with Ed Reeves
July can be a tough time for bass fishing in Alabama but Mitchell Lake offers a variety of cover and structure where bass will feed this month. The spots and largemouth there feed well during the summer and you can catch them in a variety of ways.
Mitchell is a 5850 acre Alabama Power lake on the Coosa River between Lay and Jordan Lakes. It has 147 miles of shoreline and there was a lot of wood and rock cover left in the lake when it was dammed in 1922. The lake is very fertile and has a good population of bass and the baitfish they feed on.
In the Alabama Bass Angler Information Team report Mitchell ranks seventh in the state in numbers of bass caught per angler day, a good indication of the numbers of bass in the lake. There were not a lot of tournaments reported on the lake but in those reported the average bass weighed 1.67 pounds.
Ed Reeves grew up in Wetumpka and still lives there. He has fished Mitchell all his life, starting as a kid with his father and now fishing tournaments on it. Following his family tradition of law enforcement he works for Montgomery as a police officer in the K-9 unit.
About five years ago a friend invited Ed to partner with him on the Fishers of Men Central Alabama trail and he was soon hooked on tournament fishing. He bought a Skeeter bass boat in 2004 and now fishes with the Prattville Bass Anglers club as well as some other local tournaments. He is also fishing the BASS Weekend Series this year.
A few years ago Ed started pouring his own jigs and now sells them through his W-3 Tackle Company. He fishes both shaky head jigs and a jig and pig a lot so pouring his own was a good way to save money and an interesting hobby. So many people in his club wanted to buy his jigs he started his business. His Tip-Up shaky head and his Finesse skirted jig are favorites that he uses a lot.
“By late June almost all the bass have come out of the spawning areas and are setting up on their summer holes,” Ed told me. You can pattern them and catch them consistently on places where they live all year except for the spawn. Some of these spots are subtle and it takes a lot of time on the lake to find them.
“Spots on the lake especially like main lake rocks and wood on steep banks,” Ed said. They like a place they can move up and down in the water column quickly and feed. Rocks are a favorite but they will also hold on wood cover. Largemouth can be found in the same cover at times but they tend to like more wood and grass, and Ed says he usually catches four or five spots to every largemouth in the places he fishes.
Ed also likes to fish docks, especially on sunny bright days when the fish seek shade. There are not a lot of docks on the lake but they are in clusters and Ed will often get on a line of docks and fish them all. Brush around them helps and most docks are on posts but the shade is the main thing Ed fishes.
Ed usually has four rods rigged and ready. All his rods are Walt Higgins Custom Rods, one of his sponsors, and he likes Pflueger bait casting reels for all his baits.
He will have a three-sixteenths ounce Tip-Up head rigged with a dark plastic worm on 15 pound test Big Game line on one and one of his Finesse jigs, a three sixteenths ounce skirted jig with a crawfish trailer on another. Two more rods will be rigged with a spinnerbait and a crankbait on them. Most of the time in the summer he throws one of the two jigs.
A few weeks ago Ed showed me the following ten spots where he catches summer bass. We had about ten keepers that day, including two spots about 2.5 pounds each and a largemouth about the same size. We lost several good fish that threw the bait, too. And the fish were just setting up on these spots.
1. N 32 54.670 – W 86 29.747 – Head upstream to where the lake widens and there are several big islands, not far downstream from the Lay Lake Dam. The first island you come to is Bo Lee Island and it is an excellent place to start first thing in the morning and any time there is current.
As you approach the downstream end of the island you will see the end of a log sticking out of the water a long way off the bank to your right. The right side of the island has grass on it. Ed likes to go to the upper end of the island and fish back down this side with the current. He will throw a topwater popper like a Pop-R some but his main baits is the spinnerbait.
Current is important on many of these spots but this hole is dependent on it. If the current is not running Ed usually does not fish it. Stay well off the bank and throw right to the edge of the grass with a topwater bait or spinnerbait. Fish either one back quickly since the bass will be in a feeding mood in the current.
Ed chooses a Strike King Premiere white three-eights ounce spinnerbait with two silver blades for this spot. The bass will be holding near the grass and wood cover and feeding on shad as the current moves them down the bank and this combination spinnerbait imitates them.
2. N 32 53.803 – W 86 29.172 – Going downstream from the island watch for a high rocky bank on your left with a small creek entering just downstream of it. Just inside the creek mouth there is a big pine standing above all the bushes on the bank to your left and on the right side you can see where bank fishermen have camped.
Ed calls this “Cottonmouth Cove” because of the two huge snakes he has seen here. He hates snakes but still fishes here because it holds fish, and we both had keeper spots here when we fished. Start on the main lake point on either side and fish all around the mouth of the pocket, working a jig from very shallow to about 15 feet deep. Bounce the jig down the rocks and jiggle it at each stop.
Ed does not go way back into the creek but concentrates on the mouth of it this time of year. The fish will have moved out to the deeper water and be holding here by now. This spot is good without a current but current will make it and all others even better.
3. N 32 52.594 – W 86 28.999 – Heading downstream the river will start to bend to the left and you will see a line of docks starting on your right. Just upstream of the first dock is a small creek and the upstream point of it is an excellent place to catch a spot, according to Ed. There is a small grass bed on it and it runs out a short distance across the mouth of the pocket.
Start by fishing the point, working a jig head worm or jig and pig along the sloping bottom. Fish it from the edge of the grass out to 20 feet deep or so. Hop and shake either bait as you fish them along the bottom.
Back in the pocket there is a good blowdown to fish. You are more likely to catch largemouth back in pockets around wood cover like this. It is worth your time here to fish on around the downstream side under the overhanging trees to the dock. This bank is rocky and drops fast. Fish it with either bait to the dock.
