December Bass at Wedowee
with Lee Byrd
Many bass fishermen get so involved with the holidays they don’t think much about fishing from Thanksgiving to Christmas. That is a mistake. Some of the best bass fishing of they year is in late November to the end of December and Lake Wedowee is one of the best lakes to catch heavy stringers this time of year.
Wedowee is the newest Alabama Power lake and is officially known as R.L. Harris Reservoir. Completed in 1983, it was formed by damming the Tallapoosa River. It covers 10,660 acres and has 270 miles of shoreline and most of the upper lake on both the Tallapoosa and Little Tallapoosa Rivers are winding channels and steep banks.
Spotted bass are very common in the lake to the point the Alabama DNR has places a special slot limit on largemouth only. You must release all largemouth between 13 and 16 inches long. When first implemented this slot limit also applied to spots but they were removed two years ago and it only applies to largemouth now. Anglers are encouraged to keep spots of all sizes, especially the smaller ones.
Lee Byrd grew up fishing in Georgia with his grandfather. He says they went “junk” fishing for anything that would bite. He started concentrating on bass when about 12 years old and joined the Marietta Bass Club, one of the best clubs in Georgia the week he turned 18. That was natural since his father Bill Byrd was a member and a well know bass fishermen throughout the state.
Lee moved to Birmingham 12 years ago and now concentrates his fishing on Alabama lakes. He is in the Birmingham Bass Club and fishes the Bama BFL and plans on fishing the Weekend Series this next year. He also competes in some local tournaments. He is on the Grammer Marine fishing team and is sponsored by Champion Boats.
Lee started fishing Wedowee in the mid-1980s, as soon as if filled. Then four years ago a friend, Bill Roberts, from the Washington, DC area started visiting in late November for some fishing and they chose Wedowee as the best lake for this time of year. Each year they catch a lot of big bass. Last year the first day of their trip Lee’s best five weighing 27 pounds. The next day his best five weighed 23 pounds.
There are some quality largemouth in Wedowee and Lee tends to focus on them. That is a results of his tournament fishing where largemouth usually weigh more than spots. He does catch a lot of spots, too, but most of the better spots weigh two to three pounds.
Lee says the bass are easy to pattern in late November and all during December. He concentrates on three types of structure, all related to deep water and channels. Points where the channel swings near them, bluff banks on the main lake and creek banks where the channel swings against them all produce bass this time of year.
You can catch fish on almost all such places right now but Lee refines his fishing more. He looks for transitions. Changes hold bass so he wants to find a point of bluff where the rocks change to clay or where the water color changes. Temperature changes can be just as important. Lee says he will often run up a creek and watch his temperature gauge. If there are two bluff banks where the temperature is 58 then the next three show lower temperatures, around 51 or so, he will concentrate on the second and third bluffs where the temperature changes.
A variety of baits work well and temperature controls what Lee throws to some extent. If the water temperature is still in the upper 50s he sticks with more active baits like crankbaits and spinnerbaits. When it hits the low 50s he relies on a jig and pig to catch most of his fish at Wedowee.
Crankbaits with a tight wobble are Lee’s choice and he likes them in shad colors. A Baby Little N or a Suddeth work well and have the wobble he likes. Wooden baits are good and seem to do better, especially if the fishing is tough. Also, as a change-up, he will throw a bright chartreuse crankbait. That will sometimes produce hits when the shad colors are not drawing attention.
Lee makes his own jigs and likes a three-eights to one–half ounce jig. He will throw a quarter ounce jig if the fishing it tough and he wants a slower falling bait. When the sun is out he fishes a brown or green pumpkin jig with a Zoom Super Chunk in green pumpkin or blue. On cloudy and rainy days he uses a black jig and blue trailer. Black and blue works better in off-color water. For some reason Lee has found black and blue is good in very clear water, too.
The bass are usually holding eight to 25 feet deep this time of year so Lee works those depths until he zeros in on a more specific depth. If you are regularly catching fish at a set depth, concentrate on it. Sunny or cloudy days don’t really affect the bite much other then which color Lee throws. He says a little wind helps move the baitfish so wind blown banks can be better.
