Lake Guntersville 12-17-09

Got out today with Paul looking for some fish in areas I haven't fished for awhile. We moved upriver from the Waterfront ramp working ledges and looking for some deep fish. We found that the current was blasting like it has been for the last two weeks so we made the dession to move off the ledges to the backside of the channels and fish current breaks. We hit several fish on Jackall Squad Minnows(Table Rock Shad) and had several strikes on the Jackall Swimming ninja swimbait. We then started working the Giron(black crappie) on the grass lines working it a little slower. Paul ened up with another few fish on that bait before the day was done.
We ended up with a solid limit and several missed fish so all in all a good day on the water for this time of year. Hope the water slows down a little and starts to clear up on the main river. I really feel the bite will just be awesome if those conditions work in our favor for a few days. Best advice for anyone looking for more numbers than size is still in the backs of creeks and places the water is clearer. The bigger bites seem to be on the ourside grass lines and they want the bait slow to say the least.
Hope everyone has a great weekend planned and I will be back at it in the morning. Be sure to stay aware when running the lake. We saw several big logs floating just under the surface. That could make a slow day fishing turn into a real bad trip. Be safe and see you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville report

Saying that last weeks cold days and high murky waters made fishing tough would be an understatment but fishing got alot better in the last two days. We headed out in search of some clear water the last two trips and it was alot easier to find than in the past few trips. We keyed in on grass areas in 2-6 feet of water with steep drops close by. In the mornings we found the fish to be outside the grass lines on the edge of the drops sitting tight to underwater structure. The Jackall Flick SHake rigged on the Wacky Jighead(3/32) was the ticket for bites until the temps started to rise. If you get just an hour of sunlight through the clouds the fish seem to fire up. As the water reaches high 40's to low 50's we hit the shallower sections near the drops with Jackall Squad Minnows(shad colors) and TN70(Chart Shad). Those baits have produced several fish over the 5 pound range but each day it has taken us working the baits on different patterns to get the bites. The more solid fish seem to be more active as the day gets longer but bites are light. Several fish we boated we never felt the bite until starting to jerk the bait. The longer you pause the bait the better off you will be. I was holding the bait atleast 12-18 seconds before giving it just one slight pop/jerk. One key I noticed is dont over jerk the bait. I saw the bait getting pulled more than jerked and they never got bit. Make sure when you jerk it you try not to let the bait move more than 4-6 inches. Keeping the bait in the strike zone is key this time of year.

We did find a few fish on the causeways while fishing the Jackall Craw(green pumpkin) rigged on a texas rig with a Lake Fork Tungsten 1/4 weight. The key to that bite was the slower the better. I would toss the bait out and let it soak before moving it about 2-4 inches at a time. This bait has taken several solid fish worked this way on this pattern. This along with the other pattern is sure to put a solid limit on the boat as long as you stay aleart and work the baits slow. I hope this helps everyone out a little and gets you pointed in the right direction. Feel free to make comments if you have any pointers or qustions. Thanks for everyones continued support and looking forward to seeing you on the water soon.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Jackall Raises The Bar on Finesse Baits, Again

Jackall Lures has been known for its awesome power fishing baits when they broke into the market with their finesse type baits. Soft plastic baits like the Flick Shake and Crosstail Shad showed the US market just how high the bar could be raised in the finesse fishing market. Just when everyone thinks they have shown all their cards they bring out something new for anglers to learn and beat the competition with, the Super Pintail.

The Super Pintail was introduced to the market as an awesome new dropshot type bait and while testing it I found it is just that. I also found it could be just as awesome when fished several other ways. This article is going to touch on just a few of these ways along with the equipment we found it to work at its best for each situation.

The first way we fished the bait was the traditional dropshot rig. We started rigging the bait on Lake Fork Flourohybrid 10 pound line with a small Owner dropshot hook. We fished the bait on the Jackall Power Inch Wacky rod with a Daiwa Steez reel. This combo allowed us to fish the bait both fast and slow and detect even the slightest bite. We found the bait worked well with the traditional nose hook rigging but worked just as well rigged on the small Owner SOS hook and made weedless like the Texas rig style. The bait also held up very well after boating several fish over the 2 pound range. We found it held up better than most hand poured of the same type.

