Brent Crow's North Alabama Guide Service

6/2/12 Guntersville. Guntersville was good at times this week and great on occasion. Timing is everything and by far the best times to be out is in the first two hours and last two hours of the day. Those are the times the fish are feeding best and you can get on a big school of fish and catch 10-20 in the same spot. There has also been a good topwater bite around grasslines where it has not topped out. Pop-Rs, spooks and flukes in shad colors are the baits to throw around the grass. On ledges and deeper humps with no grass, swimbaits, jigs and spoons have been effective for me.

6/2/12 Wheeler. June is one of my favorite months to fish Wheeler and today was an example of why I like it so much. We fished the Angling for Autism tournament out of Ingalls Harbor and finished 7th out of 92 boats with 15.45lbs. We caught 30-40 fish on the day, most of them in the 2-3lb range, but couldnt find a big bite to put us closer to the first prize. Nearly all of our fish were caught in 10-20 feet on a 3/4oz football jig. We had no luck with a crankbait or swimbait and caught a few on a shaky head, but 90% of our bites came on the jig. The fish are schooled up and when you get a bite, there will usually be more to come in that same area. Look for shellbeds, dropoffs, brush piles and ledges in 10-20 feet of water.

6/2/12 Smith. The daytime bite is winding down at Smith with the water temps in the mid to high 80s. Get out early or late if you want to fish in the daytime for a couple of hours of action. Topwater, Crankbaits, jigs and shakyheads are the best bets to catch them with the sun up, depending on the wind and cloud cover. Look for fish in 20-30 feet of water. At night the bite is pretty good. Shaky head worms, spinnerbaits and jigs are the best bets for night time action. Fish can be caught a little shallower at night, but make sure there is deep water nearby.

5/17/12 Smith.  Smith continues to be the best lake around for sheer action. I have been catching lots of good spots and a few stripers on top throughout the day. Spooks, Weightless Flukes and swimbaits have been my baits of choice. There has been some sporadic schooling action on calm days as well. The best bite has been on windy banks and rocky points. We have consistently caught between 25-50 bass per day with a best five from 12-18lbs every day. This bite wont last much longer, so get in on it while it is still good.

5/17/12 Guntersville. For pure action, topwaters over the grass is the best way to go on Guntersville right now. Look for grass that is scattered, and not carpet like thick just under the surface and throw a Pop-R or Super Spook Junior. Having 2-3 feet of water above the grass seems to be the key. There are also some fish on deep structure, but they are not in big schools yet where you can catch them for 30 minutes or more out of one spot. I have been getting 4 or 5 bites at most from the deep spots and a variety of baits has been working. Big Spoons, swimbaits, Alabama Rigs and Football Jigs have been catching a few, and each spot has been different. Again, the lack of current has them scattered out and not on the bottom.

5/17/12 Wheeler. Wheeler is fishing a lot like Pickwick right now. There are a few fish deep, but not big schools, and also fish in the bank grass and on shallow points. A football jig is the best bet for the deep fish and swimming a jig in bank grass has been the best shallow bait. There are also some fish that will bite a topwater around shallow points and shellbeds. A Zara Spook worked over the top of the places will draw strikes from largemouth and smallmouth.  

5/17/12 Pickwick. The fishing is fair on Pickwick right now, mostly due to the lack of current. TVA has been generating 8000 to 13000CFS around the clock, which is barely a trickle. As a result the smallmouth fishing has been spotty and the fish are not yet out on all of the deep ledges. There are some fish deep, but also fish in middepths and shallow. There is a decent topwater bite in places, mostly on shallow points and in bank grass. Flipping a jig or crawworm around grass and wood has also been effective.

5/10/12 Smith. The water temps on Smith are holding in the upper 70s and the fish are biting well. There are fish in just about any depth you want to fish and they will bite a variety of lures. Largemouths are around wood cover, docks, and brush and the dirtier water is better to look for largemouths. Spotted bass are just about everywhere, docks, rocky banks and shallow shelves are good places to look for spots. Topwaters, flukes, swimbaits, shaky heads and crankbaits are the best baits right now. I have been having some awesome trips, with 25-50 fish a day depending on the weather and wind. A client caught a 5lb spot this week and we have had numerous 3-4lb spots.

5/10/12 Wheeler. The fishing is good at Wheeler right now even without much current being generated. There are fish in the bank grass that will bite a skinny dipper, swim jig or spinnerbait and also fish on the ledges that will hit a football jig or big worm. Downriver, look for fish on rocky points, rocky bluff banks and in the backs of pockets. Shaky heads, crankbaits, jigs and spinnerbaits are all catching fish down river.

5/10/12 Guntersville. The bite at Guntersville is hit or miss right now, and it all depends on your location. The shad spawn is tapering down, but if you find the right area, the fishing can be great in the first two hours of the day. Look for shad spawning on grasslines in 5-10 feet of water. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits and topwaters will catch fish that are feasting on the spawning shad. There is also a deep bite, but the fish are only on a few places. The lack of current is keeping them off of the bottom most of the time. Throwing an Alabama Rig or single swimbait on a 3/4oz head and swimming the baits through schools of shad and fish is the best way to catch fish offshore. Use your electronics to find the schools over 25+ feet of water.

5/10/12 Pickwick. Much like the other lakes on the Tennessee River chain, Pickwick is very good right now. The fish are finished spawning and are moving to their summer haunts. Look for them on the river channel downriver on humps, bars and the old river channel ledge. The Alabama Rig and a single swimbait is your best bet, followed by football jigs, big crankbaits and flutter spoons.

5/1/12 Smith. Most of fish, if not all, are finished spawning and moving into deeper water at Smith. There has been some sporadic schooling in certain areas on calm days as well. They might be stripers, spots or a mix of both when you see fish blowing up on minnows. Topwater remains the best pattern early, and the action can be non stop. Two clients and I had an awesome day on the 26th with our best five spots weighing 18lbs+ and we had 30something bass and 11 stripers in a full day trip. In a half day on Friday afternoon, we had a solid 13lb bag and lost count of the total number of fish. You can also catch fish on a shaky head and a crankbait on shallow rock banks. May is always a great time to be on Smith! Call now to book a trip before all of my days are filled up.

5/1/12 Guntersville. Guntersville has fish in all phases right now. There are super shallow fish that can be caught on buzzbaits and ribbits near the bank over grass. There are fish that can be caught with spinnerbaits and crankbaits in the deeper grass from 4-7 feet, especially early in the mornings. There were even some late bed fish last Saturday that were caught. Finally, some fish are moving to the ledges and can be caught with a deep diving crankbait or football jig.

5/1/12 Wilson. Wilson is pretty good right now all over the lake. There are fish on the grassbeds and can be caught the same way that they are at Wheeler. There are also some topwater fish on down river points and shallow ledges. A shaky head will work just about anywhere, pea gravel, docks, ledges and bluffs. There are also some fish being caught in the current below Wheeler Dam.

5/1/12 Wheeler. I have been on Wheeler a lot over the past two weeks. There are fish to be caught in the shoreline grassbeds and bushes, around Decatur and on rocky banks and bluffs down river. Skinny Dippers, swim jigs and buzzbaits will catch fish out of the grassbeds, especially if there are shad present. Flip bushes with a sweet beaver or a jig if the water level is high. Down river, you can catch fish on shaky head worms, jigs, spinnerbaits and crankbaits. It wont be long before fish are out on the ledges as most of the bedding activity seems to be over with.

4/15/12 Wilson. I fished the Top Rod Solo Event on Wilson today out of Safety Harbor. I had another fun day on Wilson, catching fish from start to finish. My only problem was the lack of a big bite, but it turns out that I needed five really big bites, not just one. It took a whopping 27.76lbs to win, and I finished 6th with 14.79. I caught about 30 keepers today, half smallmouth and half largemouth. I caught half of them on a shaky head and half on a spook. Nothing like catching smallies on a spook! My best fish were a 4lb smallie and a 3.5lb largemough on back to back casts. The fish were on shallow rock banks and there were usually more than one in an area. Most seemed to be in 5-10 feet of water.

4/14/12 Smith. I fished the Fairview Benefit tournament out of the park today. My regular partner is out of town, so one of my friends that is just getting in to bass fishing came down from Nashville to fish his first ever bass tourney. We had an absolute blast, catching 15 over the slot, 40 in all and had a few stripers as well. We wound up winning the tournament with 13.42lbs and could have had 16 or 17 if we land everything that we had hooked. We caught them on everything we threw today, mostly shallow on windy points and banks. We threw spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, shaky heads, swimbaits and topwaters.

4/13/12 Wheeler. I had a trip on Wheeler today with an out of town client preparing for a tournament on Saturday. With the water coming up, I expected the fish to be in the grass and bushes on the banks, but most of the areas I checked were barren. We had a few bites in grass, but came up empty in the bushes. We also fished several areas with a shakey head and finesse worm, and I was able to show him enough places to do well in his tourney on Saturday. We caught them 5-10 feet deep with green pumpkin being the best color.

