By Eileen Davis

Bass: Weiss Lake

Weiss Lake offers exceptional bass fishing, with shallow-water flats, submerged timber, bridges, and stake beds. To find fish, Brian Shook says it’s essential to spend time learning the lake by reading electronic maps and watching sonar. Shook’s ideal offshore spot is where the river channel meets a shallow flat that holds cover or some type of structure that forms a current break, and where baitfish are present.

To find offshore fish holding structure, Shook recommends use side scan sonar to search the river and creek channels from Little River Marina to Cowan and Spring creeks. This pattern is effective from May through August.

Depending on the depth of the bottom, Shook prefers to cast crankbaits or football jigs, which he rigs with Strike King Rage Craws.

Book your stay today with Walcox Point and experience the best of Weiss Lake!

Click here to read the full article.

Crappie: Demopolis Lake

Largemouth Bass: Lake Guntersville

Lake Guntersville is widely regarded as one of the top largemouth bass lakes in the country, with the ability to grow big bass. In May, anglers can expect to catch 5-pounders, but also have the chance to catch bigger fish, as the shad are spawning on river ledges where grass meets open water.

Veteran guide Tim Chandler’s preferred lure for spawning fish, the 6-inch Trick Stick, is fished weightless or rigged Texas style with an 1/8-ounce sinker. The bait is lifted a few feet during the retrieve and allowed to sink, with the action occurring during the fall. Chandler suggests fishing the Trick Stick along the outer perimeter of the spawning flats. For the shad spawn, Chandler uses a ¾-ounce War Eagle willow-leaf spinnerbait, slow-rolling it through vegetation 4 to 7 feet deep on river ledges with grass and a hard bottom created by shell beds. To catch big fish towards the end of the shad spawn, Chandler recommends using a 10-inch B2 worm by Big Bite Baits, which is fished Texas rigged with a 1/8- or 3/16-ounce sinker.

Chandler advises anglers to keep moving and making casts to maximize the chances of catching a big fish. He suggests starting the search on the flats in the Goose Pond and North Sauty areas if unfamiliar with Lake Guntersville. The shad spawn lasts for a few hours, depending on the ambient light, and Chandler warns that sitting still too long is the biggest mistake anglers make when targeting big fish. The water is warming up in May, and the 10-inch B2 worm by Big Bite Baits is recommended for catching big bass.

Click here to read the full article.

Bass: Pickwick Lake

Anglers who plan to fish at Pickwick are faced with a decision: fish for smallmouth near Florence or fish downstream from the Colbert County Steam Plant for largemouth. Successful tournament angler and guide Brent Crow advises fishermen to pay attention to the water release rates from the Wilson Dam. In May, if the water release rates are 80,000 to 100,000 cubic feet per second, fishermen should fish the tailrace for smallmouth. Otherwise, they should fish for largemouth downstream from the Colbert County Steam Plant. Crow recommends drifting from the dam to the bridge and working the edge with swimbaits or Alabama rigs, casting to stump rows and rock piles when fishing for smallmouth.

If the water release rates are low, Crow suggests fishing downstream from the Colbert County Steam Plant. Fishermen should look in the backs of creeks on the spawning flats and on the first point coming out of the flats in places like Bear, Indian, and Panther creeks. They can use topwater lures and swimbaits to search the backwater, and Crow’s favorite lure is a Strike King Sexy Dawg, a walk-the-dog bait. When topwater baits fail, Crow switches to a swimbait, which he rigs weedless on a belly-weighed hook. Fishing for largemouth is particularly good in May, and on a good day, fishermen can catch 40 to 50 fish, some of which will weigh 5 to 6 pounds.

Click here to read the full article.

Bass: Lake Jordan

Lake Jordan on the Coosa River is an excellent fishing spot for both largemouth and spotted bass, thanks to its fertility, forage, and growth rates. Chris Rutland, a two-time Alabama Bass Trail Angler of the Year, is a highly successful tournament angler who has been winning tournaments for over 30 years. Rutland credits his success to his enthusiasm and determination to find and catch fish. He reveals his winning patterns for May, which are either shallow or deep and depend on the time of day and the shad spawn.

In early May, Rutland targets spotted bass feeding on main-lake seawalls or largemouth busting shad in the water-willow by using a bladed jig or a Davis Bait Swim Jig. During a lull in fishing activity from 7:30 to 11:00, Rutland suggests fishing deep structures with a hard bottom 10 to 12 feet deep. He uses Humminbird side-scan sonar to look for irregularities on the bottom, and the most effective lures in this situation are a Spro Fat Papa 70 and a Big Bite Baits Suicide Shad.

