Each year in the month of October, I participate as a guide for the Cape Fear Red Trout Tournament to benefit Cystic Fibrosis Research. This past year, I along with most of the other guides, each gave away a half day trip to be auctioned off to raise money for the cause. Well, the lucky bidder was Dr. Bob Adams and yesterday he and his buddy John joined me for a half day on the water and a good day it was!!

We departed from the boat landing in Surf City and headed out in search of some Redfish. Our first stop found us looking as some tailing fish, but as luck would have it, they weren’t interested in anything we had to offer. So after giving those fish a fair shot, we headed out to look for other fish. Out next stop was the jackpot!

Throwing the new Rockport Rattler swimbait hooks baited with DOA paddle tails, we found a nice school of fish that couldn’t resist the new baits. The fish were aggressively chasing down these swimbaits and we didn’t lose any fish as the hooks did there job. Dr. Bob also caught a fish on a top water bait as well.

Bob and John ended up with 7 nice slot sized fish and we left them biting as to not wear the school out. We could not have asked for a prettier day as the morning conditions were perfect for sight fishing before the front came in with the wind and rain that we have today.

It is looking like it’s going to be a great season. Give me a call to book your trip today as dates are starting to book up.

Tight lines!!

Capt. Brent
Current Adventure Charters
North Carolina
910-200-9959

What’s hot: Blackfin tuna are starting to show in the deeper waters off the coast. Due to the lack of shrimp boats working in our area it will be more difficult to target these fish. We have been fishing for grouper and snapper in depths of 120 feet or more lately, but there is a flat line with a live sardine or cigar minnow out also. These tuna average 20 to 30 pounds, so heavier tackle will help shorten the fight.

Tactics: Tuna can be attracted by chumming. The best chum is fresh-caught horse minnows or smaller threadfin herring. Periodically toss a few of these live chummers over the side while bottom fishing. Tuna rarely travel alone, so when one is caught more are likely around.

Tackle: For the well being of the fish we use at least 30-pound tackle. In the past we have caught wahoo and kingfish using this technique so it is a good idea to use a wire leader in the 40-pound range and a 5/0 to 7/0 hook.

Steve Papen charters out of Indian Shores and can be reached at (727) 642-3411 and fintasticinc.com.

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THE PLEASANT COMPANY OF AN ANXIOUS YOUNG ANGLER – Some anglers come from miles away, from all over these United States, to fish Alabama’s largest man made impoundment, Guntersville lake. Some are just good ol‘ Alabama boys!

Like a recent trip with a bright young man from the Birmingham area. We will call him Jackson. Jackson was loaded for bear when I met him on a cloudy, cool morning while fishing the mid-to-lower portion of Guntersville lake, with Reeds Guide Service! (See: Pictures of this recent trip to Guntersville lake at the report on my website home page at  www.fishingalabama.com ) He had rods already rigged with deep divers, lipless lures, spinnerbaits, buzz baits, bottom fished lures and Yes, he even had an Alabama rig!

But actually Jackson could have brought just a few rods already rigged with, “one type of lure” for fishing aquatic weeds, stump rows and open water.

Topwater Lures!

I met Jackson at dawn and noticed the rather balmy air temperature was 63 degrees! Although the weather man was predicting rain and thunderstorms it was mostly for mid to south Alabama. After I assured his Mother the night before he was in good hands and that I do not fish in lightning and thunderstorms, I instinctively knew it was one of those hit or miss days with both the weather and the bass we were after.

* But rainy days in the spring during a full moon period, can be some of the best days for fishing for big bass!

After meeting  and introducing ourselves and then loading the boat, we headed out on what was to be a fantastic day of fishing for largemouth bass. It was a very nice day to start with, “weather wise” as we began fishing under very cloudy skies and another beautiful sunrise. It stayed that way with no rain until about 2 p.m.

Jackson had planned on taking this trip for a long time. As a matter of fact his parents had given the trip to him as a Christmas gift in 2011! They had even visited my booth at the www.birminghamboatshow.com in January and introduced Jackson to me. I knew right then and there he was an exceptional person and a well mannered young man. I was already anticipating us fishing together in the spring. Although we had a few hopeful days, his work schedule only permitted him going on Thursday, April 5.