4/7/12 Smith. I fished Smith twice this week. On Thursday I had a trip with one client learning to fish the lake. We had some nice fish, with several different patterns working. We caught a few on topwater, some on a shaky head and also fished some bushes. My client had a five pound spot that he fought forever, but it wrapped him up in a tree about 6 feet deep. It was frustrating to see him stuck in the branches and just out of reach of my net. He finally shook free, but a few casts later my client caught one just under four pounds. On Saturday, I fished the Fishing for  a Mission tourney out of the park. JB and I wound up with 13.57lbs, which was good for 9th place out of 55 boats. It took a whopping 26lbs to win the tourney! Fishing is very good on Smith right now and will get even better.

4/6/12 Wilson. I had an afternoon trip on Wilson today with a couple from Tennessee and we had a great day on the water. We basically caught fish from noon until we quit around 7pm. The fish were all prespawn with the exception of one 4lb smallmouth that had laid out. All fish were between 5-10 feet and were on basically any type of bank. We caught them around wood, docks and on pea gravel. We threw shaky heads with several different types of plastic and it didnt seem to matter much as long as it was some shade of watermelon or green pumpkin. Our final total ended up around 30 fish, with a best five of 17-18lbs.

4/4/12 Wheeler. The fish were very cooperative on Wheeler today. I caught a couple on topwater, one being a five pound largemouth. We threw mostly shaky heads with finesse worms around shallow points and rocks to catch 30 or so largemouths today. Most were between 1-2lbs.

4/1/12 Pickwick. TVA and the fish played an April Fools joke on us today. No real current until 2pm today and not much activity at all. We caught 6 or 7 largemouths on a shaky head and one 3-pound smallmouth. There were plenty of stripers and white bass as usual, but not what we were after. I had no topwater bites and we stayed til 7pm to try to see if the smallies would turn on, but they never did. After stroking them every trip this year to Pickwick, I guess I was due for a rough outing, but that doesnt make it any better. Hopefully my clients learned some things that will help them have a good week on the water.

3/28/12 Guntersville. Had one client today on the big G, and we had a fair day. We through big plastics all day in spawning coves, looking for big ones that have moved up shallow. We wound up with 12 on the day, one in the six pound range and a few 2.5 and 3lbers, but only one non-keeper. It still seems a little slow for me for this time of year, but with the coming moon this week, I would expect a lot more to show up in the shallows, Nothing we caught today had spawned.

3/27/12 Smith. Had a client have to reschedule todays trip, so I went with a friend who was convinced to skip work and see if we could catch some big ones on Smith. I wound up with two real nice largemouths, one almost six and one over four on a swimbait. We had lots of bites but they were not taking the bait real good today. Saw lots of nice fish in the 3-4 pound class on the banks as well. We didnt throw a shaky head at all, just mainly tried to find some big largemouths and called it quits at noon. We did run into one little group of blueback herring and that was the same bank I caught the 6 and 4 on and saw 3 more over 4lbs.. Coincidence??

3/26/12 Smith. I had a great trip on Smith today with repeat clients. We fished shallow all day with topwaters and shaky heads. Even saw some schooling fish for the first time this year. On the day we landed 40-50, lost a few more and put together a pretty decent limit of spots and largemouth. Most of the fish we caught had spawned, lots of flat bellies on the spots especially. They are still hanging around shallow rock shelves with deep water close by. Finesse worms in any shade of watermelon or green pumpkin on an 1/8oz jighead will get the job done.

3/25/12 Guntersville. Sundays always seem tougher to me on the Big G, and that was the case today. I am not sure if the traffic from Saturday and Sunday churning up the spawning areas is the sole reason, but it cant help. We had about 15 bites for the day, landing 9. The water was a little stained from the recent rains, so I didnt see as many beds as I did last week. I have some areas with lots of spawning activity, but other areas where they have not shown up yet. The next couple of weeks should get all the fish that havent spawned finished and feeding again.

3/23/12 Pickwick. I had another awesome day on Pickwick today. The water is still low and the fish are still full of eggs and feeding hard. We once again caught them on the Alabama Rig, landing largemouth, smallmouth, stripers, hybrids and white bass. Our best fish came on topwater, however. A 6-6 largemouth was the best fish of the day. All fish came from 8 feet or less around rocky banks and humps.

3/19/12 Smith. Lots of fun right now on Smith. The fish are up shallow and lots of spawning going on. My clients caught 35 on Monday, all spots in 10 feet or less. Rocky banks were the best bet for finding them and they bit a watermelon worm on a 1/4oz shaky head and we also had some topwater action. Smith was on fire last year from mid-March til mid June and the fish are in the same places and hitting the same way again this year. It is nonstop action from daylight til dark and lots of fun catching those hard fighting spots.

3/18/12 Wilson. We had a decent day on Wilson on Sunday. One client had a largemouth over 5lbs and several other nice ones. He also caught a few 2-3lb smallies. The Alabama Rig and a shaky head were the best baits. Most fish are still off the bank, however, as they seem to be waiting for the water to come up before the first major spawning wave hits. I didnt see any beds or cruising fish today.

3/17/12 Guntersville. Fish are on beds in some areas, lots of 1-3lb males were sighted and caught on Saturday. They will bite a lizard or senko fished with an 1/8 or 1/16oz weight. You can cast blindly to shallow bedding areas and catch fish. If stumps are present, even better. The outside grassline bite was off for me the last two days as it appears that most fish have other things on their minds.

3/16/12 Pickwick. I had another client preparing for a tournament on Pickwick yesterday and today and we had a blast. We spent most of the first day fishing and had a very solid 20lb limit of smallmouths and a huge spot as well. We also caught plenty of stripers in the 5-8lb range. Most fish were caught on the Alabama Rig on current breaks. Pickwick is really fun right now and will be for the next few weeks. I have hooked four smallies over six pounds in the past week, landing two and losing two. Nothing pulls like those big brown fish!

3/14/12 Wheeler. I had a client preparing for an upcoming tournament today. We spent the entire day fishing shallow and had a solid day, even though we didnt stick around any areas very long. We caught fish on rattle baits, shaky heads and small crankbaits. The only place we struck out was on the Decatur Flats, no action there around the stump fields. I didnt see any spawning activity, as the water is still low and usually the fish wait until it comes up before spawning on Wheeler.

3/13/12 Smith. The water is up at Smith and the fish have moved up with it. Lots of good largemouth and spots being caught on the banks. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and shaky heads will work, as will a weightless Zoom Super Fluke. This is the best time to be at Smith. I will average 50 fish a day from now through May on Smith. If you like to catch spots, call and book a trip.

3/12/12 Pickwick. Had an awesome day on Sunday in the Top Rod Trail Tourney. I finished 3rd with 19.96lbs of smallmouth. They were not yet in bedding areas and still full of eggs. I had a 6.26 and lost one even bigger ten feet from the boat. I also had one straighten out a snap swivel on my A-Rig and lost another five pounder at the boat. I could have easily had a 27-28lb bag if things go right. I caught the fish on humps and gravel bars in the current. Other competitors also caught fish on spinnerbaits, crankbaits and A-rigs, mostly 10 feet or less.

3/10/12 Guntersville. The fish should be moving into pockets to spawn soon, but ffor now, I am still catching them in the grass. I am fishing dead grass in 3-7 feet of water, staying on the outside and throwing parallel or into the grass. The Alabama rig works if you use light weights on it, baits don’t seem to matter much. I have used all shapes and colors and they all work. I am also catching fish on a rattle bait and a crankbait in the same places.

3/4/12 Wheeler. Fished all day Saturday in the wind at Wheeler. We went to the lower end to get out of it, but made a bad decision. There was no activity deep or shallow for us anywhere, even with abundant shad on many spots. We fished the A-Rig, traps, cranks, jigs, and shaky heads with no success. Finally, we moved back up towards Decatur after lunch and got on them pretty good. Our fish were on a flat in about 1.5 feet of water. We had 13.38lbs on a crankbait and a rattlebait in about an hour, but not good enough to get a check in the Decatur Heritage Tourney. It took an amazing 25lbs to win, and 21 was second.

3/2/12 Guntersville. The water temps are into the 60′s on Guntersville, but the same patterns are working for me as before. I have heard of a few fish on the bed, but looked in some pockets this week and didnt see any bedders or cruisers. The wind has kept the water muddy in lots of main river locations as well. I am still catching fish on the outside of grasslines with the boat in 7-10 feet. Crankbaits, rattlebaits and the A-Rig all seem to work over the top of the grass. There are still some deep fish being caught on the A-Rig as well. Some fish should move up with the full moon on the 8th, but I dont expect a major wave.