Lee concentrates on the upper one-third of the Little Tallapoosa and Tallapossa Rivers but there are some good areas down the lake, too. You can pick and area to launch and stay nearby, there is no need to run all over the lake to find fish.
The following ten spots are some of Lee’s favorites. They are on different parts of the lake so some will be near you wherever you launch. Check them out and you will find many similar places nearby.
1. N 33 21.098 – W 85 30.851 – Just upstream and across the river from the mouth of Wedowee Creek is an excellent example of the kind of point Lee likes to fish this time of year. It is on the upstream side of a cove that has a single small dock with a tin roof way back in it. There are no houses on either side of the cove that you can see and both points are natural woods.
The upstream point is at the end of a bluff wall and is a transition from a steep rock face to a flatter clay and rock bottom. The channel runs right along the outside of the point but it is flatter on top and the point runs out shallow across the mouth of the cove for a short distance.
Start with your boat on the river side and cast a crankbait across it, fishing it shallow to deep. Fish all the way around the point making fan casts to cover all of it. You can do the same with a spinnerbait if the water is in the upper 50s. Try hopping a jig and pig down the point from all angles if the water is in the lower 50s.
2. N 33 20.544 – W 85 30.572 – Run into Wedowee Creek and the channel makes a sharp bend to the right. On your left you will see a white dock at the start of the sheer rock bluff. Start fishing at this dock and work down the bluff, past a deck that is just above the full pool mark. Not far past the deck is a small cove. Fish around it past the small gray house sitting on top of a concrete vertical foundation. There is a fish feeder at it and you will see some small pine seedlings in the gutter.
Keep your boat parallel to the bluff and work your crankbait and spinnerbait parallel to the rocks. Cast right to the bank and fish the bait at an angle that keeps it close since the bottom drops off very fast. Also try hopping a jig and pig down the face of the rocks.
3. N 33 20.523 – W 85 30.692 – Across the creek there is a point and a bluff wall where the creek makes a bend back to the left. Start at the wooden dock on your right on the point. It has a shingle roof and the house up on the point has a big deck around it. It is near where the bottom changes from a flatter clay area to a sheer vertical rock wall.
Fish all your baits along this bank, trying different speeds and depths. You can fish all the way around past the five docks to the next transition where the channel moves to the left and the bottom flattens out a little more. All along here watch for changes – a tree in the water, a change in water color or even the shadow from the docks to fish hard since the bass will hold on any change.
4. N 33 19.577 – W 85 32.117 – Headed down the river the channel makes a big “U” turn, swinging to your left then back to your right. On the outside of the “U” two coves cut back in offering a change. Start fishing on the downstream point of the upstream cove. It has some big rocks out in the water off the bank so stop way off it and ease in until you learn how far out they go.
You will see two big whitish rocks at the top of the rock wall just downstream of the point. They sit right at the high water mark. This point makes a change from big rocks under water to a steep rock bank. I caught a chunky two pound spot just downstream from the point in early November on a jig and pig.
Fish from the point down the bank, staying on the outside of it. Fish the rocks on the point with a variety of baits then fish down the rock wall to the floating dock with a yellow slide and blue diving board on it. On the downstream side of this dock is some brush that will still be in the water if it is not too low. The brush makes a nice change to fish and it holds bass.
Fish on down past the deck at the high water level working crankbaits and spinnerbaits parallel to the rocks and hopping a jig down them. When fishing a steep wall like this cast your jig and pig to the bank and let it hit bottom. Work it back with tiny hops of your rod tip, barely moving your rod tip. The jig will fall several inches to several feet with just a tiny movement of your rod tip.
5. N 33 19.451 – W 85 32.250 – The point at the end of the bluff wall in hole #4 is another good transition. The bluff bank stops and a flatter point extends out, dropping off fast on both sides but with some shallow water on top. There is a floating dock attached to a dock on post with lattice around it. There is also a yellow boat house with a wooden ramp in front of it.