One of the other ways we found the bait worked in producing bites was on a small jighead. I had my clients use this style when we had problems catching schooling fish that were chasing bait that were just about the same size as the Pintail. We rigged the bait on the same set up using a 1/4 oz screw lock type jighead. I had the clients work the bait like a small twitch bait then as it reached the larger numbers of schooling fish on the surface drop the bait and let it fall to the bottom. It seldom made it to the bottom without a bite. Once the fish had stopped coming to the surface we worked the same area letting the bait get to the bottom and I had them work it with a slight hopping action while shaking the bait. This also seemed to catch some bigger fish in the school. When fishing this type of situation rigging the bait weightless will also work well for a slower presentation. We used an Owner #2 SOS hook for that style.

One other way we found the bait to work well on was rigged on bladed baits like Spinnerbaits and surface baits. This type of rig worked best on the Jackall Master Stroke rod topped with a Daiwa Steez reel and Lake Fork Flourohybrid in the 26 pound class. This line has the same dia. as about 17 pound in most other brands. I used the bait on the surface/buzzbait first and found it worked well and had an increase in hooking fish when rigged as a trailer. I would just run the Super Pintail nose first up the hook and let the point of the hook come out in the back of the bait. We found alot of fish that would short strike the bait never missed when rigged with the Pintail. I believe the Pintail caused the fish to target the bait more than just the noise made from the blades on the surface because of the life-like action and appearance. We also found the same results when placed on the Spinnerbait as a trailer as well.

One thing we found during the testing process of this bait is Jackall has certainly raised the bar again and made an awesome versatile bait that works in a number of situations and conditions. We feel confident any angler that uses these will feel the same way. Be sure to let us know some of the other ways you guys find to use the bait. If you would like to see these tactics in action feel free to give us a call at Fins-N-Grins Freshwater Adventures and get your adventure started

High Stained Water Along with Falling Water Temps Making Things Tough

With the weather North Alabama has had in the last two weeks things got kind of rough for me and clients. Most of the time if the water gets up on Guntersville and other lakes and the water temps start to drop fast anglers can make a few adjustments and still catch some big fish. When you toss heavy stained water in the mix it makes things alot harder. You have to slow down due to the temperatures falling but when there is alot of stain those baits we use when things get tough have to hit the fish on the nose due to them not being able to see it. Well I made sure to tell clients it was going to be hard and weather was just nasty. Everyone client wanted to hit the water and watch me scramble all day. They were not disappointed at all. We hit the water each day working Jackall TN70 lipless crankbaits in shad colors and did boat a few aggressive fish in a couple of areas. The better bite with better fish seemed to be in areas I found some clearer water in pockets on the Jackall Smash Minnow in Ayu color. One thing I noticed over the last 5-8 trips is each day the bait had to sit longer. By this weekend clients had to let the bait sit around 12-15 seconds twitch the bait once and let it sit again. Working the bait on this time is very slow and even tested my patients but was productive. I did fish some causeway areas and found several good fish on them on the lower end of the lake but those fish seem to need sun for the bite to be better.

Most of the better fish are in shallower water ranging from 1-5 feet with the smaller fish still hanging with the shad in pockets feeding as the shad start to die off. We found some numbers in a couple of pockets that would still topwater baits like the SK Grande' and Bonnie. We also hit a solid numbers day twice on the new Jackall Super Pintail. I will have an article on this awesome little bait in a day or so. We fished the bait, which is designed as a primary dropshot bait, on a small jighead. I would have clients swim the bait a little and twitch it into schooling fish then let the bait fall on slack line. We were amazed at the numbers we boated and the bait saved several trips for me in the last couple of weeks when fishing got tougher.

Hope everyone has had a great week and staying warm. I will be back at it on Guntersville a few days this week before taking a trip or two to the Coosa River for some famous Spotted Bass. One thing to remember is be sure to watch the water when running. With the high water there is alot of stuff floating on the river just under the surface. Also the water temps are falling fast and seem to be ranging from 46-50 in most areas of the lake. I carry some extra clothes in the boat just in case of someone falling into the water. I would suggest this to everyone that is fishing in a boat or on the bank. This time of year we seem to always hear of someone loosing their life due to drowning. Please be safe and let someone know the areas you plan on fishing in case of an emergency. Thank you for your continued support and see you on the water.

