One of Bama’s best blue catfish waters, Wheeler Lake frequently produces trophy fish exceeding 50 pounds, with an occasional monster cat exceeding 90 pounds. Tournament angler and veteran guide Brian Barton ([email protected]) says on an average day in January, clients have a 50 percent chance of catching one blue catfish weighing more than 50 pounds, with two weighing more than 25 pounds.

“Some of my best fishing in winter,” Barton revealed, “is from the Wheeler Dam to Elk River, and specifically, the three submerged locks of the old Muscle Shoals Canal. The locks are easy to find using side scan sonar. They built a railroad bed running alongside the locks, and it’s a fishing highway.”  

To fish the old canal system, Barton trolls between .2 to .4 mph dragging skipjack herring on a Santee rig. Slow trolling is effective when the water temperature is above 48 degrees. 

“Winter is absolutely the best time to catch spotted bass on Lake Mitchell,” said winning Bassmaster Elite competitor and Coosa River guide Dustin Connell. “On average, you are going to catch 30 to 40 fish with many weighing 3 pounds.”

In January, Connell fishes the upper section of this riverine lake. He says the current there is key as it positions fish in eddies, dropoff, shoals, and near rock walls. For Connell, it does not matter how strong the current. He even catches spots when the floodgates are open on Lay Lake Dam.  

To find submerged structure, Connell watches his sonar to search depths 10 to 12 feet deep and prefers to see shad or bass before stopping to fish.

Connell’s favorite lures this month are ¾-ounce chartreuse and white spinnerbaits with double willow-leaf blades and a ½-ounce jigs. He slow rolls the spinnerbait and swims the jig.

“As far as big striped bass,” said guide Steve Smith (205 365-5226), “January is an excellent time of the year on Lake Martin. It’s also a good time to catch numbers of fish because they school in winter.”

For big fish, Smith trolls big shad behind planner boards in creeks and sloughs with points and humps falling off into water at least 30 feet deep. This technique produces 20- to 30-pound fish. 

To catch schoolies from deepwater, Smith finds the fish with sonar and then drops shad to the depth where the fish are holding. He fishes the shad on a Carolina rig with a 2-ounce sinker and a 3-foot leader.

During the winter months, Smith targets fish in the Kowaliga area of the lake.

Dedicated trophy catfish hunters love cold water. In early January a few years ago, Captain Jason Bridges (www.wheelercatsguideservice.com) guided John Nordyke from Missouri to a spot on the lower section of Wheeler Lake to catch a 105-pound blue catfish. 

“Typically, January does not produce numbers of fish,” Bridges revealed, “but it’s an excellent time to catch big fish.”

To find monster catfish, Bridges looks for snags, rocks, and holes in or adjacent to the river channel and secondary creek channels. The 105-pounder came from a concrete and rock structure 45 feet deep on the bottom of the river channel. 

During winter, Bridges concentrates on fishing the lower section of the lake.

The illegal introduction of blueback herring into Smith Lake has changed fishing there forever. Striper guide Mike Walker reports it has improved fishing, especially wintertime topwater action.

“The herring has really changed everything,” Walker said. “You can find fish in places where they didn’t winter before. And where we had a good topwater bite, we are now experiencing phenomenal topwater fishing. In January, we target big fish.”  

Under normal weather conditions, Walker spends the first half of January catching stripers busting bait on the surface and the remainder of the month fishing baits on downlines. On an average trip, his methods produce between four to eight fish. The stripers weigh 10 to 40 pounds.

To book a fishing trip with Mike Walker, telephone (205) 503-2020 or visit his website at www.striper247smithlake.com.

It’s never too cold to catch spotted bass on Jordan, Lay and Mitchell lakes. In fact, Coosa River anglers claim the tougher the conditions, the better the fishing. Despite the fishing pressure these fertile lakes receive from Birmingham and Montgomery, they consistently produce good stringers of two to three pound spotted bass, with an occasional six-pound trophy to anchor the stringer.

The best fishing lies on the upper stretches of these reservoirs near the dams where the lake is riverine and the current is strong. To catch spots under these conditions, anglers fish vertical banks looking for large rocks, points, or undercut banks that will break the current and concentrate fish.  

When fishing current breaks, retrieve Bomber 7A crankbaits, 1/4- to 1/2-ounce jigs and pigs, 1/2-ounce spinnerbaits or Rat-L-Traps with the current.