After the midmorning lull, when the sun rises high in the sky, Rutland returns to the bank to target spots under boat docks or largemouth under grass mats. He works the matted grass by flipping a jig, and he uses a Big Bite Baits Fat Stick for skipping docks. When the shad spawn ends, the spots move deep, but Rutland suggests that anglers can still catch largemouth in the grass using the same patterns as in early May. The best fishing for largemouth bass on Lake Jordan is from a mile above Blackwell’s slough to the dam.

Click here to read the full article.

Bass: Lake Neely Henry

Professional angler Wes Logan shares his techniques for fishing on Lake Neely Henry in Alabama during the summertime. In the early morning, Logan targets shoreline bass with a Scott Canterbury Pro Buzz Bait rigged with a Zoom Horny Toad. When the sun comes up, he switches to fishing in the shadows under overhanging trees, next to bushes, or under boat docks using a Texas-rigged Zoom Z Craw Jr. or a Luke Clausen compact pitchin’ jig by Dirty Jigs. He also uses Humminbird’s Lakemaster map to establish a pattern and save time when fishing for boat docks. Logan recommends fishing in the mid-lake area for the best chance of catching both species of bass.

Lake Neely Henry covers 11,200 acres and offers 339 miles of shoreline, downstream from Weiss Lake, and flows through Gadsden. Logan notes that it is an interesting place to fish, as anglers can be successful by targeting fish either on shallow cover or on offshore brush piles. For numbers of fish, he suggests the offshore pattern, while for quality he recommends the shallow water.

Logan advises anglers to be flexible with their bait and technique choices and to pay close attention to the weather and water conditions. He also recommends being mindful of the boat traffic on Neely Henry, especially on weekends and holidays, and to give other anglers plenty of space.

“Most important, be patient,” Logan said. “Neely Henry is a really good lake, but it’s not a pushover. You have to be patient and stay focused. If you do, you can catch some really big fish here.”

Click here to read the read the full article.

Channel Catfish: Wilson Dam

Reef Fish: Orange Beach

Captain Troy Frady of Orange Beach offers families specialized fishing trips on his 41-foot Hatteras named Distraction. Frady aims to provide families with a fun and educational fishing experience, showing them how to tie knots, make rigs and navigate with GPS. Frady encourages catch and release, or keeping only the best fish, promoting sustainable fish management. Frady specializes in catching reef fish higher in the water column, avoiding injuries from barotrauma, and uses bass rods rated for 12-pound-test line, but he uses 30-pound-test line due to the sharp teeth on reef fish.

Captain Frady’s fishing technique has several advantages; including avoiding tangles, not needing to vent fish, and making light tackle more fun. Frady’s focus on people who view fishing as an experience ensures that he goes above and beyond to make families’ time on the water enriching and unforgettable. By catching reef fish closer to the surface, Frady also ensures that families can witness the beauty of the ocean and its inhabitants, including dolphins, sea turtles, and sharks.

Orange Beach offers a wide variety of species for families to catch, making it a world-class fishing destination. Besides fishing, there are many activities and attractions onshore that families can enjoy. Families can experience the beauty of the coast, sunbathing, and surfing, and also visit the Gulf State Park to enjoy hiking, biking, and birdwatching.

Click here to read the full article.

Spotted Bass: Lewis Smith Lake

Located in Cullman, Walker and Winston counties on the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior watershed, Lewis Smith Lake covers 21,200 acres and has 500 miles of shoreline. The maximum depth at the dam is 264 feet.

To fish Smith’s stair-step rocky shores, Jesse Wiggins has a finesse worm rigged on a shaky head jig as his go-to bait, which he uses year-round. He shakes things up with a 7-foot spinning rod spooled with 12-pound-test braid, and ties a 10-foot leader of 12-pound-test fluorocarbon using a modified Albright knot. He says that the color of the worm does not matter, as long as it is green pumpkin. The braid allows for longer casts, better hook sets, and sensitivity, making it the only way to fish a shaky head.

When bass are done guarding their nests on the shelves, Wiggins looks next to points. He recommends fishing points by casting a Zara Spook a few times and then moving on to another point. The type of point does not matter; it’s a matter of finding the depth where the fish are staging.

Blueback herring has created an open water spotted bass pattern away from points and banks. Wiggins has found that it’s possible to catch spotted bass year-round near schools of herring. To match the size of the herring, his first choice is a swimbait.

Click here to read the full article.