2/18/12 Guntersville. I had a fun trip today with a father and son from Tennessee and we utilized the same patterns and areas from last week to have another awesome day on Guntersville. We landed 15 of the 21 fish we had hooked, and most of them were solid 3lb plus females with a best five of 23-24lbs. We again stayed outside the grasslines and used crankbaits and rattle baits in chart, red and shad colors. Fish were anywhere from 3-6 feet in thick dead hydrilla. Tim’s big fish did come on the A-rig, however.

2/09/12 Guntersville. I have had a couple of short outings on Guntersville with mixed results. Today was one of the better days of the year so far. We made a few tosses with an Alabama Rig, but all of our damage was done with a rattle bait and a crankbait. We fished outside grass lines all day and most of our fish were on the edges of the grass in 5-6 feet. They were grouped up fairly well, with 4-5 bites in each spot when we found them. For the afternoon, we had 15-20 bites, all on cranks and rattle baits. Color didnt seem to matter, we caught them on red, chart/blue, chart/black and sexy shad.

2/09/12 Smith. Over the past month the fishing has been up and down at Smith. With the recent rains, the lake is nearly full pool and lots of creeks finally have some stained water. The main lake areas are still crystal clear, however. The fish are in the normal winter patterns. In the clear water, fish a shaky head or jig in 20-30 feet, preferably around some sunken brush. In stained or muddy water the fish will be shallower, and can be caught with crankbaits, worms or jigs.  I prefer to cover water with a crankbait and stop to throw a jig at submerged wood.

12/29/11 Smith. I have been on Smith several times in December with decent results on most trips. Early in the month I caught fish on windy banks, very shallow with crankbaits and spinnerbaits. We had 13lb limits on back to back Saturdays in the Dam tourney for 1st and 2nd place finishes. Since the middle of the month, the fish seem to have gone deeper, however. I have had a couple of trips with clients learning winter patterns, and the drop shot caught good numbers of fish both times with a couple of solid 3lbers as well. I have also caught fish on jigs and shaky heads and most have been between 20-40 feet deep around brush or shad if you can find them. The crankbait and spinnerbait bite seem to be hit and miss. Water temps still holding around 52-55 degrees and the lake is remarkably clear considering the amount of rain we have had recently.

11/10/11 Smith. The water temps are in the low 60′s and the fish are still biting well on Smith. There are lots of ways to catch them right now. Crankbaits and spinnerbaits are working well, especially if there are some clouds and wind. Jigs and shakyheads are also catching fish. The fish are not deep, and you can find them on dirt and wood or shallow rock shelves.

10/15/11 Smith. A friend and I won the wildcat out of the Dam today with 15.45lbs of fat spotted bass. The fish didnt really bite that well considering the numbers that I have been catching for the past 6 weeks on the lake. Then again, 2nd place was 14lbs and 3rd was 13lbs, so the bigger fish did bite today. I had no morning topwater bite whatsoever, as we didnt catch the first of the 10 overs we caught until 9:30. The wind picked up around then and we were able to use it to our advantage with spinnerbaits and small crankbaits. I also fished last weekend at the lake and had an awesome day on Friday, catching about 16lbs doing the same thing as I did today. The wind is definitely the key right now. Last Saturday night, JB and I fished the Good Hope Baseball Night tourney from 6-2AM and expected to have a big night with the bright moon overhead. We were pretty disappointed in our six overs that weighed just 9lbs, however. We fished the spinnerbait and shaky head all night, but only small fish were biting. It took just 12lbs to win and everyone reported a tough nite for the most part. Overall, the lake is fishing great right now, as good as I have ever seen it in the fall.

10/14/11 Wheeler. Wheeler has been pounded with tourney fishermen over the past two weeks. The Fishers of Men regional was the first weekend in October and last week the lake hosted a BFL Regional. 12-15lb per day is strong and most of the reports I am hearing involve topwaters baits. I have also heard of a few decent bags being caught on a spinnerbait. I have had good luck with the spook when I have been out recently on Wheeler. There are some schoolers in pockets and on the main river some days, but they havent been consistent yet with the water temps still up in the 70s.

10/14/11 Wilson. I have been on WIlson several times in the last couple of weeks. It has been hit or miss with the early topwater bite so far, mostly due to TVA not pulling much water or none at all at daylight. When the current is right, the topwater bite is good. There are some schoolers in pockets down the lake, but they can be tough to catch. The smallmouth bite below the dam is good at times, but as usual, it depends on the current. A strong west wind hurts the drifting worse than anything, and that was the case for me Friday. We had several nice smallies and some really nice catfish but the wind forced us off the lake by 12.

10/13/11 Pickwick. The bite has been tough on Pickwick this fall, mostly due to the billions of tiny shad that currently inhabit the entire lake. There are plenty of schoolers but they are tough to catch on most days. The shad are about 1 inch long in most places, they were going through the holes in my cast net on Thursday. I had a corporate trip and we caught several bass, catfish and drum on the live bait that I was able to keep in the net. We also caught some schooling stripers and largemouth on topwaters and rooster tails.

10/11/11 Guntersville. I had an afternoon corporate outing on Guntersville on Tuesday. My guys were from walleye country, but they got a little education on frogging the mats for bass. I stayed in one huge mat all afternoon, and we had 15 blowups in 3.5 hours. They wound up landing 3 keepers and had 3 or 4 more hooked, but they pulled off in the grass. If we would have had more time I think we could have had a pretty good day as they were getting the hang of frogging. I was encouraged in the number of blowups at least after the fall has been so tough at Guntersville.

10/1/11 Guntersville. I fished the State Federation Tourney on Guntersville on Friday and Saturday. I got one day of practice in on Thursday as well. To put it mildly, it was TOUGH. It only took 20lbs to win, and that is a 2-day total. I finished 5th with 16lbs. There were 3 limits brought in on Saturday. I had several opportunities to win the tournament, but the fish that bit my buzzbait and frog were not taking it at all. I had 13 bites on top in 2 days and landed 2 fish, hooking only 3. I had to resort to a shaky head to catch 5 of the 8 that I weighed in. No one can figure out what is going on at Guntersville, the grass is healthy and abundant and there is billions of shad to eat. I think it may be too much of both, and not enough fish. Hopefully it will get better on the Big G soon..

9/26/11 Wheeler. I had two trips this week on Wheeler with tourney clients. We did a lot of riding, stopping to fish occasionally. When we did fish, they bit very well, with decent bags both days and some quality fish. We threw topwaters, spinnerbaits and crankbaits, mostly in shallow water. There was some schooling activity and the fish would bite if you were able to throw on top of them.

9/19/11 Smith.  I was back on the water today from 7-2 looking for new areas to work with the spook. It was the only rod we got out of the locker again today, there is just no reason to put it down right now. When you find the fish, it is fast and furious and there are some really good fish as well. We landed 18 over the 15 inch slot today and our best five would have been very close to 20 pounds had I landed a 5+ spot that came off on his third jump completely out of the water.  We also had a half dozen stripers and several slots and under the slot fish. The wind and clouds definitely had the bigger ones feeding aggressively today, it was by far my best day for size this fall.

9/17/11 Smith. JB and I went back to the lake on Saturday night for the Summer Series Classic. We began at 6pm, and most of the topwater activity was over with by the time we had our spooks in the water. I caught one solid spot before dark. After dark, we had an awesome spinnerbait bite going until we weighed in at 2AM. We had 9 more over the slot and 10-15 smaller fish during the course of the night. We wound up taking 2nd place with 12.31lbs. First place had all largemouths that weighed 16.31 and included a 6.26lb kicker.

9/16/11 Smith. Fished with a friend Friday from 6-3 and had another great day. We caught a total of 42 bass and 7 stripers, but it could have been even better. We had 91 blowups on our spooks, but they seemed to miss it and knock it around more today than normal. We chased stripers out in the middle of the lake for a couple of hours during the middle of the day and again they were between 4-7 pounds. We didnt really have many big bass, just lots of 14-15-16 inchers on the day.

9/14/11 Smith. Two clients and I were on the water at 6AM today armed with Zara Spooks and Spook Juniors. After some quick lessons on walking the spook, we were into fish and stayed in them until we left at 3pm. We caught doubles, triples, and one client even had a double by himself. We started off catching spots, then got into a ton of stripers in the 4-7lb range, and finally got back to catching spots in the afternoon. The Stripers were in the middle of the lake and would come up busting shad in schools of 50 or more. They were not picky about eating a spook if you could cast into them while they were splashing. We caught stripers from 8 til 12 before the wind picked up and made it hard to see them from a distance. I would guess we landed 20-30 stripers, it was so fast and furious at times, I didnt count them too well. We also had 20-30 spots, including several good overs and they were still biting when we left. Most were caught on a spook on deeper rock banks and we had a few on a buzzbait as well. It was an awesome day on the water and this pattern should be strong for the next couple of months.