It was a day we finally got to go fishing. But the timing was right and the day turned out to be even better than we both could have ever thought it would be.

Jackson was very attentive, he was eager to learn and he was one of the most pleasant anglers I have fished with in my forty plus years of guiding on Guntersville lake. He wanted me to fish alongside him, so I did so, instructing him every minute of the way. Although he was by no means what you would call a novice angler. He knew how to fish and he came prepared! He had his own rods, reels and fishing tackle and you could tell by his selection, Jackson knew how to fish for bass.

He even has his own truck and boat!

We began by fishing in shallow water of 1-4 feet deep with Jackson and myself fishing around shallow weeds and wood cover with various types of topwater lures (is there any better way to start your day?) Lures such as Heddon’s single-prop bait “Baby Torpedo” and Zara Spooks were our weapons of choice. Although Jackson and myself both did manage to fool a few really nice bass on Strike King’s Red Eye Shad lipless lures and he caught one about 5 pounds on a plastic creature lure, rigged Texas style.

Still, it was these two types of topwater lures, the zara spook and the baby torpedo prop bait, that fooled most of our big bass that day.

Blow ups, big boils, lost bass and some nice bass in the 4-5 pound range kept us both constantly busy for the first few hours while fishing several locations.

Then the sun briefly popped out and suddenly we experienced those bright, bluebird conditions and before we knew it…it got cloudy again real fast! Still, as on any cloudy rainy day my thinking was, “a lot of bass are shallow”, why go to deep water and look for them? So as the sun left us for good, I turned the boat around and re-worked several weedy shallow flats, where we had caught, released and lost several nice bass, most caught on topwater lures earlier.

Like I always say,”It pays to go back”. So we did, continuing with our topwater assault on these shallow water bedding bass and I’m sure some were already bedded bass. We caught both male and female bass and lots of em’, very few under 2 pounds, without a dull moment all day! We saw abandoned beds every where!

We caught some of our best bass from mid morning to midday. We also missed some nice ones as well! I remember me losing a fat, nice six pounder as it jumped and slung a topwater lure, Jackson just looked at me and then said, “Man, that was a big bass!” I then said, “yes, and yours is the next one and we won’t lose it!”

We had fished hard all morning and I knew it was time for a change. The action had slowed some what. So I pulled out an old baby torpedo and began fan casting those deeper daytime depths of 3 feet deep! Where bigger bass group up during the spring spawn and afterwards as well. Jackson joined me. And again, we found them.

This time the bigger ones!

The old baby torpedo topwater lure had fooled a lot of bass and it was tied to 15 pound Trilene Big Game monofilament and fished on a medium-heavy action 6 foot rod.

*  The Baby Torpedo – I had scraped all the paint of off this old lure — with it previously chrome with a black back — and it was now all bone colored with red eyes and red gills, (I had added with red permanent marker. It paid off…)

Jackson was fishing with a shad colored zara spook and he then hooked into the biggest bass (so far) of his life, and the day. An 8 pounder! It jumped and went crazy but Jackson held on tight and we netted it before it tried to break free. I then fished the torpedo and I got a huge boil on the lure, “There he is!” I shouted, Jackson turned and looked and them, bam! The fight was on! It turned out to be the biggest bass I’ve caught this year! A good solid ten pounder!

Then we continued to catch a half dozen more bass, some weighing up to 5 pounds and Jackson caught another 8 pounder, one he caught one about 7 1/2 pounds and I had two about 6 1/2 pounds each! Unbelievable…but true! (See the pictures and report on my website www.fishingalabama.com) A 6 1/2 pounder, one 7 1/2 pounds, two 8 pounders and a ten pound bass! Yes, 5 bass weighing 40 pounds!

It was a good day and it got real dark and cloudy with threatning rain around 1:30 p.m. and the fishing had slowed (we caught them all!), so we called it a day and let the bass go after taking lots of pictures. Fishing with nice company and again fooling some of Guntersville lake’s big largemouth bass! Of course while fishing with Reeds Guide Service! Alabama’s oldest, professional — bass fishing only — guide service for well, yeah about 50 years now. Yeah, I know, I’m getting old.