Bluegills: Lake Guntersville

Bluegills: Duck River Lake

“We opened Alabama’s newest reservoir to fishing in July 2018,” said Jay Haffner, District III fisheries supervisor. We stocked the lake with bluegill and redear, and there is a resident population of redbreast sunfish from the Duck River when it was impounded. May is a little late for shellcracker, but it’s just right for the many bluegill in the lake.”

Duck River is a 650-acre water supply reservoir located about 10 miles east of Cullman off U.S. 278. There are boat ramps on both sides of the lake, however, outboard motors are restricted to 25 hp or less. Anglers may harvest 20 bream per day. To fish, anglers need a valid Alabama fishing license and a free-of-charge annual fishing permit, which is available at the ramps.

The long narrow lake has plenty of bank access and all the property around the lake is open to fishing. Trails begin at the boat ramps.

Shellcracker: Lake Eufaula

Ken Weathers, District IV Fishers Supervisor, says fishing for redear sunfish on Lake Eufaula is excellent from late April through May. He said the heavy growth of aquatic weeds support an abundant mollusks population that produces good growth for shellcrackers. Once water temperatures reach 70 to 75 degrees, these hard fighting panfish begin bedding.

“In May,” Weathers said, “look for shellcrackers anywhere you find hydrilla, alligator or primrose in places where it creates an edge that is about 3-feet deep and has a sandy bottom. Then work along the edge of the weeds using a bream buster to pick up and lower your bait to the bottom.”

Weather recommends rigging your line with a slip cord without using a bobber stop so it slides on the line. This allows your bait to sink to the bottom where the fish feed while giving you a visual reference for perfect placement next to cover.

Spotted Bass: Lewis Smith Lake

“May is the best time to catch a lot of fish,” said Craig Daniel, winning tournament angler and guide (256 347-4096), as many as 100 a day. “Most of the fish weigh between 1¼ to 3 pounds.”

Daniel’s pattern for catching high numbers of spots is to fish stair-step rock banks. Look for shelves where fish have spawned, places where there is a shelf about 3 feet off the bank and is 5 to 10 feet wide. At the edge of the first step it will drop vertically to a second step and then to a third step. Anglers will find the spots in the shadows of the steps guarding their fry.

Daniel’s go-to bait for stair-step fish is a white Zoom Fluke fished at an angle to the shoreline.

Click here to read the full article.

Crappie: Gainesville Lake

“This stretch of the Tombigbee River produces as many crappie year in and year out as anywhere,” reported Jay Haffner, District III fisheries supervisor. “Crappie like high water conditions in winter and green stable water in the summer. For the most part, that — and the good habitat — is why the Tombigbee produces good crappie fishing.”

In May, anglers report catching limits of 10- to 12-inch crappie, with big fish weighing 1½ pounds.

The crappie are post-spawn and have moved from the banks to the cypress knees, cypress trees and to the stump rows along the creeks in water from 6 to 8 feet deep. The key is to fish slowly.

Spotted Bass: Lake Martin

In May, winning tournament angler and veteran guide Chad Miller targets Lake Martin’s spotted bass at night. Anyone can easily find where he catches fish. The lighted piers facing the main lake attract hungry bass, crappie and striped bass.

“On a good pier,” Miller said, “you may see 50 to 75 spots feeding around one light. The action is intense until the fish realize you are there, and then it’s time to move to the next dock.

“We catch good numbers of post-spawn fish weighing 1 ½ to 2 ½ pounds. Occasionally, we catch a 3 or 4 pounder.” Miller works the outside edge of the circle of light with small crankbaits or shaky head worms.

To arrange a fishing trip with Chad Miller, telephone him at (334) 300-5337.

Bluegill: Demopolis Lake

With an abundance of brush, cypress trees, and grass beds in its creeks and sloughs, Demopolis has some of the best bluegill fishing in our state. The dam at Demopolis backs up the Black Warrior and the Tombigbee rivers. While both offer great fishing, the Warrior has more creeks and backwater areas for bedding bluegills.

The best time to catch spawning ‘gills is just before and after the full moon in May. Water temperatures have warmed into the 70s, and the shallows are teaming with aggressive, hard-fighting bream that provide nonstop action.

On the Warrior, biologists recommend fishing Backbone and French creeks and Power Line Slough for bluegill. Both worms and crickets catch bluegill, but worms also catch shellcracker. Thread either on a No. 8 hook tied to 4-pound-test monofilament.

Red Snapper: Orange Beach

With about 1,030 square miles of offshore waters, Alabama’s artificial reef program is the largest in the nation. This exceptional red snapper habitat is one factor in their increase in size and numbers.