9/13/11 Guntersville. I had an afternoon corporate trip out of Waterfront with two guys from Indiana. Neither of them had ever bass fished, but they learned quickly how Guntersville bass can explode on a topwater. We managed five bites for the trip in four hours, which was pretty typical of most of the boats that took part in the outing. All of our bites came on frogs and toads around grass mats. Two of them looked to be pretty nices ones, but they didnt make it to the boat. The water has warmed back up to 81 after dropping into the 70′s, but hopefully this next little cold front will get it back down and the fishing will get better.

9/12/11 Smith. I went back to the lake on Monday night with a friend. We were looking for big largemouths before dark and caught several on a crankbait and buzzbait, but not the giants we were looking for. After dark, we threw a spinnerbait exclusively under a bright full moon. It was fairly slow, with a lot of short strikes and blade hitting. We landed 10 spots on the night, with 5 of them being over the slot and nothing over 2.5lbs for the trip.

9/10/11 Smith. I fished the Alabama State Federation qualifier at Smith on Saturday. I practiced a little on Wednesday and late Friday afternoon, mostly looking around at some of the newly stained water from the rains early in the week. I found water temps from 64 to 79 degrees all week. Saturday, I stayed in the clear water all morning. I wound up with 11.70lbs, which was good for 3rd place, missing the win by less than a pound. I caught fish all morning on crankbaits, plus a few on a buzzbait. I also was able to catch some later on a crankbait, but never found the big bite I was looking for. All in all it was a great day, as I caught 9 overs and at least 30 fish on the day.

9/9/11 Guntersville. The water was back to normal level on Friday after the big rains from early in the week. Current was strong in the morning and most of the lake was a little muddy. There were a few creeks that were clearer than the main river. We looked for topwater bites for most of the morning, throwing a Gunfish and a toad around the grass lines. We wound up with 10 blowups, landing only half of them, but at least the activity seems to be picking up with the cooler water temps. We caught several more on a big worm, including our best fish, all in scattered milfoil. I didnt see any schooling, but when the water clears up, I expect the schooling bite to be getting cranked up.

8/27/11 Wilson. I went Friday and Saturday mornings to Wilson. Friday was a scouting mission for a trip on Saturday and I had an awesome trip. The current was strong and the fish were biting early. It took me almost two hours to figure out how they were positioned, but then it was on when I did. I lost a giant smallmouth, caught a 6+ largemouth, a 4+smallmouth and several other 2-3lbers in a little over an hour with a swimbait. I was looking forward to my trip on Saturday, but TVA and the north wind had other plans. The current was very light and the fish were not in the same places. We wound up with just 3 smallmouth and a few other assorted fish in the four hour trip. The water temps are still too high for the bite to be consistent, but that will all change in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I expect the bite to be inconsistent and dependent on the amount of current being generated.

8/17/11 Guntersville. The heat let up a little this week, but the fishing remains pretty tough. I was out for two full days and it was a struggle to find any feeding fish. When we did locate some, they were mostly small but were bunched up in hydrilla. I did manage a nice one on Wednesday that went 7lbs, he hit a ribbit in scattered hydrilla. We also caught a few on a buzzbait and a skinny dipper. Still no signs of any deep fish or deep bait. We looked for a frog bite over milfoil mats a lot, but never found any mats holding fish. I have heard of some fish being caught on the frog, but they are sporadic and may not bite every day.

8/13/11 Pickwick. I won the Top Rod Solo Tournament out of McFarland Park on Saturday. I caught 12 keepers before 9 o’clock with a couple of nice smallmouths in the mix. Everything I caught was on a topwater and a swimbait, and most of the action occured around schooling fish. After nine, the action slowed way down. There was only a light current running until 12pm, when it kicked up a little. We quit at 1pm, however, so I didnt benefit from the extra flow.

8/6/11 Guntersville. It is tough on Guntersville right now to say the least. The extreme heat is taking its toll on the fish and the fishermen. I went Saturday and Sunday with limited success. I had a one big one pull off on Saturday and a few small keepers but it was slow overall. I fished mostly deep structure, but the shad have deserted most of those areas and seemed to be in the middle of the river channel on top. On Sunday, I had a trip with two clients, and we wound up boating about 15 fish for the day with 3lbs being the biggest. We had one grassy area that had some feeding fish where we did most of our damage, but nothing deep again. The hydrilla is growing very well and is very thick in most shallow areas from Siebold to Goose Pond. It was hard to find milfoil in that part of the lake that hadnt been choked out by the fast growing hydrilla.

8/1/11 Smith. Fishing is typical Smith Lake summertime right now. The coming full moon should defintely help the night time bite. It has been tough without the moon lately. Before dark, I have been able to catch a few on a crankbait and a shaky head. After dark, the spinnerbait bite has been hit or miss for me and so has the worm and jig bite. Brushpiles in 15-25 feet will hold fish and I have also caught a few on deeper points and ledges. The only topwater bites I have been able to get have been small schoolers, which are not that numerous.

7/3/11 Pickwick. Fished Saturday night and Sunday morning at Pickwick. The current is the key at Pickwick right now. When it is on, the action can be fast and furious, without it, the bite is sporadic day or night. At night, fish shallow rocks with a worm, shaky head, small jig or spinnerbait. I like to stay near the Florence area at night, as there are plenty of rocks to fish around there. In the daytime, I have been fishing from Waterloo to Pickwick Dam. River Channel ledges and humps are the best bets, with the possibility of getting on some nice schools of fish. Big worms, football jigs and crankbaits will catch them on the ledges.

7/2/11 Smith. Friday night I had a trip with two clients learning the lake and night fishing at the same time. We had a good trip, fishing from 6pm til 12am. Before dark we caught several nice spots on a crankbait, including a double. I also hooked a monster striper that broke my line before we even got to tire him out. After dark, I had a 3+spot on a spinnerbait and we had several other good bites. There was a ton of traffic and no moon, and I was pleased with the action we had on the spinnerbait.

7/1/11 Guntersville. JB and I decided to fish the Brown’s Creek tourney from 5:30 to 8:30. We had some trouble getting on our best spot, we mostly watched another boat with live shiners catch fish after fish after fish. We finally were able to get some action going ourselves with a jig and swimbait, and wound up with a decent sack of three fish that weighed 11.70, but that wasnt good enough to get in the top 3 to get a check. The current was running strong and the fish were biting well the entire time.

6/25/11 Wheeler. Fished the Boeing Bass Club Hospice Benefit tourney today out of Ingalls. Almost 60 boats turned out and we wound up with 14.71lbs for 2nd place. We caught fish well from daylight until about 11AM, then it got tough. We caught them on a 3/4oz football jig, 11 inch worm and a swimbait. Most were in 6-15feet along the river channel. We had 1 over 3lbs and caught a ton of 2 1/2 and 2 3/4lb fish but never could get a kicker in the boat. It took 17 to win and big fish was 4.88 I think. We didnt see any schooling today other than a few stripe.

6/23/11 Guntersville. Rex and I fished the Thursday night 3 fish tourney out of Brown’s Creek from 5:30 to 8:30. The wind was howling the entire time which made it tough to hold the boat on the ledges. Rex jumped a 6lber off on our first stop on a crankbait and I caught a decent one on a jig. We finally got into a few on our last stop and wound up with three that weighed 9.35, which took second place. It took 9.60 to win. We caught them on the river channel with a football jig and swimbait in 17-20 feet.

6/20/11 Pickwick. I have yet to see much grass on Pickwick, but the fishing is still very good on most days. Fish are schooled up on offshore ledges when you find them. They will eat a crankbait, spoon, jig or big worm. The current has been running more in the afternoons, resulting in a better late bite than early bite, but we have still had decent days when there was very little current running.

6/20/11 Guntersville. The bite has been strong at Guntersville on most days. There are still fish in the grass that will bite a topwater, swimbait or worm. I have spent most of my time on the ledges, fishing 10-20 feet deep with a football jig, spoon, and big worm. I have also been able to find some nice schooling action on the days the wind isnt blowing. We are catching lots of 2-3lb fish with some 4s and 5s mixed in every day.

6/20/11 Smith. Unfortunately, it seems like the red hot topwater bite is over at Smith. My last three trips have only resulted in 10-20 blowups on the spook after getting 40-50 the week before. This usually happens in the summertime, and the topwater bite actually stretched out into June this year a little longer than normal. If you can stand the heat, fish can still be caught on a shaky head in 20-30feet during the daytime. Evenings and mornings will result in more active fish that can be caught on crankbaits, topwater, jigs and worms. The night bite has been pretty standard for Smith when I have been. I have caught them in 15-25 feet on a 1/2 oz black spinnerbait and a shaky head. Location is key to catching them at night.

6/12/11 Wheeler. The bass at Wheeler are into their summer patterns. Current flow has been light, but the fish have been feeding well early and late. On days with more current, the bite will last all day. The river channel and shallow areas on the Decatur flats have been the most productive areas. Fish have been schooling on the flats sporadically on calm days. The best baits to catch them are football jigs, crankbaits and worm with a topwater or swimbait catching some when they are chasing bait.

