 Mustad KVD Grip-Pin Soft Plastics Hook fits this role. Other options: A 4- to 6-inch lizard or a soft stick worm on a 3/0 or 4/0 Mustad Offset Shank Worm Hook. Pitch your bait into gaps and breaks in the cover and stay alert for distinct holes amid grass beds, where hard sand or shell bottom offers ideal holding spots.
MUSTAD OFFSET SHANK WORM HOOK
Heavy Vegetation: When matted grass or thick rafts of floating vegetation (hyacinth, pennywort, etc.) blanket the surface, the shadowy caverns below offer prime bass habitat, particularly during the heat of summer. Standard pitching rigs often hang on the dense cover, so you’ll want to switch to the “punching” technique, which uses heavier terminal tackle to drive a bait through the cover.
Nothing complicated here; you’re simply forcing a bait through the cover for what typically turns out to be a reaction bite. Even when fish are not in an active feeding mode, the sudden appearance of a forage profile usually triggers a reaction bite.
MUSTAD WEIGHT STOP
Multi-Purpose: Boaters have the advantage of carrying an arsenal of rods, each rigged for specific tasks; even modern-day fishing kayakers can transport a good selection. For the bank fisherman or the casual kayak angler, a minimalist approach necessitates making the most of two or three rods.
In such scenarios, the ability to immediately switch from pitching to a swimming or twitching presentation broadens your versatility. One of the best options for this is a 5-inch soft plastic stick worm rigged on a 3/0 or 4/0 Mustad Offset Shank Worm Hook .
With a tapered tail, the stick worm easily slips into sparse grass, holes in lily pad fields, and gaps in cattails or reeds. Pitch the bait into a promising area, give it a couple of twitches, then repeat. Optionally, add a nail weight to the tail for better control and a unique presentation. When the worm hits the water, that weight pulls it down and away for a darting look.
For thorough coverage, shifting to a cast-and-retrieve pattern allows you to work the vegetation’s perimeter edges or target fish that you see chasing baitfish. Add a screw-in spinner blade to the stick worm’s tail end for extra appeal during the swimming presentations.
About Mustad
Mustad has led the global hook market since 1877. Mustad’s mission is to create a comprehensive multi-brand company that leads the fishing tackle industry, while focusing on innovation, employee and customer satisfaction, and sustainability. With the addition of TUF-LINE and LIVETARGET, Mustad continues to solidify its position as a complete sports fishing brand family.
With the severe cold weather we have been having this winter it is hard to think about bass fishing. But there are some things you can do to improve your odds and be a little more comfortable, too. You can go south, and you can fish a lake with extensive shallow backwaters that warm from the sun. Coffeeville on the Tombigbee River offers both.
Coffeeville was created by a lock and dam on the Tombigbee River and contains 8500 acres of water stretching over 97 miles upstream to the Demopolis Dam. It is mostly river channel with a few big creeks and many small sloughs and creeks off the river. These creeks and sloughs are full of cover ranging from docks to cypress trees.
Tom Abate is the police chief of Gilbertown and lives just a few miles from the lake. Although he has lived in the area for many years, he did not get into bass tournament fishing until three years ago. Charles Owen, one of his council members, invited Tom to fish a tournament and he was hooked.
Saying he is the biggest fish Charles ever hooked, Tom told me how he went into bass fishing in a big way, selling his hunting guns and buying a bass boat. He joined the Gilbertown Bass Club with Charles and fishes as many tournaments on area lakes as he can. Charles and Jerry Roberts both taught Tom a lot about bass fishing and he has been very successful.
Tom is now the president of the Gilbertown Bass Club and they put on a series of charity tournaments as well as fishing club tournaments each year. They are the closest club to Coffeeville Lake and fish it a lot.
One day a week Tom works at A & D Sports in Gilbertown, selling fishing supplies. He gets to talk to a lot of area fishermen at the store and keeps up with what the bass are doing through work as well as through his bass club.
Tom says the pattern for bass in February is very simple on Coffeeville. If the water is colder than 52 degrees the bass will hold at the mouth of creeks and sloughs in deep water. They will be on cover from eight to 20 feet deep. If it warms a little they will move into the sloughs and creeks to feed around cover, but they usually won’t stay long until later in the year.