4. N 32 52.031 – W 86 28.123 – The line of docks starting at the pocket in hole #3 runs all the way to the mouth of Walnut Creek and is one of Ed’s favorite dock areas to fish. He usually waits until the sun is bright to drive the fish under the docks then works the line of docks, fishing every one.
Ed usually starts at the Walnut Creek end at the first dock upstream. It is blue and white striped and he will fish it and the others until he runs out of docks at the small creek in #3. Fish the outside of the docks first, probing for brush, then move in and cast under them. Don’t move in too close until you fish around the dock or you will spook bass holding in the brush in front of them.
If you see shad around the docks or see fish swirling try the spinnerbait or a shad colored Bandit crankbait. Work them along the sides of the dock and across the front of them. Bass holding in the shade will run out to hit a bait moving along the dock.
If there is no activity Ed will start with his jig head worm and fish it, then try the jig and pig. He says he catches more fish on the jig head worm but the jig and pig produces bigger bass and not as many little ones, although the bigger ones will hit the jig head too. Ed caught our biggest bass of the day off one of these docks on a Tip-Up head and worm.
5. N 32 51.346 – W 86 26.639 – Downstream on your left there are several islands in the mouth of Hatchet Creek. Ed starts on the downstream point of the first one, near the small clump of dirt with one tree in it that is surrounded by grass, off the downstream end. He will fish upstream across the small gap between the island and the bank all the way up to the mouth of the next pocket where a fish attractor sign is on a tree.
This bank all along here is the outside bend of the river and drops off fast. There are rocks and blowdowns to fish as well as smaller dips and juts in the bank. Bass hold all along it and we caught several here and lost a couple, too. You can spend a lot of time here if you fish slowly and carefully.
The upstream end of the island at the gap has some good rocks on it and bass often hold on them and in the gap. As soon as you cross the gap you will start fishing some blowdowns, some that run way off the bank. Fish them slowly to get your bait down to the outer ends in deep water. Both kinds of jigs work well here.
6. N 32 50.855 – W 86 26.722 – Across the mouth of Hatchett Creek the downstream point has two logs laying on it at a steep angle. They show how fast the bottom drops. You will be sitting three boat lengths off the bank and be in 50 feet of water where the channel swings in right by the bank.
Start at the two logs and work into the creek, fishing everything along it until you get to the next point with a brush top on it. Fish this bluff bank by casting either jig right to the bank and moving it very slowly so it falls along the rocks. Bass will suspend along the drop and you have to get your bait in front of them for them to hit.
If there is current moving across this bank Ed will get in close and cast a crankbait, paralleling the bank with it. Bass will move up shallow enough to hit the crankbait when current is moving baitfish along this drop. You will often find a big school of bass feeding here.
7. N 32 50.268 – W 86 27.116 – Downstream on your left is Airplane Slough. There is a big house with a brown roof on the upstream side and a gazebo near the water. On your right as you go in a small cut will run off downstream. Start at the inside point of the cut and fish the steep bank with your jigs, working back into the creek to the next point where the creek opens up.
Work a jig under the overhanging brush down the steep rocky bank. There are also a couple of trees in the water along here to fish.
When you get to the next point you will be across from a dock in front of a house that has a brick lower level. Jump across and fish this and the next three docks. There is a little brush in front of some of the boat houses but try to get your bait back under the dock into the shade. Fish both jigs on these docks to the dock with the three fish on it. We took a couple of keepers off them when we fished.
8. N 32 49.076 – W 86 27.350 – Head down the river and you will pass Finger Slough on your left and the mouth of Cargile Creek on your right. You will see a big red roof house with cream colored walls running down to the water and a power line crosses the river. Just downstream of the power line on your left watch for a big rock on the bank. About 75 yards downstream of this big rock there is some exposed rock showing at the edge of the water.
Start fishing at the exposed rock and work downstream past a very small dip in the bank to an overhanging tree. Ed says he has no idea why this spot holds fish but it does. The bank has rocks under the water so try to bounce your jigs along the fast dropping bottom for fish holding in them.
9. N 32 48.811 – W 86 26.304 – Going down the river it makes a sharp turn to the left then back to the right at the dam. Just before the river turns back to the right you will see an old wooden pier or some kind of wood structure running parallel to the bank out in the water on a point on your left. Just past it is Big “Y” Slough. Go into it and start fishing on the right bank at the little pocket across from the point.
Fish all along this steep bank working into the slough until the bottom flattens out. You will be back in the slough and see the split forming the “Y” where the bottom of the bank you are fishing flattens out. Bass move out of the slough and hold along this steep bank in the summer. Fish it with both your jigs.
10. N 32 48.631 – W 86 26.419 – Downstream of Little “Y” Slough is a small pocket that has a little point on the upstream side. Start at the pocket and fish upstream toward the downstream point at Litte “Y” Slough, getting in close and fishing a crankbait parallel to the bank. Fish to the point of the slough.
Ed says you will catch a bunch of small fish here at all times but the bigger ones turn on when there is current. You might catch a dozen throwbacks without current then catch a limit of good keepers as soon as the current starts moving. Call to find out the generating schedule and plan on fishing this spot when they start pulling water. You are only a few hundred yards from the dam.
Give this small lake a try to enjoy some good bass fishing for largemouth and spots right now. Hit Ed’s spots then look for similar subtle structure and cover all over the lake. Fish when the current is moving if possible but you can catch fish off most of these spots and others you will find even if it is still.
Generating Schedule for Mitchell – 1-800-LAKES 11