6/10/11 Guntersville. The fishing seems to be the best it has been all year on Guntersville despite the pressure. There are still fish in the grass that can be caught on Skinny Dipper type swimbaits or topwaters such as pop-Rs, chug bugs or buzzbaits. There are also plenty of fish deep on the ledges and shellbeds. A spoon, worm, jig or crankbait will catch those fish and the more current the better they bite. I have also found some nice schooling action lately. The fish are eating big gizzard shad and will crush a spook if cast to the boils. Today was some of the most aggressive strikes I have seen on topwater in a long time, and it is a blast to catch them on top.

6/9/11 Smith. Nothing has changed on Smith for me.. I am still smoking them on topwater in the mornings and most evenings as well. Some sporadic schooling is taking place, but you dont need it to catch them. I am fishing with one rod on most days, throwing the super spook all morning. Fish can also be caught on worms, flukes and crankbaits, but nothing is as fun as watching them blow up on your spook. There are some stripers mixed in each day as well, ranging in size from 5-25lbs. Today was my best day yet, with a best five weighing 16-17lbs and getting 55 blowups and catching 38 fish from 5AM til 11:30AM. The weekends are tougher than weekdays with all the boat traffic, we didnt have any topwater bites last Saturday evening after getting them Friday from 6:30 til dark. The night bite is average, but should be getting much better with the full moon approaching. We caught fish on worms and spinnerbaits in 5-15 feet of water last weekend after dark.

5/29-30 Smith. The topwater bite continues to sizzle on Smith. Mornings are best from 5AM to 7 or 8, depending on the day. There is some schooling, but not giant schools that stay on top for long periods of time. Most places I have been catching them have been in open water near long points, and there will be one or two swirls every so often. You dont have to have see any surface activity to catch them, however. A super spook is the only thing I am throwing on most days, and I have been catching stripers as well as spots. Sunday, Rex and I had 3 stripers over 15lbs and numerous spots before the jetskis and skiers woke up. Monday, JB and I fished the Memorial Day tournament out of the park from 5-10AM. We caught 15 spots over the slot and 5 stripers, plus numerous slots and smaller spotted bass. We ended the day with a 6.10lb largemouth to take big fish and win the tournament with 15.82lbs.

5/28/11 Wheeler. I fished the Top Rod Solo Tournament out of Mallard Creek today and finished 2nd with 12lbs. The winner had a solid bag of 17lbs and most contestants had around 9lbs. Fishing was tough for the most part. The fish seem to be in the transition phase between spawn and summer patterns, and there are very few places to catch good fish right now. It should pick up soon, however, with the days getting hotter and the water temps getting above 80. I caught my fish from 4-15feet on a variety of baits including a swimbait, football jig, shaky head and texas rig worm.

5/21/11 Smith. The topwater bite is pretty good in the mornings with a Super Spook. The key is to cover lots of water, mostly fishing points and looking for any schooling activity you can find. There are a few striper schools out there in the main lake, but I havent seen a lot of spots schooling together yet. Most of the time its just one or two swirls, but a well placed cast will usually get your spook demolished. We had nearly 12lbs of spots in the Holly pond tourney on Saturday, good enough for 4th place. All were caught in the first two hours on a Super Spook. The water is really clearing up, and the fish are moving off the bank as a result. Lots of skiers and jetskis on the water Saturday as well, so be careful on the weekends. During the week is the best time to go, and early mornings and late afternoons til dark will result in the best fishing.

5/17/11 Wilson.  Had an afternoon trip with a corporate group on Wilson. The fishing was very tough for the entire group. Most of the group were not experienced fishermen, so the guides tried to keep it simple, fishing weedbeds and shallow and noone reported much success. My group had a couple of nice fish on a shaky head and several more bites. We wound up at the dam with the stripe schooling and all three boats that were up there had good action with topwaters and crankbaits on the schooling stripe.

5/14/11 Wheeler. David and I fished the AFS and the FCA tourneys on Wheeler on Saturday. I didnt get to fish much on Wheeler this week, but David went out a few days. The water stayed about a foot down all week, but we still thought we could catch enough in the bushes and grass to do well. We flipped, threw a pop-R and a trick worm all morning with nothing but 2-pound fish to show for it. We probably caught 40 on the day, which was a lot of fun, but doesnt win a tournament. We tried to get out on the river channel later, but the stiff west wind made it tough to hold on a spot. It took 15lbs to win the tournaments and there were several 12-13lb bags. Spinnerbaits and crankbaits were the best baits according to the dock talk afterwards.

5/12-13/11 Smith. I had a two-day trip on Smith with a couple of clients from the Madison area. We had a lot of fun although neither of them had bass fished in 15+ years. We caught the majority of our fish on topwaters on both days with some shaky head spotted bass and some  largemouth on spinnerbaits thrown in as well. I was surprised that we didnt see much schooling action either day, but fish still hit a Super Spook and a fluke fished fast over points. We had a couple of places that we caught stripers as well as spots and one client hooked, fought and lost a monster striper on Friday. We had tons of bites both days and landed 40-50 each day. The cool nights this week should lower the water temps from a high of 86 on Thursday but it wont hurt the bite at all. I expect a few more weeks of great fishing on Smith.

5/11/11 Guntersville. I fished Wednesday afternoon as part of a large corporate trip on Guntersville. We had non stop action while we were out, catching fish from 1-20 feet. Our best five went about 16lbs. We caught them super shallow on ribbits, shallow on soft pastics and deep on a football jig. I’ll be on Guntersville a lot more in coming days, with the topwater bite and the deep bite getting into full swing. Last year my clients and I had a lot of fun in late May and June and I expect it to be great again this year.

5/8/11 Wheeler. Wheeler is picking up right now, except for the days that TVA drops the water overnight. That was the case on Sunday, leaving the grassbeds and most of the buckbushes high and dry. I saw a couple of fish on bed, but the water was too stained in most places to even look. At full pool, fish will bite ribbits, spinnerbaits, swimming jigs and swimbaits around grass and shallow wood. The bite downriver is also picking up, with the shakyhead worm catching some decent largemouths today.

5/7/11 Smith. The water is dropping fast on Smith, leaving the bushes and trees I had been fishing with very little water on them. You really had to look hard to find cover with enough water on it to fish this weekend. If we did find the right stuff, the fish were there to be caught. Texas rig craws and worms have been working best when fishing for largemouths. The spots are also finishing up the spawn and have begun feeding. We caught several on Friday and Saturday on a Spook. The spots will also eat a shaky head worm fished in 5-15 feet of water, mostly around rocky banks. Fishing remains terrific on Smith with 30-40 fish per day being the norm and some big fish showing up as well. We had a 6.02 largemouth on Saturday and 14.25lbs to win first place in the Arley American Legion Tournament.

5/1/11 Smith. Fishing remains great for Smith Lake. I got out for a couple of hours on Friday and all day on Saturday. We targeted largemouths mostly on both days and caught some nice ones. We had one four pounder on Friday and one almost five on Saturday plus numerous 2-3lbers. All largemouths were spawned out and caught flipping bushes and trees with a texas-rig craws or throwing a Pop-R in the same areas. We also had success with a shaky head when targeting spots. We caught spots in shallow rocky areas. We had about 20 fish on Friday in three hours and 45-50 in eight hours on Saturday. The topwater bite is about to get really good on Smith and nothing beats big bass blowing up your bait on top. I have a special Smith Lake rate of $250 for eight hours in May.

4/23/11 Guntersville. Had a trip with one client just getting started bass fishing today on Guntersville. The wind made it tough and the water dropping probably didnt help much either. We landed 12-15 bass and missed or lost at least that many more. We were throwing soft plastics early in spawning areas and that accounted for most of our fish. We also caught/lost a few on a crankbait and at the end of the day we targeted bank grass with a ribbit. He had eight blowups on the ribbit and got three of them to the boat. Water is still stained for Guntersville, and there was plenty of current.

4/22/11 Wheeler. I had a trip on the lower end of Wheeler yet and it was tough to say the least. It seems like the lower end is behind schedule, especially compared to the area around Decatur. It fished much like Wilson did last week, the fish just havent moved up yet. We only boated 1o and had a few more bites. The fish we did catch were still full of eggs and were caught on soft plastics in shallow water. I would expect the lower end to turn on soon, but for now, my advice would be to fish the midlake area. Fish are being caught flipping bushes and on the banks on spinnerbaits and soft plastics around Decatur.

4/19/11 Smith. Water back up over full pool after the weekend rains and it has more stain than usual in most places. It should clear up by the weekend however. We caught 35 today, most of them 15-17 inch keepers with more largemouth than usual. The largemouth we caught were all on topwater and all were spawned out females. All of them were around flooded bushes and trees. Our spots were caught shallow as well, mostly on a shakyhead. They were on points, and shallow ledges. The full blown topwater bite is just around the corner as most fish are coming off the bed and will be looking to feed.