I still have a few Christmas Gift Cards at the discount rate. If anyone is interested in getting one please let me know as soon as you can so we will have time to get them ready and sent out. Contact us on the Facebook Fan Page or by e-mail at finsngrinsfishing@hotmail.com for more information.

Lake Guntersville 11-20-09

Got back out today wanting to continue the pattern I found working get onewell on Thursday. Well hit some areas like I did Thursday with the same outlook and places I had not fished in a long time. Well the pattern held up and I ended up having one of the best days on the water than I've had in the late fall in years.
I started hitting grass lines off steep drops near mian lake water and creek channels. I started off fishing the Jackall Muscle 10+ crankbait along the lines catching a solid 18 lb limit in the first hour. I then worked several areas that looked the same culling a few fish along the way. I then moved out just a little deeper and found where the bigger fish were. I changed baits to the Jackall Swimming Ninja(both Tenn shad and Hitch colors) and it was the ticket for the bigger bite. I ended up putting the boat in about 15 feet of water and flat smoked em' on the Ninja. The bite got better as the day went on and clouds began to move in a little.
I ended up the day fishing the Ninja in several areas that had the same type drops and a five fish limit that pushed 29 lbs. on the Cull-M-Rite scales. I did get fewer bites on the Ninja that the keeper bites on the crankbait but it's well worth the wait between bites when you hook one. Hope everyone has a great weekend and looking forward to the holiday. Be sure to remember our discount gift certificates are on sale and going fast. I extended the number we were selling this year to give everyone a chance to get in on the bargin. These are good for trips the entire 2010 season. See you on the water and thanks to everyone for your support.

Lake Guntersville 11-19-09

Today got out kinda late and did something a little new. Had long time friend and client fishing with me and he wanted to test me today. He had asked me what area of the lake I had not fished in awhile and I told him about a creek I had not been in but once or twice all year. He said that was where he wanted to fish and see how I can just put the boat in and find fish in the short 3-4 hours we had before dark.
Well we put the boat in the water and I tied on 4 baits. A Jackall Muscle 10+(shad color), a Flick Shake on a Wacky jig head(Bluegill), a White Spinnerbait, and a Lake Fork Magic Shad. I looked at the map on the GPS found an area I thought they would be near on the pattern and went fishing. Well started working a long point near the mouth of a creek channel and after explaining why I picked that spot set the hook on a solid keeper. I stayed on the trolliing motor and after another 10 mins set the hook on another keeper fish. I tied him on the same color crankbait and about 3 cast later he set the hook on his first keeper. A few cast later another keeper about the same size as the others. We then made a move to duplicate the pattern and only had one on the 2nd stop but it was short. After checking out the map again moved to another area with only about 45 mins left to fish. Sat the boat down and nothing on the crankbait. I picked up the Flick SHake and SMACK! boated 3 more on 3 cast(I love that bait.haha). We noticed some fish coming up after shad that looked to be a little bigger so I pulled out "Kermit"(thats a hollow body frog) and let him work it over some grass patches. About 10 mins of daylight left he set the hook on a better fish and put her in the boat. IN the time we had on water I have not seen much at all we had a great day. Boated a solid limit and he said one of the best learning trips he had been on to date. Another great time on the water with a great guy. See you on the water!
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville 11-18-09

Headed out for a short time today after the cold fronts hit and the temps fell like a rock. I was expecting the fishing to be like it has been in the last few days but it was far from it. I had been following some fish that were alot slower to eat but bigger out of pockets during the last few days as they moved to deeper cover and main points near the mouths or creek channels. Well those fish like in days past were still moving and seem to have made the move to the main lake. I ended up finding sereral groups of fish in 10-18 feet of water and out on ledges and some bigger structure. My better numbers came off Jackall Crosstail Shad(ayu and Green Pumpkin) and Jackall Muscle 15+ crankbaits. The better fish were a bit more sluggish to coax into eating but they were well worth the wait. The Jackall Craw and Swimming Ninja were the baits of choice and boated several really good fish. Best five today would have gone around 26-27 lbs. with one solid kicker fish.
Best advice I could give is if an angler is looking for numbers stay on creek channels and in pockets and move shallow as the day gets longer and water temps warm up. If you want bigger fish don't bother getting out until 10 or so and stay on deep drops and near main lake areas and open water humps. These areas are producing great size but it's hero or zero type fishing. Best of luck to everyone and I will be back at it in the morning. Also thank you for the support and the awesome response on the Christmas Gift Cards. They are going fast so if someone is interested you need to have Santa give us a call. See you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Christmas Gift Certificates are ON SALE now