You don’t need a lot of rods and reels on your deck right now on Coffeeville. Tom will have a deep running crankbait for fishing the deep creek mouths and a shallow running crankbait for fishing around the cover back in the sloughs. A Bandit in different sizes works well for both, and he likes the baby bass colors in clearer water and a brighter bait if the water is stained.
A Carolina rigged creature bait or a jig and pig with a Paca Craw trailer both work well when fished on the shelves and drops at the mouths of creeks. Both can be worked slowly through cover where the bass hold in cold water. Back in the shallow water Tom likes a big lizard Texas rigged to work around the cover.
Tom and I fished on a miserably cold day in early January to look at the holes and find out what the bass were doing. The water was unusually cold, showing 47 on the river and only 44 back in the sloughs, but Tom still managed to catch a couple of keeper bass. Fishing should be much better now if we have a few warm, sunny days.
Check out the following ten spots. They will get better and better as the month progresses and the water warms. And you can find many more similar places, especially up the river, but these are all fairly close together so you won’t have to make long runs.
1. N 31 51.675 – W 88 09.737 – If you put in at Lenoir Landing you will be right in the middle of the places to check, and the first one you can idle to. Go into Tallawampa Creek to where it opens up into a big lake area. Locals call this 30-Acre Lake and there are some grass covered islands to your right, between the creek channel and the river channel.
Work the outside edges of the islands with a shallow running crankbait and a Texas rigged lizard. Concentrate on areas where the creek channel swings in closes to the bank and work the little cuts, dips and points in the grass. You should be fishing areas where there is five feet of water just off the bank.
Also fish the creek channel from the lake area down to the ramp. There are some good blowdowns and stumps in the area to work with a lizard or crankbait. Fish will hold in them as they move up and down the creek with the warming water.
2. N 31 51.502 – W 88 29.155 – Go out to the river and head upstream. Watch for old dock pilings on the river and iron frames back off the bank a little ways. This was an old oil dock and the small opening upstream of it goes back into a big three finger lake area called Oil Dock Slough.
Stop out at the mouth of the slough and fish your crankbait around the cover here. The floods this past year moved a lot of the wood cover away but some has washed back in and bass will hold on it. Fish any trees coming off the bank but also work any brush or logs out in the river down to about 20 feet.
Make long casts with your crankbait to get it down as deep as possible. Try to bump the cover with your crankbait. Then drag your Carolina rigged creature bait across the same cover, pausing it when your lead hits the wood.
If it has been sunny for several days it is worth your effort to get back into the slough and fish the shallow cover there. This time of year the bass are more likely to be near the mouth of the slough where they can run back to deeper water quickly.
3. N 31 52.009 – W 88 08.418 – Headed upstream, watch for a house on the right on the river then houses back in a slough off the river. You can see a good many of them from the river itself. They are in Little Grove Hill Slough, a big lake off the river.
Stop at the entrance to the slough and fish around it with your crankbait and creature bait. Go into the slough and fish the docks and shallow water cover it the water is warming. The water back in here is very shallow so it warms fast, but bass will not usually move long distances in very shallow water this early, so the best areas to fish are closer to the river.
4. N 31 53.071 – W 88 08.111 – Running upstream you will see a dock and house on your left at the mouth of Suck Branch. There is riprap and rock around the mouth of this creek to fish with your crankbait and wood cover out off the bank to fish with both the crankbait and creature bait.
Current can make a big difference when fishing these creek and slough mouths. There will usually be some current moving but the bass will often turn on when the lock downstream operates. Since there is no schedule for this, be ready to take advantage when it does turn on.
Keep your boat downstream and cast up the current, working your bait back with the current. Concentrate on areas where an eddy forms and brings baitfish to the bass. Fish fast when the current is fast since the bass will be more active. A crankbait is usually the best bet when current is flowing.
In slack current, slowly work your plastic bait through the cover in deeper water. The bass will move back deep when the current slacks off and are less active to you have to slow down to get them to hit.