* As waters warm the types of lures, certain lure colors and the techniques it takes to catch these bass, will lean more towards shallow water presentations in April and May.

LURES

* LURES & TECHNIQUES FOR GUNTERSVILLE LAKE BASS -  Fishing all throughout Alabama’s Guntersville Lake we fish around shallow spawning flats with lures like spinnerbaits (white, chartreuse and white or a clear skirt with silver glitter), fished on 15-17 pound monofilament line. Shallow to mid-running crankbaits, both floating model and suspending model jerk baits, plastic swim baits, rattling lipless lures like Rattletraps and Strike King’s Red Eye Shad, (half ounce models in both shad and crayfish colors) and we always manage to at least elicit a few strikes on topwater lures and loads of bottom fished lures.

Topwater lures lures such as Zara Spooks, Sammies, Pop-r’s and prop-baits like Baby Torpedoes and buzz baits all fool loads of bass in April and May.  Lures fished on bottom such as in creek backwaters and around any new growing weeds, like jig combos, Texas rigged worms, lizards of all colors, creature baits, tube baits and finesse worms all work too! As weeds become greener and thicker lures like frogs and buzz baits will generate some big bass strikes!

Weightless lures such as Zoom’s (bubblegum, white or watermelon colored) trick worms. Shad colored, pearl, or white Zoom Flukes fished weightless work real well too! We even slow way down fishing with weightless lures like Gary Yamamoto’s Senkos and Berkeley’s Yum Dinger Series worms all in colors of black/red flake, black/blue flake, or watermelon with various colored flakes. Hook sizes of 3/0 to 4/0 with 12-15 pound test monofilament or fluorocarbon line. Or heavier 20 pound test line for bigger bass!

* NOTE  – BY MID-TO-LATE APRIL MOST GUNTERSVILLE LAKE WILL HAVE ALREADY BEDDED, WITH LOWER LAKE BASS…THE LAST TO BED!

* PICTURES – Creeks, creek mouths, creek flats with stumps and weeds, main lake weedy flats and around islands, all produced largemouth bass. These largemouth bass were caught on shad colored, lipless lures, Netbaits’ (white) scented worms and various types of topwater lures, some featuring propellers both fore and aft!

Always call on Reeds Guide Service…first! Booking trips now for spring! Don’t miss out, e-mail alabassgyd@aol.com or call today (205) 663-1504 to book your trip to Guntersville lake or any Alabama lake! Same rates for either one or two anglers! Discounts on two days or more trips! You may catch that trophy bass of a lifetime! Click on the “guide service” link on my website:  www.fishingalabama.com for more info!

Thanks and Good Fishin‘

Reed Montgomery / Reeds Guide Service

Website: www.fishingalabama.com

Birmingham, Alabama

There has been one word to describe the fishing that last couple months – Outstanding. The flats fishing for redfish and trout could not get much better here in Mosquito Lagoon. Many of the redfish are still in schools and it is not unusual to have well over 1,000 fish per day pass by the boat. Even on the “slower” days there have been hundreds of fish for anglers to cast at. Both the redfish and trout have been feeding aggressively.

For topwater action, the DOA shallow running Baitbuster lure reeled along the surface has produced some spectacular action. Both species will readily attack this lure. With lots of loose grass floating on the surface now, standard plugs with treble hooks can be difficult to use. In addition to the Baitbuster, the DOA CAL in the 3, 4, and 5.5 inch model have also been catching both redfish and trout every day. Add a Woodies Rattle to the bait if you are blind casting for more bites.

For fly fishing, use a soft landing bendback style fly when the winds are calm and the water is shallow. Later in the day, switch to lead eye crab or shrimp patterns to get down quickly. Lots of baitfish are on the flats so pinfish and mullet style flies will also work well. All must have a weedguard. Some days there are tailing fish in every direction and the next there are just as many fish but not one tail breaks the surface. Having sun is the most important factor when fly fishing.