Back off the point and make long casts with a crankbait and spinnerbait to cover the water from the top of the point down. Fish all the way around it, hitting it from all angles. Then go back around it with a jig and pig. You can make bigger hops here since the bottom does not drop quite as fast.
6. N 33 17.703 – W 85 37.674 – If you put in on the lower lake the banks look very different but the channel swings still hold bass. Go in behind the big islands on the north side of the lake. Be careful in this area there is lots of standing timber here. With the water down you can see most of it and know where to keep your boat.
If you are coming downstream and go in behind them on the upstream side you will see a hump on your left with a danger buoy on it. With the water down it will be lying on top of the hump. All around the hump is standing timber. Across from this hump the channel makes a sharp turn to your left and there is another marked hump on your right.
Ease over to this hump that marks the end of a long point. The channel swings in on both sides of it, making it an excellent place to catch bass. The best areas are where the channel swings in closest and the bottom makes the steepest drop. Work all around this hump and point, keeping your bait out in the timber and fishing back.
The bass might be holding suspended down along the tree trunks so fish your spinnerbait and crankbait through the timber as well as working the bottom. It is harder to fish a place like this but it often pays off in bigger fish.
7. N 33 17.961 – W 85 38.141 – Shad move into the creeks when the water temperature is below 60 degrees, according to Lee, and the bass will follow them. Run into Fox Creek past the ramp and power lines. The creek makes a fork and the point between the two arms is an excellent point to fish. As you go up the creek one arm goes ahead and to the left and another makes a sharp turn to the right. On top of the point is a dead kudzu field and a dirt track comes down to the water on the left side facing it and goes up the right side where people come to the bank to fish.
Start fishing on the left side of the point facing it and work around it. There are smaller points sticking out from the main point and some rock piles on them. All make transitions where the bass hold. On the upper side the channel swings in then back out, making another transition area to fish. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and jig and pig are all good here.
8. N 33 20.313 – W 85 35.855 – Up the Tallapoosa River are some good spots, too. There are fewer houses up this way and the channel is actually narrower then the Little Tallapoosa. There is also a lot of standing timber along the banks.
Run up past Indian Creek on your left and watch for a cove on your right. The upstream point of the cove is the end of a bluff wall. There is a sign nailed to a tree standing in the water across the river from the point advertising “Camping and Restrooms” with a phone number and arrow pointing upstream. The fish often stack up on the point and they will also hold along the bluff bank upstream of the point. Work around the point with all your baits then fish up the bluff bank some, too.
Lee says the fish change year to year and even day to day. If you found fish on the point the last time you fished there is a good chance they are still there, or on structure nearby. Vary your bait color, speed and depth of retrieve until you find them.
9. N 33 21.174 – W 85 34.994 – Up the river on your right is a cove with a sign on a point back in the middle of it saying “Ratley’s Cove.” The upstream point of the cove had a bunch of mallard decoys on it when I was there and there are big orange balls floating in the water off both points of the cove.
Fish the bluff wall starting at the upstream point and working up. There are a lot of docks along this bluff wall and you should try all your baits, fishing all the way to the next cove. Watch for anything that is different and make casts to it.
This bank as others on the east side of both rivers will stay shady for a good while during the day. Shade can also be a transition area and sometimes the bass like to hold in shady areas go check them out.
10. N 33 22.241 – W 85 35.873 – Head upstream to where the channel makes a sharp bend back to your right. There is a creek entering here and the mouth if full of standing timber. There are two big trees standing out in the water and one of them has an osprey nest in it. A bluff bank runs above and below this creek. Fish both sides along the bank, working your baits on the rocks as well as in the trees.
Here and in the other bluff banks Lee says to keep your boat in 25 to 40 feet of water when fishing a jig and pig. Make short casts ahead of the boat and hop your bait down the bank. Don’t get in too close. Let your jig fall on a slack line so you don’t pull it away from the bottom on each hop. Let is sit a few seconds them make another small pull. Your jig will fall several feet even on slack line on a very small pull of your rod tip.
These ten spots show you the kinds of places Lee likes to catch Wedowee bass this time of year. Try them, see what he is talking about and you will find many other similar places all over the lake to fish.