4/17/11 Wilson. Fished the Top Rod Tourney today on Wilson and it was tough on everyone. The fish on Wilson have still not moved up. There are a few fish shallow, but not many, as I spent 3 hours looking and pitching to shallow cover without a bite. The current was very strong, with 15 spillgates open at the end of the day and the turbines running strong all day as well. There were a surprising number of fish schooling on shad out in the middle of pockets in 30-40 feet of water. With the water temps at 65 and it being the middle of April, the fish should be moving up any day now, but bring a jerkbait just in case they come up out in the middle of pockets.

4/16/11 Wheeler. The fishing at Wheeler seems to be pretty good despite the heavy current and muddy water. Fish are up shallow around rock, wood, grass and bushes. They are biting just about anything right now as well. Plastics, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and jigs will catch fish, just cover water til you find them. We caught 40 or so today, but didnt get around any big ones.

4/10/11 Guntersville. Water temps were up to 68 today in most places. It has also cleared up finally in lots of places, but not as clear as normal years. I didnt see anywhere today that you could have sight fished any deeper than 2 feet unlike most years where 4-5 feet is possible. There are some fish spawning and others are close, but the massive wave looks to be just around the corner. With the full moon approaching, it should be any day this week. We had lots of males and smaller females today in the shallows, all on soft plastics. Lizards, Senkos, brush hogs, and craws will all catch them right now, Texas rig it with a 1/16 or 3/32 oz weight on 15lb line and. Color doesnt seem to matter, I used all sorts of green pumpkin/watermelon colors today.

4/7/11 Smith. Had another fun day on Smith today. We had basically the same day that I did on Saturday, catching 30+ fish with about half being overs and lots of 2-3lb spots. The wind hampered us in some places, but only because we didnt want to fight it. It really seems that you can catch them anyway you want on Smith right now. If you want to throw a spinnerbait in dirty water, you can catch fish that way. If you want to finesse them in clear water, you can. If you want to throw a fluke or jerkbait, you will catch them. I havent cranked much, but I feel pretty sure you can catch them well with a crankbait right now as well. I have mostly been tailoring my trips to whatever my guests have wanted to do and have had no trouble catching fish under any weather and water conditions in the last few weeks.

4/2/11 Smith. Fished an open tourney out of the Dam on Saturday. The water temps have dropped into the high 50′s, but warmed to low 60′s by the end of the day. The cold slowed the bite down a little bit, but we still had a great day. Our numbers were down, partly because we fished more for big fish and partly because the fish were not quite as active. We caught 30 for the day, but 16 were over the slot limit. Unfortunately, we never caught any big ones, most were 2 and 2.5 lbers. Our best five weighed 11.56, which was just out of the money. Five places were paid and 12 something was fifth with 15 winning. The warm days on Sunday and Monday should get the temps back up and the cold day on Tuesday shouldnt hurt much. The rest of this week will see more warm temps, so the fishing should explode again in the coming week. Shaky heads were our best bait on Saturday, with the topwater bite slower than it has been. We did still catch all our fish in 10 feet or less, however.

3/29/11 Smith. The fishing remains fantastic on Smith, possibly as good as I have ever seen it. Lots of fish are up shallow, but not too many are actually on beds. The lake is slightly over full pool, so there is pleny of cover in the form of bushes and trees in the water for the fish to get around. Water color ranges from muddy to stained to clear depending on what part of the lake you are in and the temps are 60-63. I have been catching fish everywhere, in lots of different areas of the lake. The same baits are working in the different color water as well. I have been catching them on shaky heads, spinnerbaits, flukes and a few on topwater. Everything has been between 1-10 feet. In my last three trips, I have had between 45-88 fish landed, with some very nice four pound spots.

3/26/11 Pickwick. Water temps were 58-60 today with a decent stain on the upriver part of Pickwick. Water was low, but will be rising after today’s heavy rain. Fish were not very active, but still biting decent. Fish will bite crankbaits, spinnerbaits, shaky heads and jigs, mostly around shallow rock banks and points. Look for current breaks and eddies.

3/22/11 Smith. The fish seem to be up everywhere on Smith. Water temp was 67 everywhere, and some parts of the lake have a good stain to them. You can probably catch fish on anything you want right now on the Lake, just match the water color to your technique and stay shallow. We caught fish yesterday on spinnerbaits, shaky heads and flukes, all tossed to the bank. There is lots of cover in the water with the levels over full pool, vines, bushes, trees, trash, etc. Pitching a jig around will get fewer bites, but probably a few bigger ones. Use a 1/8oz shaky head with a finesse worm or smallie beaver as well around any type of cover in 8 feet or less.

3/22/11 Guntersville. Conditions are changing daily at Guntersville. One day the water is up, the next it is down. Temps get up to 67, then back to 60. The fishing remains good on most days, challenging on others. It doesnt look like we will have the mass movement to the spawning areas this year like we did last year. Last year, the water stayed cold most of March, then warmed quickly in April and all the fish seemed to come to the bank at once. This year there are some fish up in places, but its not all over the lake and full on like it was last year. I had been strictly fishing moving baits, but now I am mixing in some plastics as well, and will eventually go to plastics the majority of the time in the next few days. Lizards, Brush Hogs, Senkos, etc.. in mostly green pumpkins and june bug. Look for grass and stumps in five feet or less.

3/10/11 Guntersville. I have been having some solid days on Guntersville this spring. Before the floods, the bite was getting better and better as the water temps reached 60 in some places. The rattlebait and a crankbait have been my go to baits. I have been mixing it up between red, royal shad and chartruese/black back depending on the water clarity. Some days the rattle trap has been the best producer and other days it has been the crankbait (KVD 1.5 or RC 1.5). I have mostly been fishing upriver, although today the downriver bite was solid. The recent rain and cold weather has the river channel muddy and the temps have dropped into the upper 40s. There are still some fish holding in the same areas as last week, however. The keys are to find some green grass growing among the dead stalks of grass or irregular places such as underwater grass points on a straight line of grass. I have had my best luck on the outside of the grass lines in 5-6 feet, with some occasional forays into shallow water(1-2 feet)resulting in some fish as well. I have been tossing a 1/4oz trap when I go shallow and a 1/2 or 3/4 oz on the outside grass. Most days have resulted in 15-25 bites and a best five of 15-19lbs. I didnt get into the Everstart tourney and gave a friend a couple of spots that he used for a top 20 finish. I think the only day I didnt catch them well was in the last solo trail tourney..lol.. thats the way it always goes though… Today we had three fish over five pounds and could have had a big bag had we stayed on the fish, but my clients were preparing for a tournament and we didnt want to soremouth any more of them.

3/10/11 Smith. Recent rains have the lake 3 feet over full pool. I havent been since the flood, but I love it when the lake is overfull this time of year. Crankbaits on dirt banks will catch them in the stained water and of course the bite in the backs of pockets is awesome as well. I had been crappie fishing a couple of times just before the rains and the crappie were definitely biting.  A 30 fish limit was easy to get and when the lake settles back down, the crappie will again bite well. I can do crappie trips or bass/crappie trips if you want some great eating fish to take home. Nothing is as good as Smith Lake Crappie in the frying pan!

2/13/11 Guntersville. Had a half day trip on Guntersville on Sunday. Felt good to have the sun bearing down for a change and temps got up into the 60′s. Unfortunately, the wind got up to 15-20mph as well, but still a good day on the ol pond. We finished with 19 bass caught, plus 2 shellcracker that got too close to our rattle traps. Most of our fish were chunky keepers, with no giants today. All fish were caught on a rayburn red rattle trap, wound slowly over scattered milfoil in 2 or 3 feet of water. We stayed in protected creeks all day and never fished on the river channel. These areas should really shine later in the week after another day or two of sunshine. I have days open this week if you would like a trip..

1/30/11 Smith. With the sun out for the past few days, I expected to find a good crankbait bite today, but the jig bite turned out even better. We had two nice largemouth on the jig around wood cover and a few nice spots in deeper water on a jig. We also caught a couple on a jerkbait and a few on a crankbait as well. Fish were caught from 2 to 25 feet deep and the ones on the jerkbait were suspended over 70 feet of the ends of points.

1/28/11 Guntersville. The fishing can be hit or miss on Guntersville right now, but when it is on it can be great. It looks like this will be a much better early spring for rattlebaits than last year. Last year’s grass is plentiful and still standing in most places. Dead grass will hold some fish, but new growth seems to be better if you can find it. I found a few fish today, and they were in groups when you found them. Today they preferred a red XR50 over any other types and colors of rattlebaits I threw. All fish were in about 5 feet of water.