Just letting everyone know our Christmas Gift Cards are now on sale again this year. There has been an outstanding response as in years past and we have added more to try and accomidate everyone that wants one before they are gone. These trips are sold at a discounted rate and good for use anytime during 2010. We are offering 4,6, and 8 hour trips at the discounted rate as well as something new. Due to alot of demand we opened up our tournament pre-fish trips at the discount as well. These are in very limited number and trips need to be sch. ahead of time to insure we only have one client in a certian tournament event, which is our policy. The certificate must be purchased by Dec 24th to ge tthe discounted rate but to be honest they never last that long. Our regular clients grab alot of them up. Be sure and contact us if your interested and we wil get you taken care of. These make awesome gifts for that angler that has everything and also keeps you from having to drive all over town shopping. Be sure to contact us for more information and we will get everyone lined up. Thanks to all of our WAAY 31 fans for thier continued support.
Capt. Chris Jackson
205-706-2425
finsngrinsfishing@hotmail.com

Fishing Frontal Conditions

When out and about as well aas on the water I believe I hear one qustion more often than any other. That qustion is "how do you deal with weather fronts?" Well to be honest I could get into the scince of it but would rather discuss the tactics and how to approach them. I have however found that fronts tend to effect shallow water, grass type, lakes more than deeper clear lakes. Now don't get me wrong I think it effects all bodies of water but just from my experiance the grass lakes more.
One way I feel I or other guides have a slight advantage on the water over anglers that just fish once or twice a month is we deal with fronts all the time and have to fish during them under extream presure to produce fish day in and day out. If you look at alot of the tour pros you will find before they were full time on tour most were either fulltime or parttime guides. This prepared them to fish under nasty conditions and weather fronts.
There is really 2 ways to produce bites under bad weather fronts and conditions. The first way, and my favorite, is fishing a reaction strike. The best way to do this picking out a couple of baits, getting them ready on the deck, getting in areas the fish should be according to patterns, and fishing hard. I like to tie on baits like the Jackall Muscle 7+, 10+, 15+ or MC series depending on the depth I'm fishing, a bait like a spinnerbait or swim jig, and a topwater bait(only if the water temps are above 50 or so degrees). Now sometimes I will put several "go-to" colors on the deck of each bait so I can switch them fast.
I then get in the areas I have fished in better conditions and have boated fish and fish them fast, makeing several cast to each target before moving to another target area. I then re-fish the area with a couple of other baits to see if I can get the fish to react to the baits or colors. One thing that is very important while doing this is watch everything around you for clues of where fish might have moved and know what your bait is doing every second. If you get a strike or catch a fish remember where the bait was and what it was doing when the fish hit. This is very important to remember so you can duplicate this in the area as well as other areas. SO if you were ripping a crankbait out of grass at a fast pace and the fish hit just as you stopped the bait in the grass you can re-create that action on your other cast and catch a few more fish. I have also found if you are fishing a lake that is deeper or fishing structure type things like lay downs or stumps, the fish tend to be real close to cover during fronts. I always try to hit things when fishing during fronts. If your fishing stumps and the fish hit just as your bait slammed into it then remember what side of the stump it was on and you can pin point areas that will be non-productive and pass them by while saving some time.
The second way I fish during fronts is very productive and if you have found fish in an area while reaction fishing you can re-work the same areas with this tactic and sometimes get a few more bites. This way of fishing is very SLOWWWWW! I choose baits like Lake Fork 10" worms, the Hyperfreak series of plastics, big jigs, or spinnerbaits fished on the bottom. Now I also do one thing that takes some time and practice to get the hang of but I will fish a deeper crankbait when fishing grass lakes and finesse it like a worm. The biggest key to this slow tactic is tossing the bait out and let it soak. I might move it an inch or two at a time and let is sit as long as 3-5 mins between moving it. This is very hard for alot of anglers to do when they dont have confidence in it or the area they are in but very effective.
If you get on the water and conditions change try one of these tactics and see if they don't work for you. I can almost assure you anyone can turn a bad day on the water to a day to remember. There is nothing better than going back to the ramp on a day that was tough on other anglers knowing you put some fish in the boat when others couldn't. If you want to see these tactics used in person besure to give us a call and we can set up a trip to show you how well they work.