Captain Randy Boggs (www.reelsurprisecharters.com) of Orange Beach said the average red snapper weight has increased to 6 ½ pounds, and it’s not unusual for anglers to land fish weighing 10 to 18 pounds when they take an 8-hour trip.

“To catch big snapper,” Boggs explained, “fish with half a cigar minnow on a 5/0 circle hook and only lower it halfway or less to the bottom. The big snapper suspend well above the artificial reefs.”

Channel Catfish: Wilson Dam

As catfish are spawning, June is not the best month for catching big blues on the Tennessee River, according to Mike Mitchell, a guide and tournament angler. Feeding is not the fish’s priority, and it can be challenging to reach blues spawning under heavy cover. Instead, anglers can catch 2-10 pound channel catfish, which is a lot of fun on light tackle. Mitchell’s favorite place to fish in June is the Wilson Dam tailrace, where he caught an 87-pounder using the same light tackle he uses for channel catfish. He targets fish in the area between the turbines and the lock, and he uses a heavy sinker to keep his bait near the bottom.

Mitchell’s tackle consists of a light spinning rod spooled with 14-pound-test monofilament, a swivel, and a 3-foot leader of 30-pound fluorocarbon tied to a Team Catfish 6/0 circle hook. For bait, he cuts fillets of skipjack herring into 3-inch pieces. He does not fish in the current below the dam most of the time, so it’s just the hook and bait. When fishing in the current, he uses enough weight to get the bait to the bottom.

When moving and casting for cats, Mitchell fishes two rods from rod holders off the back of the boat that are rigged with corks about 6 feet above the hooks. He selects bigger baits for these rods, and they usually produce the biggest fish. Mitchell slowly maneuvers his boat with the trolling motor, casting fresh-cut bait without a sinker. It’s more like crappie fishing, only slower.

Click here to read the full article.

Bluegill: Monroe County Lake

Looking for a place to catch bluegill where an on-site manager and dedicated fisheries biologists intensively care for the fishery, and where anglers catch good numbers of bluegills weighing 3/4 pound? If so, look no further than Monroe County Lake.

Tommy Purcell is one of the biologists responsible for the fishery on this 94-acre lake. He says one reason for the excellent fishing is the strong population of bass. “The bass feed on the smaller bream,” Purcell explained, “and the ones that survive grow large.”

To catch bluegill from the bank, Purcell recommends anglers fish the submerged bush near the wooden and earthen piers.

In June, the lake is open Tuesday through Sunday. Before making the trip, call the lake manager at (251) 789-2104 to verify the schedule.

Bass: Lake Jordan

Brent Crow and his partner Rex Chambers have consistently placed in Alabama Bass Trail tournaments held at Lake Jordan by fishing two patterns effectively. The first pattern they fish is on offshore points on the lower section of the lake, and the second pattern is on visible points and pockets on the upper riverine section. They cover points in every creek on the lower section of the lake to catch both spotted bass and largemouth bass.

When they find gin-clear water in June, the duo searches for deepwater points with some type of cover. They catch fish at depths between 12 and 20 feet deep using a ¾-ounce football jig rigged with a green-pumpkin Strike King Rage Craw or a Strike King Bull Worm on a ¾-ounce shaky head to trigger strikes from offshore bass.

The team also fishes with jerk baits and topwater lures for spotted bass on the riverrun section of the lake. A cigar-shaped walk-the-dog lure will cover water quickly and catch spotted bass that prefer the swift water along Jordan’s steep banks. There are many places to fish going up the river, and they never know when they will hook a big fish.

Click here to read the full article.

Fun Fishing: Oak Mountain State Park

Fishing and camping at Oak Mountain State Park near Birmingham, Alabama can create unforgettable family vacations. The park offers three lakes for fishing, each with a different range of species to catch. Lunker and Oak Mountain lakes cover 85 acres each and have good fishing for bass, bluegill, catfish and crappie. Double Oak Lake is a 75-acre lake with a marina and beach, and it has an abundance of black crappie and bass for catching, while being a good lake for catfish. Anglers can catch big bass on Oak Mountain Lake, which is probably the best lake for it.

District III Fisheries Supervisor Chris McKee offers advice for beginners and experts alike. He recommends using a Texas rigged watermelon finesse worm on a 1/0 worm hook with a 1/16-ounce sinker for catching bass on Oak Mountain Lake. For catching bedding bluegill on Lunker Lake, he suggests marking the areas with buoys, then quietly moving to within casting distance. The park also offers a variety of activities for the entire family, including mountain biking, horseback riding, hiking, golf, and wakeboarding on the watersports wake board park with an 817-foot cable ride across the lake.