Unlike the past couple years, this has been an excellent spring for seatrout. The younger and smaller fish have been plentiful in 2-4 feet of water and can be caught by the dozens. Ultralight spinning tackle provides added entertainment. The 1-2 foot depths with a mix of grass and sand have been holding the larger female trout. Unfortunately, some anglers have been putting these trophy breeding fish in the coolers. The bite is the best it has been, however, since the devastating freeze of 2010. On clear days, you can sight fish them in the white sand holes. An easier method is to blind cast likely spots using a 5.5 inch DOA CAL and long casts. Trout are much more delicate than redfish and must be handled with care if they are to survive release. I would encourage all anglers to release the big females to help ensure a healthy population for years to come. With an increased commercial trout limit and longer season this year, the big fish in our Lagoon have even less of a chance to survive.

Phil had shots at lots of redfish and trout on his first adventure to Mosquito Lagoon. He especially enjoyed battling this big black drum.

The following day my clients had shots as hundreds of redfish throughout the morning but only one cast came close enough to the fish to get a bite. Later, they had a chance at a school of 20-30 pound redfish and ended the day catching numerous seatrout.

Dave started out the day landing a redfish on the Baitbuster and continued catching them on the three inch paddle tail as well.

After dropping him off, I went out to check some other spots. It was a successful afternoon with 4 reds on the DOA shrimp and 4 more on a rootbeer colored redfish worm fly.

Some high winds moved in for the next several days changing the water level slightly and moving the fish around. Things settled down after a couple days and the fishing was hot. Trevor had never fished the flats but had a great morning catching redfish on Baitbusters and CALs.

Seven year old Chase wanted to catch a redfish for his birthday. He could handle a spinning rod as good as many adults and slayed the trout on the DOA Deadly Combo as well as a 1/4 ounce jig. The redfish were not as plentiful in the morning as I had hoped. We finally found them just when the wind started to pick up but Chase got his wish.

Big schools of fish were roaming the flats this week. Anglers had varying levels of success catching them. The catching ratio had nothing to do with the fish not eating as every time a lure or fly landed properly, it got a bite. Mike and Matt had the most success and started off with this double header of redfish.

The fishing this weekend will be tough with wind, clouds, and rain in the forecast. After the front passes through, look for the excellent action to continue. Lots of lures, baits, and flies will work but they will only get bites if they are in the right spot. The number one thing you can do to catch more fish is practice your casting.

The Mosquito Lagoon flats fishing has been about as good as it gets these past couple weeks. Except for a couple days of windy weather, both the conditions and the fishing have been outstanding. Anglers have been encountering from 500 to over 1000 fish per day. Our three springtime species, redfish, trout, and black drum, have all been cooperating. Both fly and light tackle anglers are having success on a variety of lures and fly patterns. Big schools of mullet have arrived in the lagoon and the fish are feasting on them.
Richard spent a couple days on the front of my boat this month targeting fish on fly. He had lots of shots at fish and managed to catch all three species. The black redfish worm and bendback patterns were the most successful.
The third day Richard was to go with me, we arrived at the ramp to 20 knot winds. After some consideration, he decided he would rather not go out in the tough conditions. Since I was already there, I hopped in the boat for some fun fishing. The winds unexpectedly dropped and I was able to get in some decent sight fishing. The redfish were very aggressive and willing to eat anything I threw from Baitbusters to topwater to CAL jigs and flies. The following day we found some large schools of redfish at first light. They would allow the anglers one shot before moving out of range. As the sun got higher, there were consistent shots at single fish on the clear flat. Several redfish were caught and released. They ended the day with some nonstop catching action for trout using a jig and CAL tail in 3-4 feet of water.
Friday was nearly a carbon copy with more schools of redfish. During the day we found a spot holding redfish, trout, and drum well off the beaten path and had shots at them for nearly 2 hours.
Last Monday I had the pleasure of fishing with John Machin and Paul Procter. They are both fly casting instructors in the UK and needed every bit of their skill as it was the only day last week the wind was blowing. As luck would have it, most of the schools were nowhere to be found. Both guys put on a top notch fly casting display, however, catching both black drum and redfish in sustained winds up to 24mph. Tuesday there was no wind, clear skies, and redfish in every direction. Jon had an excellent day of sight fishing on the flats catching his first Mosquito Lagoon slam.

Tom got to experience some great redfish action using a DOA Baitbuster that he threw to tailing fish. Reeling the bait along the surface to mimic a small mullet, he caught some nice reds and lost a few as well. Later in the day, he finished with some nice seatrout.