Jackall Swimbait Information

I have recieved several e-mails asking about the Jackall swimbait models and other equiptment to use them. So here is a small review of each bait, tactics they are used for, and things you need to know to get you started.

First one of the most popular baits in the Jackall line up is the Giron. Now this bait may not be the number one seller as far as stats go( I don't know those numbers) but I see more anglers buy and fall in love with it at more shows than most any other hard swimbait on the market. First thing is you need to fish it on a good solid rod with a Mod/fast tip on it. I use either the Jackall Rushburn(6'11") rod or the Daiwa 7'4" swimbait rod. Rod choice depends on how deep I am fihsing the bait. I use a slower gear reel like the Daiwa Zillion cranking reel and Lake Fork FlouroHybrid 26 or 32 lb line. In the spring I fish this bait a couple of ways but most often swimming it over grass beds where fish are starting to get ready to spawn. The key to this bait is fish it very slow and don't over work it. One other way this bait is awesome is "bed fishing". When I find a bass on bed I cast it well past the bed and work the bait up to it slow. Once it is near the bed stop it and let it fall. The bait will sit on the hooks and not fall over. If this doesn't key the big female to strike then pull it back in and place a very small spot of lead tape on the underside if the nose. This will cause the bait to nose over and look to be feeding on the bottom when it is stopped. Then repeat the steps before and let it sit in the bed. I have only seen one fish not strike it in this manner. One other way to fish it is topwater. Toss the bait out hold the rod tip up and wake the bait back to the boat. I also sometimes, twitch it as I work it back to the boat. It will trigger alot of strikes when other baits won't.

Another hot bait bait is the Jackall Mikey. This bait comes in 3 sizes and several colors. I have boated fish on every color they make and every size. The Jr. size is great and will boat alot of fish from 2 lbs to fish well above 7 lbs. I work the bait on the same rods except on the Jr I use a Jackall Master Stroke rod. It has a little faster tip and makes it easier to cast. I like to fish it over grass and laydowns working it like a wake bait or just under the surface. The Sr version is nothing short of awesome for bigger fish. YOu will get alot less bites but if you are looking for a huge fish this is the bait to have. I have boated several fish in the 9-11 lb range on this bait in the last 2 years.

One bait that doesn't get alot of attention but is most likely my favorite is the Dagored. This bait is a jointed bait with a small prop on the back. It is used for topwater as a wake type bait and has won me alot of money over the years on waters all over the country. I have boated huge largemouth and spots on the bait but also had great numbers of smallmouth on it. This bait was the main reason I became a part of Jackall several years ago. When I first started buying them you couldnt get them in the US. I ordered them from an on-line tackle company(that I should own stock in by now.LOL) in Japan. WHen I first met Kota he asked me if I knew of Jackall baits? I opened up my box and showed him one section full of Dagored baits. He laughed and asked how I got them and the rest was history.

Finally the latest in the Jackall Hard Swimbait line is the Sride. This bait is one of the most versital swimbaits I have ever fished. I use a longer rod like the Daiwa Steez 7'4" swimbait rod to fish it. YOu can fish this bait deep and slow roll it and one level or you can fish it like a jerkbait. The jerking action will trigger strikes when most baits will not. on one snap of the wrist the bait will "shoot" up and in one direction, the next pull it will dive and move 4 feet in the other direction. This bait looks just like a fish chasing shad or if you let it fall some after a few pulls it looks like one that is struggling to stay alive. One other way to fish it is on topwater in the same way. Work it like a "Spook"type bait and it will produce great fish as well.

The last bait in the line is a "Soft" swimbait called the Swimming Ninja. This bait has recieved alot of press in the last year. I fish it on the bigger rod due to it's weight but the action is best on lighter line or briad. Learn to count it down and while holding the rod tip down slowly reel the bait back to the boat. every now and then vary the speeds and let the bait fall as well. This has triggered several bites in an area that has slowed after a few fish. This bait has some of the one of the best actions I have seen in this weight and size with hooks made into it.