1/15/11 Smith. I won the solo trail tourney out of Smith Lake Dam with 3 fish that weighed 9.40 and had a 4.11 spot for big fish. The water was still muddy in most creeks, but the normal crystal clear anywhere near the dam. The creeks have cleared up now, however, for the most part. I actually saw some schooling fish on Friday and Saturday, and these will hit a spook if they come up within casting distance. The wintertime patterns are in full swing with the water temps around 45 degrees. Most fish are going to be in 20-30 feet around brush, and a 1/2 oz jig is your best bet for quality bites. A shakyhead will also catch some fish during the day and if you find suspended fish on your graph, they will hit a dropshot. Finally, crankbaits can be my favorite lure during the winter time if the conditions are right. I caught my two biggest fish Saturday on a crankbait plus several slot fish.

1/1/11 Smith. Fished two days at Smith before the rains came. Spent the majority of time throwing a 1/2oz tightlines jig in brown craw with zoom trailer in 15-25 feet, mostly around brush piles. I caught 10-12 each day on the jig most around 14-16 inchers. On Thursday, we also caught 20-25 on a 1/2oz spoon. The spoon fish were in 22-25 feet, and you didnt always have to see one on the graph to catch them. Points were best for the spoon fish, and most were 13-15 inches. Will be getting out this week to see how much the lake came up and how much the heavy rains affects the fishing.

 

12/26/10 Smith. Temps at Smith have dropped to the low 50′s, high 40′s and the jig bite was on the day before Christmas. I have been to Smith a few times in December with a wide variety of results. The crankbait bite has been decent at times, as has the spoon bite and there are always a few fish to be caught on a shaky head. I got out for the afternoon of Christmas Eve and fished a jig exclusively. I caught 10 solid fish in 3 hours, all on a 1/2 ounce tightlines jig in brown craw with a watermelon zoom trailer. Most were in 20-25 feet around brush, but I also caught a couple in 5 feet or less. The jig bite should be consistent from now through February, mostly deep unless there are a few sunny days in a row, then the crankbait comes back into play.

11/23/10 Smith. Took advantage of the warm temps for some night fishing at Smith last night under a full moon. The fishing was pretty good, as we caught close to 30 with a solid best five of 13lbs. I had hoped to catch them on a spinnerbait, but they weren’t taking it well and we only hooked 3 of the 12 bites we got on the blade. The shaky head was a different story, however, as we caught them everytime we went back to it until we finally just stuck with it. Fish were super shallow and we used 1/8 shaky heads with black finesse worms. The daytime bite is basically two different things for me right now. I can call up suspended fish with a spook and have action all day with some sporadic schooling as well. Fish can also be caught from 15-30 feet on shaky heads or spoons, but they tend to be smaller for the most part.

11/14/10 Wheeler. The fishing remains tough on Wheeler. On Sunday, I took part in the Wounded Warriors event with 30 other boats. There was only 2 or 3 fish weighed in over 3lbs in 6 hours of fishing. One boat had a double digit stringer, 2nd place was 9 and I finished third with 8lbs. Plenty of small fish biting as well as small stripe, but thats about it. I caught lots of fish on the day on a spook, spoon, crankbait and slow rolling a spinnerbait in 20 feet of water.

11/13/10 Smith.  Fishing can be tough to great on Smith right now, depending on the day. There are days where the fish school like crazy, both stripers and spotted bass, although not usually in the same places. On other days there is no schooling action at all. Fish can be caught on a spoon or shaky head when they are not schooling. I have also had some great action on a spook in the main lake on days with no schooling occuring. It seems as if most fish are suspended in 15-20 feet over deep water or on the bottom in 15-30 feet. I cannot find a crankbait bite at all. These patterns should hold up as long as the weather remains relatively warm.

10/22/10 Wilson. I had an incredible trip today, with my client catching a 20lb bag on top in the first hour. I had one five pounder as well and we had numerous 2-3lb fish, both brown and green. The live bait bite is still good, with at least 10-15 smallies on each trip, with some days much better than that depending on the current. TVA has completed their work on the power lines, so the entire area is open below Wheeler Dam with the workers and helicopters gone.

10/21/10 Pickwick. The bite on Pickwick is probably the best on the Tennessee River right now. I had two solid mornings of 20+ fish on topwaters, catching both smallies and largemouths. The fish came from rocky places as well as grassy areas downlake. There are still some deeper fish on the River ledges as well if you can find the right area with the current flowing. I hear the night bite is also excellent right now with the approaching full moon, although I havent been out after dark. Spinnerbaits tossed into shallow rocks have been the ticket.

10/17/10 Wilson. The fishing on Wilson is terrific for the first hour, then tough the rest of the day for largemouths. Topwater baits are still producing some solid fish in certain areas on most days. After 9pm, the bite toughens as the lake is absolutely full of shad and the fish quit their morning feed. Drifting live bait below the dam  for smallmouth is good to great for numbers depending on the amount of current. When TVA runs more than one turbine, the action is fast and furious. Size has been great for me, with two or three 4lb plus smallmouth on each trip regardless of the amount of current. PLEASE keep the catfish if you want some fish to eat, not the smallmouth. It kills me to see people throwing 4 and 5 lbs smallies into a cooler. Take a pic and release so this fishery can continue to exist!

10/17/10 Wheeler. Wheeler still tough as nails, I’m guessing due to the higher than usual water temps. Temps still in the mid 70′s, but slowly dropping. The shad are in huge groups, mostly still in open water, however, and not on the flats and backs of pockets where most schooling occurs. As a result, most of the bass seem to be suspended and not very catchable. Everyone I have spoken with that has fished the lake in the past two weeks reports very tough fishing. I keep thinking that the fall schooling bite will eventually get here, and hopefully it will soon.

10/10/10 Wilson. Two trips to Wilson were phenomenal this week. The shad are schooled up and the fish are feeding up on them bigtime. A small spook or popper will catch them while they bust the baitfish on the surface. Early morning is clearly the best bite, and it gets tougher in midday hours. Smallmouth are biting live bait well in the tailrace as well. Most are small, but an occasional big one bites as well.

10/5/10 Guntersville Fishing still fair at the Big G. Some fish are being caught around grass mats on various baits. Small crankbaits, spinnerbaits, swimbaits and toads will catch them throughout the day. A black ribbit has been the best producer for me lately. I also caught some fish deep on the river ledge with a shaky head while the current was running strong. Very few milfoil mats left in the midlake area for frogging, the hydrilla has just about taken over most places there was milfoil all summer.

9/30/10 Wheeler.  Water temp only reached a high of 76 today on Wheeler and the shad and fish are moving up. We caught 25-30 on the day, mostly small fish with about half being keepers. The spinnerbait was our best producer for the day, a 1/2 ounce War Eagle Screaming Eagle in spot remover. We also caught several on a small crankbait. Fish were anywhere from 1-10 feet. There was minimal schooling, but we did see many large groups of shad. Next week should be non-stop action on Wheeler.

9/29/10 Guntersville. Water temps are finally falling, starting at 72 in the morning and reaching 82 in the afternoon. The fishing was slow early, but heated up around lunch. We had a few fish around the grass mats on a buzzbait, crankbait, spinnerbait and skinny dipper early. Then we fished some milfoil mats for a few frog bites, catching 4. At noon, we found fish schooling well along the river channel. The Lucky Craft Gunfish was the best bet for the schoolers, which ranged from 1-3lbs. Fishing should only get better as the temps continue to fall.

9/16/10 Guntersville.  The water temps are back to 85 at Guntersville and we didnt see much activity today due to the wind. Bites were hard to come by but we managed a few on a frog and horny toad around the grass mats in the midlake area. There are a lot of places with huge mats of hydrilla now, some in places that was nothing but milfoil in the summer. The hydrilla may have had a late start this year, but it has definitely grown wild in the past month or so. The edges of these mats were our best spots for the day.

9/15/10 Wheeler.  We had high hopes today for Wheeler but it is probably another few days before the fall patterns really get going. Shad are schooled up well, but most are in open water and away from the banks. We managed a few fish out of the schoolers, but like on Smith yesterday, they were pretty picky and didnt stay up aslong. We did catch a few smallmouth on topwater on shady banks in super shallow water.  The fishhead spin also produced a few fish in those same places.

9/14/10 Smith. Saw plenty of schoolers today, mostly slots and unders with an occasional bigger fish coming up. Most were in open water and they were eating tiny one inch shad. Matching the hatch with a topwater or crankbait is almost impossible, I had better luck just throwing a clear, regular size spook in the areas they came up in. The better fish I caught today were along rocky banks and points in 10 feet or less with the spook and crankbait. The bright sun didnt seem to hurt at all to my surprise as the fish were feeding well. Most were fat and healthy.

9/4/10 Guntersville. Fished Sunday amongst the skiers and jetskiers enjoying the last summer holiday. It was tough most of the day, although we had a few bites early on a frog and buzzbait. There are lots of nice looking milfoil mats to drag a frog across. Many of our bites were half-hearted attempts where the fish didnt even take the frog under. The frog fishing outlook is terrific, however, with the mats in good shape and plentiful.