The husband and wife team of Ray and Kim were on board for Thursday’s trip. Ray landed the first red on a Baitbuster while Kim followed up with several nice drum and a redfish of her own. They then proceeded to catch a trout nearly every cast for the last half hour of the day.

On Friday, Bob and his son Joe made their first trip to Mosquito Lagoon. The action started off good with some nice schools of reds in the first half hour. After a brief lull in the action, we came across plenty of singles and small groups. The day ended with several large trout being caught and released on 5.5″ DOA CALs with a Woodies Rattle. The redfish have turned their focus to mullet and pinfish and have been very aggressive the past few weeks. Lures imitating mullet will be effective on both the redfish and trout. Watch for trophy sized trout to be lying on shallow sand holes. Once you see them moving the chance of getting a bite is significantly reduced. Get the lure or fly to them before they see you and your success rate will be much higher. Look for the outstanding sight fishing to continue through this month.
Capt. Chris Myers Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Guide

After guiding on many of Alabama’s lakes during this pre-spawn period, I have seen this “pre-spawning phase” quickly advance into “bedding bass” (with dozens of bass now seen on their beds), like while fishing on north Alabama impoundment, Guntersville lake during this early-to-mid-March period. This includes seeing water temperatures quickly warming each day on all of these lakes and other Alabama lakes as far south as Lake Eufaula. From the fifties quickly warming into the low-to-upper 60′s.

Now, we are even seeing trees such as dogwood trees blooming out (that normally bloom in April) and…the grass needs cutting! What gives? Cold front…what’s that?

Regardless, anglers fishing Alabama’s lakes are really enjoying the weather and the biting bass! Now is the time for fooling numbers of some of the year’s biggest, spawning bass and some big bedding largemouth bass as well! Recently for big smallmouth bass on Alabama’s Pickwick lake, I have seen anglers fool several big smallmouth bass including one six pound five ounce brown beauty and three more smallmouth bass weighing over 5 pounds!

Whether I’m guiding on these Tennessee River System Lake’s Wheeler, Wilson , Guntersville lake and Pickwick lake or down south on the Coosa River Lake’s Logan Martin, Lay Lake or Jordan Lake, these are always the times to connect with the bass of a life time and lakes like Logan Martin lake are loaded with spotted bass and largemouth bass! As waters warm the types of lures, certain lure colors and the tehniques it takes to catch these bass, will lean more towards shallow water presentations.

* LURES & TECHNIQUES FOR LOGAN MARTIN LAKE BASS -  Fishing all throughout Logan Martin lake we fish around shallow spawning flats with lures like spinnerbaits (white, chartreuse and white or a clear skirt with silver glitter), fished on 15-17 pound monofilament line.

Shallow to mid-running crankbaits, both floating model and suspending model jerk baits, plastic swim baits, rattling lipless lures like Rattletraps and Strike King’s Red Eye Shad, (half ounce models in both shad and crayfish colors) and we always manage to at least elicit a few strikes on topwater lures and bottom fished lures.

Topwater lures such as Zara Spooks, Sammies, Pop-r’s and prop-baits like Baby Torpedoes and buzz baits all fool loads of bass in April and May on Logan Martin lake.  Lures fished on bottom such as in creek backwaters and around any new growing weeds, jig combos, Texas rigged worms, lizards of all colors, creature baits, tube baits and finesse worms.

Weightless lures such as Zoom’s (bubblegum, white or watermelon colored) trick worms. Shad colored, pearl, or white Zoom Flukes fished weightless work real well too! We even slow way down fishing with weightless lures like Gary Yamamoto’s Senkos and Berkeley’s Yum Dinger Series worms all in colors of black/red flake, black/blue flake, or watermelon with various colored flakes. Hook sizes of 3/0 to 4/0 with 12-15 pound test monofilament line.

* NOTE  – BY MID APRIL LOGAN MARTIN LAKE (NOW DOWN 5 FEET) WILL BE RETURNED TO FULL POOL!

* PICTURES – Creeks, creek mouths, creek flats with stumps, main lake flats and around islands, all produce bass, striped bass and largemouth bass. This spotted bass was caught on a shad colored, Zara Super Spook!