I hope this kinda helps get you started in the swimbaits from Jackall and feel free to ask qustions or send comments of what you have experianced while fishing these baits. Biggest thing to remember is this type of fishing is for bigger bites so numbers may drop some but the size is well worth it. Many of my clients tell me after fishing swimbaits the main reason they have not boated fish on them was they had not fished them long enough. Just stick with it and they will produce and your confidence will in this tactic will grow. See you on the water
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Fishing 11-05/10-09 Report

Well sorry the reports took awhile but really not much has changed. The bite did get more solid and I found some "rat fish"(for those of you not around Guntersville, thats fish caught on a hollow body frog/rat over matted grass). I was happy to find a ton of fish in the 4-7 lb range up river and bite was very solid on Thursday. I checked them on Friday before a tournament on the 7th and they were still there and eating.
Sat. I fish a club event and with the group of guys that were there told my fishing partner for the day it would take atleast 20 lbs to even think about a check but more like a 25+lb bag to win. I made a very long run up to the area only stopping one place on the way to the fish in the mat. after smoking through the area without a bite moved to the mats. I told my partner we would either win or lose there, which has been my attitude on tournament fishing the last 3 years. We busted 3 keeper fish almost as soon as we stopped and things were looking good. Now this is the stupid part of my thinking, I knew it would take atleast 20 lbs so 3 pound fish would do me no good. With that being said and not fising for any points I never even put the fish in the live well. Keepers here are about 3 lb fish. He and I tossed back about 9 3 lb fish and never got a better bite. We never left(which was a mistake on my part) but I made the dession.
Anyway after time ran out we made the run back near the launch to finish up on a community spot with a big swimbait. Without a bite there we tossed it on the trailer. Well after talking to a few guys and tell them we tossed back 16-17 lbs because we knew it was no good anyway. they said "man none of the guys did good today. Now most of these guys bad days are 20 lb bags so I didnt think a thing about it. Well after the weigh in was over and we were putting up rods a guy walked up and said he couldnt believe we tossed back fish. I asked why and he told us we would have won it. Winning weight was 13 and change. Yes, I know we were stupid but the caliber of the anglers we were against we knew 3 lb fish were no good. Guess we live and learn.LOL
On Sunday went with a buddy in his ride due to mine having a few issues and it was tough. We had several bites on the frog but the better bite was still just keepers on the Flick Shake and Live Magic Shad. Monday was just an awesome day. The Lake Fork Magic Shad and Hyperfreak were the ticket off drops and docks. Best five was every bit of 27 lbs.. The fish ate all day with the better fish coming in the later day. ON Tuesday it was a great bite but nasty weather. I think I even saw ducks looking for cover and frogs with straws in thier mouth to keep from drowning.LOL Boat stayed full of water most of the day but the fish ate as good as Monday.
I am thinking to start off Wed very slow, being it will be windy with a huge post front smacking the fish iin the head. Guess we will see what the day holds. I want to thank all of you for the kind words and support to not only my family but also the site. We could not do this without you guys/gals. If you have a story or fishing report let me know and I will post it here. Thanks agian and see you on the water.
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville 11-03/05-09

The temps are getting stable and the water temps are getting back to normal for this time of year. The week so far has been up and down as far as catching fish but two days of the report I was fishing areas I have not fished in years and working on some new stuff. Today I got out looking at some open water stuff and trying alot of baits in the same areas. I fished one roadbed that gave me my biggest fish on a Lake Fork Live Magic Shad that was fished on a C-Rig. The winds made me have to add some heavy weight to get the feel for bottom. I did get some bites on the Flick Shake but they were very hard to detect and not as big a fish.
The crankbait bite is getting better on the open water areas off deeper drops. I have been fishing the Jackall Muscle 15+ crankbait running the bait into structure on the drops. Most of the hits have been solid keepers and I think only 2 short fish on this tactic. One thing is to fish that bite you have to have the mind set you are only going to get a few bites all day but they are the good bites people look for.
I will be on Guntersville the rest of the week working on some things then hope to spend the weekend getting ready to fish the "Wounded Warriors" event for the Semper Fi Task Force. They do a great thing beinging over 60 wounded MArines and thier families to North Alabama for alot of awesome events and to show our thanks for everything they do. We will be doing this fising event on Lake Wheeler and it is always a blast!