Click here to read the full article.

Largemouth Bass: Guntersville Lake

Bass fishing on Guntersville comes to life in late winter with pre-spawn behavior and accelerates through the spawn and into the post-spawn of early summer. Successful tournament anglers have made Guntersville legendary with their heavy bags of fish during this annual season of renewal.

In June, largemouth transition from post-spawn to an early summer pattern and are moving to deep water. On a good day, anglers catch as many as 40 bass a day, with a few weighing more than 3 pounds. It’s not unusual to land a 7 pounder.

The best time for big fish is first light. Work buzzbaits or Zara Spooks over grass that has yet to reach the surface and is adjacent to deepwater on North and South Sauty creeks.

Flatheads: State Wide

Alabama offers anglers the opportunity to catch trophy flathead catfish weighing over 40 pounds. Flatheads are widespread across the state, and their range is expanding. There are five excellent choices for catfish destinations in Alabama, two of which are on the Alabama River, one on the Coosa River, and two on the smaller Cahaba and Choctawhatchee rivers.

Millers Ferry, located on the Alabama River, is a top destination for flathead catfish due to its perfect habitat and low fishing pressure. Night fishermen catch good numbers of yellow cats weighing up to 30 pounds on bait casting rods, limb, and trot lines. As the last lake on the Alabama River, Claiborne also is most productive for flatheads at night during the summer.

Logan Martin Lake, located between the I-20 Bridge and the Neely Henry Dam, is exceptional for flathead catfishing. Anglers use down-imaging sonar to locate current breaks formed by snags or rocks, but their favorite current breaks are the depressions on the bottom. The Choctawhatchee River, although not native to flatheads, began seeing the yellow cats in the river in the late 90s and have now expanded their range upstream. Additionally, the Lower Cahaba River holds an excellent population of yellow cats from pansize to 35 pounders, and the best baits are live bullheads and bream.

Click here to read the full article.

Catfish: State Wide

Alabama offers fantastic opportunities for anglers who enjoy catfishing. The largest species found in the state are the blue and flathead catfishes. Blues can weigh more than 120 pounds and have expanded their range significantly outside of their native areas. They prefer waters with some current and actively search for mussels and shad on the river’s bottom. In contrast, flatheads live in deeper holes with woody debris or boulders, where they ambush prey, preferring live food. They leave their ambush areas at night and move into the shallows to feed on shad, sunfish, suckers and other catfish. Holt Reservoir holds the state record for blue catfish, caught by John Nichols of Tuscaloosa, weighing 120 pounds, 4 ounces. One of the most productive ways to catch blues on Wheeler Lake is drifting the shoreline of the upper lake between the Guntersville Dam and Decatur, where the current forces shad and catfish into predictable locations.

Alabama anglers give many reasons for their love of catfishing, such as the size, numbers, aggressiveness, and food quality of the fish. But, as Elise Irwin, a research professor at Auburn University, says, what makes catfishing so exciting is not knowing how big the fish will be. Irwin conducts research on freshwater fish populations in Alabama’s rivers and streams when she is not fishing or hunting. Even though catching a record catfish may be as unlikely as winning the lottery, anglers across Alabama frequently land trophy blues and flatheads weighing more than 50 pounds. Some anglers aim for big fish, while others try to catch a limit of pan-size squealers, both hoping for a big bite.

Catfishing enthusiasts are never far from great catfish waters in Alabama, where blues and flatheads have been introduced into many major tributaries of the Tennessee and Mobile Rivers, as well as the Conecuh and Escatawpa Rivers. While some introductions were accidental, blues, in particular, have significantly expanded their range outside their original native ranges. Nevertheless, it is essential to fish in big, fertile waters if one wants to catch a trophy, as blues and flatheads favor different habitats.

Click here to read the full article.

Bluegill: Mobile Delta

Anglers across Alabama catch enormous numbers of bluegill and this is especially true in the Mobile Delta. The fishing is so good bream anglers consider the area a vacation destination to fill coolers.

Biologists contribute the Delta’s excellent fishing to a combination of its fertile watershed, the area’s nutrient-rich soil, available forage and its unique habitat. They recommend fishing the upper Delta above I-65 in Big Beaver, Bear, Little and Nap lakes.

Bluegill spawn in summer so fishing beds is productive. However, another method that’s just as effective is to fish the creek mouths where bluegill congregate as they move to and from spawning areas. Anchor and fish 2 to 14 feet deep.

Click here to read the full article.