Always call on Reeds Guide Service…first! Booking trips now for spring! Don’t miss out, e-mail alabassgyd@aol.com or call today (205) 663-1504 to book your trip to Logan Martin lake or any Alabama lake! Same rates for either one or two anglers! Discounts on two days or more trips! You may catch that trophy bass of a lifetime! Click on the “guide service” link on my website:  www.fishingalabama.com for more info!

Thanks and Good Fishin‘

Reed Montgomery / Reeds Guide Service

Website www.fishingalabama.com

Birmingham, Alabama

Well, after guiding on many of Alabama’s lakes during this pre-spawn period, I have seen this “pre-spawning phase” quickly advance into “bedding bass” (with dozens of bass now seen on their beds), like while fishing on north Alabama impoundment, Guntersville lake during this early-to-mid-March period. This includes seeing water temperatures quickly warming each day on all of these and other Alabama lakes, from the fifties warming into the low-to-upper 60′s.

And now, I’m even seeing trees such as dogwood trees blooming out (that normally bloom in April) and…the grass needs cutting! What gives? Cold front…what’s that?

Regardless, anglers fishing Alabama’s lakes are really enjoying the weather and the biting bass! Now is the time for fooling some of the year’s biggest, spawning smallmouth bass and some big bedding largemouth bass as well! For big smallmouth bass on Alabama’s Pickwick lake, I have seen anglers fool several big smallies including one six pound five ounce brown beauty and three more smallies weighing over 5 pounds!

Whether I’m guiding on the other Tennessee River System Lake’s Wheeler, Wilson and even Guntersville lake (and on Pickwick lake), these are always the true smallmouth bass and largemouth bass of a lifetime, most anglers are seeking! Pickwick lake is loaded with both bass species!

Although many anglers come to Pickwick lake thinking of catching a trophy, smallmouth bass they must always keep in mind, there are some big largemouth bass in this fifty-plus mile long lake as well. I have seen from recent guided trips here, it can produce largemouth bass exceeding five-six pounds, all throughout Pickwick lake. A lake where right now largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and spotted bass are getting full swing into their spring time spawning activities, with water temperatures now nearing 70 degrees and its not even April yet!!

This means some of the lake’s biggest bass will be in some very shallow water for the next two months! It also means hordes of spring time anglers are now hitting the water! Pickwick Lake has seen its share of visiting tournament anglers, and all of them are looking to win while possibly catching some trophy bass on Alabama’s Pickwick lake!

Recent guided fishing trips with anglers practicing for tournaments such the upcoming Mid-April Fishers of Men Championship Tournament on the Tennessee River Pickwick lake, showed lots of both species of bass caught. While fishing near Wilson lake dam in Pickwick Lake’s head waters, along rock bluffs and main lake points, up in the barge canal, along creek mouths, around islands, main lake flats and up in any small pocket or major feeder creek. Bass seem to be every where!

Fishing any time during the day proved to be crowded, including swift current at the dam. Due to recent rains the upper to mid-lake portion is current oriented. But even as we fished near the Wilson lake dam with as many as a dozen boats always nearby, we caught fish! Striped bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and as usual freshwater drum too!

On one trip a client from Florida hooked into the biggest smallmouth bass of his life! A nice, fat, beautifully marked brown bass, one weighing 6 pounds 5 ounces including he caught another one, a good 5 pounder! He landed both… the two biggest smallmouth bass of his life!

* LURES & TECHNIQUES – We have tried all kinds of lures recently, fishing daily throughout the lake, with over a half dozen guided trips taken recently to Pickwick lake. To start with, we normally fish around these dams with spinnerbaits (white, chartreuse and white or a clear skirt with silver glitter), fished on 15-17 pound monofilament line.

We are also going to try shallow, mid, and deep running crankbaits, both floating model and suspending model, hard-bodied jerk baits, soft plastic swim baits of all kinds and sizes, rattling lipless lures like Rattletraps and Strike King’s Red Eye Shad, (half ounce models in both shad and crayfish colors) and we always manage to at least elicit a few strikes on topwater lures and bottom fished lures.