9/3/10 Pickwick.  Water temps are cooling down and the shad are plentiful. Saw many big schools of shad and some activity, but it should get much better in the next couple of weeks. Topwaters and small swimbaits worked best around schooling fish. Did not get down river to the grass, but looking forward to going again soon and targeting the grass. The fish will be moving up by the droves with the temps dropping.

8/28/10 Smith. Fished the benefit tournament out of the park last night from 6PM-2AM. We finished second, AGAIN, with 10.95lbs. It only took 11.43 to win as the bite was tough after dark, even with the moon full this week. Before dark the bite was on, just as it had been earlier in the week. We caught 15-20 fish before dark, mostly slot fish on worms and crankbaits with one over. We also lost two more overs that would have been the difference between winning and finishing second. After dark we had four more overs, all in less than 10 feet of water on spinnerbaits and worms. The fishing is definitely getting better at Smith as the water slowly starts to cool down from 91-92 degrees.

8/14-21/10 Guntersville. With the milfoil topping out in many areas, the frog bite is turning on at Guntersville. Look for solid mats of milfoil and work a snag-proof or spro frog across it for the most fun you can have with a rod and reel. I have been getting 10-15 blow ups per trip and it should only get better. It seems that most of the deeper schools are gone, with the grass being the best areas to target right now. Fish the scattered grass with a popper, fluke or worm, and also flip the clumps and mats with a heavy weight.

7/23/10 Guntersville. Had a trip with father and son on Friday at Guntersville and was shocked at the lack of activity. No schoolers to be found anywhere and the ledge bite was nothing like it had been. We managed a few fish here and there but never found them schooled up shallow or deep. There was a huge tournament going on and the boats we ran across all reported tough days. Seems like the better fish are hunkered down in thick hydrilla and milfoil right now to get away from the 100 degree heat.

7/22/10 Smith. In two night trips on Smith the evening bite was very good again but the night time bite wasnt what I had hoped for. We caught them before dark on a shakyhead worm and a crankbait well. After dark, the spinnerbait bite was sporadic. Wednesday Night we caught five on our first stop after dark, then had just a few bites the rest of the night. Thursday night we fished til midnight and had 5or 6 bites on the blade. We probably could have done better with worms or jigs, but we were looking for spinnerbait bites specifically.

7/21/10 Wheeler. Fished one morning and two evenings this week on Wheeler and the heat seems to be taking its toll on the fishing. The hybrid stripe are schooling well on the flats, with a few largemouth mixed in. Topwaters are the best baits for stripe, and football jigs under the schoolers for largemouth. The river channel bite was off for me and most of my friends that were out this week as well. We did manage a few fish again on a 3/4 Tight Lines Football Jig with a paca chunk or rage chunk trailer.

7/17/10 Smith. We fished from 6pm-2am on Saturday  night. We found fish before dark in 15-20 feet on a shakyhead with a watermelon red trick worm and a football jig. Boat traffic was heavy and we did not catch our usual fish or two on topwater. After dark, the spinnerbait and shaky head produced a few fish. We had six over the slot including a 5.7 largemouth and 15.62lbs for our best five to finish second in the Cullman Firefighter’s Tournament.  Fish were in or near brushpiles from 15-25 feet with a couple of decent spots caught right on the bank.

7/12/10 Guntersville. Fished from 6pm til 12pm on Monday night with a friend on Guntersville. We had some unreal action before dark, finding two solid schools of fish in 15-20 feet of water. We caught them on a swimbait with a 3/4 oz jig head and an 11-inch worm. Just before the sun went down we went to a grassline and caught a few more on a rage toad over the top of the milfoil. We felt like we could have fished grass from the time we got there and caught fish if we had wanted too. After dark we looked for some buzzbait bites  around the grass but the fish did not cooperate. There were some tremendous willowfly hatches around the waterfront area last night. We finally got a couple of bites on a big worm and a spinnerbait before heading home.

7/11/10 Smith. Reports of schooling getting more prevalent on Smith. Topwaters will catch a few while they are chasing shad on top. The night bite was good this past week as well on the usual stuff, shakyheads, jigs and spinnerbaits.

7/11/10 Wheeler. Was out several days this past week on Wheeler and found the same patterns holding up. Fish are still grouped together when you find them. Football jigs, 11-inch worms and swimbaits will catch them on the Decatur Flats and along the river channel. Some schooling action also present at times. Fish seem to bite best early and late, as expected during the dog days of summer.

7/3/10 Wilson. Fishing is slowing up on Wilson but some fish are still being caught. The tailrace area can be productive but down lake, the fish are extremely deep. Big worms in 35-50 feet of water are catching some nice fish during the day. Look for ledges and drop offs in that range.

7/3/10 Wheeler. Fishing remains good at Wheeler for the most part. Fish are away from the banks on ledges, shellbeds and drop offs and are usually in groups. The bite seems to be best early and late in the day. Football Jigs, shaky heads and big worms are still the best bet to catch these fish.

6/25/26. Smith. Fished Friday and Saturday Night at Smith. Fish bit well under the bright full moon. Best baits were shaky head with a black zoom trick worm and a black 1/2 oz War Eagle Spinnerbait. Fish are still surprisingly shallow for late June and 91 degree water temps. We caught nothing deeper than 20 ft. The evening bite is also good on topwater and shaky heads with watermelon trick worms.

6/22/10 Wheeler. Fished the Tuesday night tourney out on Ingalls. Rex and I had 13.40 and a 7.09 big fish, which was good for third place and lunker. It took 16 to win and 14 for 2nd place. The bite wasn’t quite as strong for me as it was on Monday, but the fishing remains good on the ledges. The jig was better than the worm today for us with strong current again late in the evening. Willowflies were hatching in Decatur area tonight as well.

6/21/10 Wheeler. Got out today with wife and oldest daughter from 6-8pm. Had a blast on the river channel ledge with 10-inch woms and shakyheads as the current was strong and the fish were biting. Keep your boat in 20 ft right off the ledge and throw upstream onto the 6-8 foot ledges. Color doesnt seem to matter, fish were caught on watermelon red, june bug and green pumpkin. Appears the willowfly hatch is over with as clients didnt see any on Saturday where there had been thousands when we fished earlier last week.

6/19/10 Guntersville. Fishing was good again on the Big G, but the size was not there for us today in a small tourney. The Saturday crowds kept us off a couple of schools, and the unreal thunderstorm had us seeking shelter for an hour. Still fish to be caught in the grass on worms and swimbaits as well as flipping. The deeper fish seem to be moving around a little bit, and most schools are being pounded by anglers so they are only lasting about a week or two unless you find one that is not easy to find. Football jigs still the best bait for me.

6/14-17 Wheeler. Fishing is good at Wheeler, especially early and late. Willowflies are hatching and there is plenty of topwater action around the hatches. Small pop-R seems to be working best. On the deepr humps and ledges, the bite is also strong. Shellbeds and river channel ledges are holding good fish on 10-inch worms and 3/4 oz. football head jigs.

6/5/10. Smith. Fished Logan Fire Dept. tourney on Sat night out of the park as well as the Tuesday and previous Saturday nighters out of the Dam. We won out of the Dam on Saturday night with 12lbs, finished 4th on Tuesday night with 10.2 and didnt place in the Logan Tourney. Last Saturday we caught many fish after dark on a worm and spinnerbait to win, but by Tuesday, the downside of the full moon had eliminated the night time bite. Evening fishing is very good on topwater, swimbait and crankbaits, and the nighttime fishing should improve again as the moon phase changes.

6/4/10. Guntersville. Fished with a couple of friends today and it was awesome again. Had 100 bites for the day, most coming on a swimbait or football jig. Fish were caught from 5-35 ft deep on structure. We did not fish the grass much, but caught a few flipping when we did. Our best five went 27 pounds and our next best five went 22 or 23. Fish are grouped up when you find them deep.

5/28/10. Guntersville. Fishing is still incredible at the Big G. 50-100 bites a day this week every day I was out. Fish were caught early in the grass on top and swimbaits and later on the ledges. Football Jigs were better than crankbaits or worms for the deep bite. There were many fish present when you found them deep, they are really schooled up.   The grass bite is good all day as long as it isnt slick, sunny and no current. Some fish are still dirt shallow, even heard of frog fish being caught on the banks.

Wheeler. Fishing improving on Wheeler as the fish get out to their summer haunts. Still a few in the bank grass early when the water is high, but most concentrations are on humps and ledges and they have been biting. Football Jigs again are the top choice for deep baits, with a few Carolina Rig and Crankbait fish being caught as well.

Smith. Topwater bite has been good early and late with some schooling activity. After the sun gets up, stick with shaky heads and jigs until it starts to go down again. Right before dark the activity increases again with topwaters and crankbaits being the best bets. After dark the bite is strong as well with shaky heads and spinnerbaits.