5. N 31 54.394 – W 88 07.688 – Run upstream and watch for green channel marker 130.2 on a tree. Just downstream of this marker is the entrance to Coppersaw Slough. The mouth of it has good wood cover and a drop to fish.
Watch your depthfinder to locate fish and cover. The current will move wood in and out of the area and reposition it, so you need to keep up with it. You will see a lot of fish near the bottom but they may be anything, from catfish to drum, so key on baitfish with fish under them to improve the chances they are bass.
Before you leave go back into the slough and fish the grass and wood cover in it, too. There is a house back in it sitting on a high hill and the water had good depth going back to it. Work all around the slough with your shallow baits.
6. N 31 50.622 – W 88 09.625 – Head downstream from Lenoir Landing and you will see a pipeline crossing with warning signs on both sides of the river. Just downstream of it on the right is a gas terminal for barges. The opening to the Blue Hole is on your left going downstream, across from it.
This opening is hard to spot going downstream since it angles off upstream and is not big. And you can’t see much of it back off the river channel. It does open up back in the woods. There is a while pole in the water just downstream of the mouth if it that will help you find it.
Work around the mouth of this slough like the others. Try fishing both directions. Start with your boat in deeper water and fish from shallow to deep, then move in closer to the bank and cast out, working your baits from deep to shallow. Try both directions here and on other spots to see what the bass want.
7. N 31 50.174 – W 88 10.002 – Further downstream on your right going downstream is Alligator Slough and Duck Pond Landing. As you go into this creek there is a boat landing on your left. It then opens up into a big lake area full of cypress trees.
One of the key things Tom looks for this time of year is clear water. If the river is muddy you can sometimes find clearer water back in the sloughs, and bass will often hold near the transition between clear and muddy. This slough is almost always has clear water back in it and is a good one to fish when the river is muddy.
Work all the cypress trees going back into the slough. Keep your boat in the deeper water and fish the trees near it first. Keep going back as long as you are getting bites, and try more shallow water when you find a school of bass. When you catch one you are likely to catch more. The day we fished Tom caught two bass here almost back to back.
8. N 31 49.390 – W 88 10.856 – Downstream on your right is the mouth of Okatutta Creek. This is one of the bigger creek area on the lake and it runs way back off the river. But before going into the creek idle around at the mouth of it. There is shelf well off the bank that comes up from 40 feet in the river channel to 12 feet on top, then drops back off at you go to the mouth of the creek. It will come right back up to four to five feet deep right at the mouth of the creek.
Fish this shelf with your crankbait and Carolina rig. Work it from different angles and probe for cove on it. Tom said the biggest bass he has seen in a tournament on Coffeeville, one over eight pounds, was caught here on a crankbait.
9. N 31 49.691 – W 88 10.860 – Go back into the creek and watch for a riprap point on your right at the mouth of Judy’s Slough. This big creek has many smaller creeks entering it and you should fish them just like the creek mouths on the river itself. Judy’s Slough is one of the biggest and there is a deep hole at the mouth of it. It is on the outside bend of the creek, too, making it even better.
Work all around the mouth of the slough, fishing both sides at different angles with crankbait and Carolina rig. Work into the slough, covering any trees lying in the water. Tom says this creek is a good place to catch spotted bass.
There are several more similar sloughs on up the creek and you can work them all. If you catch fish in a certain way on one, fish the others in the same way. Bass will often be on a similar pattern on several of the sloughs. You can fish always up to the Barrytown Road Bridge.
10. N 31 47.371 – W 88 10.020 – Turkey Creek is downstream on your right and is a big creek with lots of arms to fish on it. It was the most popular place to fish for bass for a long time. Big grass mats offered bass a good hiding and feeding places but there is not as much grass now.
Fish back in the arms of the creek, working any cover you find. If you find some grass mats work them carefully. Tom will switch to braid line around the grass but uses Trilene 100 Percent Fluorocarbon line the rest of the time. Try a white jig with a white Paca Craw trailer round any grass you fish.
Check out these spots and look for others. Bass fishing in February can be tough anywhere you fish but Coffeeville offers several options to make your fishing better.