Even topwater lures such as Zara Spooks, Sammies, Pop-r’s and prop-baits like Baby Torpedoes and buzz baits all caught loads of bass. Lures we fished on bottom in the lake’s headwaters did not work as well this time due to very swift current causing constant lure hang-ups and we lost lots of costly lures, that added up fast! But in creek backwaters and around any new growing weeds we saw some very shallow bass that hit black and blue / or brown and brown jig combos, Texas rigged worms and lizards of all colors, creature baits, tube baits and finesse worms.

Weightless lures such as Zoom’s (bubblegum, white or watermelon colored) trick worms. Shad colored, pearl, or white Zoom Flukes fished weightless worked real well too! We even slowed way down fishing with other weightless lures like Gary Yamamoto’s Senkos and Berkeley’s Yum Dinger Series worms all in colors of black/red flake, black/blue flake, or water melon with various flakes. Hook sizes of 3/0 to 4/0 with 12-15 pound test monofilament line.

We did have some ideal cloudy conditions, but we also saw some bluebird days as well and at times these adverse conditions tried to beat us! The high pressure system did not help the bass bite all that good (at least not the ones we were targeting after dawn), and in addition with another dozen anglers all around us, we saw they were not doing so well either. But we got away from the (dam) crowd.

So on some days my thinking these bass around the dam discharge area were getting beat up pretty bad, for every location we fished had boats loaded with anxious anglers flailing the water to a froth, I decided we would fish on down the lake on several trips.

* NOTE  – BY MID APRIL PICKWICK LAKE (NOW DOWN 3 FEET) WILL BE RETURNED TO FULL POOL!

* PICTURES – Creeks, creek mouths, creek flats with stumps, main lake flats and around islands, all produced smallmouth bass, striped bass and largemouth bass. We had many very good days and I got to spend it with some very pleasant company! But some of these competing tournament anglers did not want their names or pictures posted, so in this report all you will see is my smiling mug with some nice Pickwick lake bass!

 

* Oh, by the way, the big 6 pound 5 ounce smallmouth bass was caught near the dam on a shad colored, Zara Super Spook at dawn!

Always call on Reeds Guide Service…first! Booking trips now for spring! Don’t miss out, e-mail alabassgyd@aol.com or call today (205) 663-1504 to book your trip to Pickwick lake or any Alabama lake! Same rates for either one or two anglers! Discounts on two days or more trips! You may catch that trophy bass of a lifetime! Click on the “guide service” link on my Website www.fishingalabama.com for more info!

Thanks and Good Fishin’

Reed Montgomery / Reeds Guide Service

Website www.fishingalabama.com

Birmingham, Alabama

Striper fishing remains very good. Not much has changed this week. The stripers are active and beginning to move up on long tapering points and flats early and late. Mid day they can be found in the creek channels. Start in the back of the creeks early with un weighted free lines on four planner boards (two on each side) and two or three free lines behind the boat. Put one board right up on the bank. Vary your length behind the boards and boat from 10 to 100 feet. Always hang a couple of down rods over the side and vary the depth depending the depth of the water. Vary your bait size from large to small using Gizzard Shad, Threadfin Shad, and Blueback Herring. Once the suns gets up move towards the middle of the creeks focusing on the creek channels. Weight your lines with 1 to 3 split shots. Vary your speed from .3 to 1.0 mile per hour. Always put someone on the front deck and cast a Capt. Mack’s 1/2 oz. buck tail jig with a fluke trailer. I have had some reports of fish being caught casting Capt. Mack’s buck tail jig on points and shallow flats. There is a night bite on Bombers if you work the points in the back of the creeks with high concentrations  of bait. Flat Creek, Balus Creek and Orr Creek have been the “hot” creeks this week.

Offshore targets: Kingfish are making their push up the coast right now. Some fish are being caught in the 50- to 60-foot depths. Look for the right baits to get you in the right areas. The shipping channel is the best place to start. We were recently made a quick stop at the whistler buoy, where there were a few cigar minnows and a few Spanish sardines. When these baits start to show up the kings are not far behind.

King mackerel: The larger females should lead the pack of fish down the beach over the next couple of weeks. These fish are smarter than the others since this is not their first trip up the coast, and they run in small packs of six to 10 fish.

Tips: To target these big females, the “match the hatch” approach is best. Look for the mackerel along the beach. Baits include mullet, ladyfish and bluefish, as these are what the fish in the area are feeding on. Smaller baits will be eaten by smaller fish.

Tackle: This often varies by angler. Some prefer spinning gear, and others like conventional gear. Either is fine as long as there is at least 250 yards of line and the reel is fast.

Steve Papen charters out of Indian Shores and can be reached at (727) 642-3411 and fintasticinc.com

Since January, we have fished Pickwick lake, from being in some very cold weather to experiencing some very warm weeks just recently in the low-to-mid 70′s. Late February on into March, is the time for fooling some of the year’s biggest pre spawn smallmouth bass! For smallmouth bass, fooling three 5 pounders in two weeks time, while fishing on any of the Tennessee River System Lake’s Wheeler, Wilson or Pickwick lake is an accomplishment. Anything bigger…is a smallmouth bass of a lifetime!

We have also targeted some big striped bass, some weighing 10-25 pounds, and fooled largemouth bass, some exceeding five pounds, just recently on Pickwick lake. A lake almost 50 miles long. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass (and even some spotted bass), are now gearing up for their pre spawn activities as water temperatures are now nearing 60 degrees.

Which always means some of the lake’s biggest bass, are in some very shallow water, for the next three months! Fishing with residents of Pickwick Lake, visiting tournament anglers, and fishing with some true, trophy bass hunters on Alabama’s Pickwick lake, we have successfully landed fish weighing in the trophy size class…and had a lot of fun while doing this lake wide!

A recent guided fishing trip with two anglers from Tennessee on Alabama’s Pickwick lake showed lots of bass catching action while fishing near Wilson lake dam in Pickwick Lake’s head waters, along rock bluffs and main lake points, up in the barge canal and along creek mouths, around islands, and main lake flats. Bass seem to be every where!

Fishing all day proved to be slow early with swift current at the dam. Due to recent rain with water temps in the low-50′s here and at mid lake. But as we fished near the Wilson lake dam one of these clients named Garry from Tennessee, hooked into the biggest smallmouth bass of his life! A nice, fat, beautifully marked brown bass, one weighing 5 pounds, including one 3 pounder! And he landed it!

We had tried all kinds of lures to start, most to no avail. Normally around these dams we fish with spinnerbaits, shallow running crankbaits, suspending jerk baits, swim baits and rattling lipless lures and we always manage to at least elicit a few strikes. Even topwater lures and loads of lures we fished on bottom did not work this time.

Still, we could not let the conditions beat us! The high pressure system did not help the bass bite all that good (at least not the ones we were targeting), and in addition another dozen anglers all around us, were not doing so well either. So, my thinking these bass around the dam discharge area were getting beat up pretty bad, for every location we fished had boats loaded with anxious anglers flailing the water to a froth, I decided we would fish on down the lake.

Creeks, creek mouths, creek flats with stumps, main lake flats and around islands, all produced smallmouth bass, striped bass and largemouth bass. We had a good day and I got to spend it with some very pleasent company! And Garry from Tennessee, caught his biggest smallmouth to date! Maybe next time it will be even bigger….

* Oh, by the way, the big smallmouth bass was caught near the dam on a shad colored, Spro shallow running crankbait 25 series lure!

Always call on Reeds Guide Service…first! Booking trips now for spring! Don’t miss out, e-mail alabassgyd@aol.com or call today (205) 663-1504 to book your trip to Pickwick lake or any Alabama lake! Same rates for either one or two anglers! Discounts on two days or more trips! You may catch that trophy bass of a lifetime! Click on the “guide service” link on my website www.fishingalabama.com for more info!

Thanks and Good Fishin’

Reed Montgomery / Outdoor Writer

Owner / Reeds Guide Service Alabaster, Alabama (205) 663-1504 E-mail: alabassgyd@aol.com Website;: www.fishingalabama.com ” Over 40 Years Guiding, Fishing and Exploring Every Lake in Alabama For Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass and Striped Bass “

Always Call on Reeds Guide Service…first!

Alabama’s Oldest Professional, Freshwater Fishing Guide Service!