Guntersville 10-30-09 Report

Well while looking at the weather last night they said high winds anthey were not kidding! I put the boat in the water in the mid-lake section and wanted to fish some open stuff in the nasty wind for one reason, practice making fish bite in bad conditions. The morning started off kinda slow with water temps still in the low 60's and the water levels at about normal for this time of year. I also noticed the current was smoke'n. I hit some high spots on the mid section with several colors of JAckall Muscle 15+ cranks with Firetiger being the best and Chart/Purple pulling a close 2nd. I then noticed the bite got lighter as the day got longer. I switched gears a little and started working a 1oz spinnerbait(white/chart) off the edges of the humps. I fished it a little strange though, I would toss the bait out then after it hit the bottom slow roll it while picking up the rod tip. After the rod reached about 11 o'clock I would drop the tip and kill the bait. The would knock slack in the line everytime they hit it. As the winds got worse and the water conditions went with it and became stained on the shallow tops I made a move.
While fishing the blade I got to thinking about the days I spent on Lake Champlain and how I learned to fish plastics in the wind there. Well I didnt really care about the bite but wanted to practice more than anything and gaining feel in the winds so I hit the deeper ledges and sections of submerged grass I had found while riding the other day. I knew the shallow bite would be off due to the water color so I thought about how the winds didnt effect the deeper water. I moved to the grass sections(which are still super green and still growing) and pulled out the small jigs and dropshot. I would position the boat on the flat so I could drift, tossed out a drift sock to slow everything down and did the ol' "Yankee drag". Yes I made that term up from hearing about draging tubes up north with this tactic.LOL Well my gut paid off bigtime. I would make a pass catching about 2-4 fish every time then crank up go back to the top and start again. Ended up with great numbers on both baits on 4 different sections of grass before calling it a day.
Guess my best 5 would have been a solid sack of about 23 lbs give or take. For the conditions I was very glad to have that and it was not expected. I did learn one thing from today that I learned at Lake Champlain. This bite is funny and if you dont do it much you will loose alot of fish until you get tuned into the hang of it. That being said if you are going to try this expect to loose some before you get good at it and once you get the feel do it about twice a week reguardless if you plan on catching fish or not to stay on top of it.
Hope everyone is going to have a great and safe Halloween weekend and remember to dress warm. They are calling for some cold days ahead. See you on the water.
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Fall on Lake Wheeler(Upper Section)

Fall is in the air and Lake Wheeler is getting ready to turn loose.Fall on Wheeler is one of my favorite times to fish the lake. There are millions of bait fish in every pocket on the lake and an angler that can adjust and ready weather patterns can "smoke em'"! Here is some of the things I look for on the lake and the baits I will always have on the deck when heading to this great lake.

To start there are several places to start on Lake Wheeler. If an angler wants to fish more of a river system type fishing then putting in at Ditto Landing is the best ramp to start. I like to use this ramp when fishing up river to save alot of time and gas. WHen you come out of the ramp you will find it's a short run to the Guntersville Dam and some awesome "drift" fishing. Anglers can pull up to the Dam tail race and drift back down with heavy weights on the bottom. Almost every pass is a sure bet for a fight. Now it might be Stripbass, Smallmouth, Drum, Catfish, or Largemouth but it's a blast none the less. When fishing high on the lake I prefer to target two types of Bass. The Largemouth and Spotted Bass are both abundant on this end but fished completly different. The largemouth, being the biggest most of the time are found in just about every small pocket and creek on the water. I look for wood more than anything to fish them. There are several types of baits I key on when searching for a pattern. I like to start off with a War Eagle Spinnerbait in either white or white/chart. with number 5-7 blades. I use this rigged on a fast 7.1 Daiwa Steez reel with a Jackall Master Stroke rod. I get in some of the bigger creeks and hit the bank. Put your trolling motor at a mid speed and start tossing the bait as close to cover as you can. I love to find laydowns and small areas where the bank is lined with stumps. I notice during high sun or presure the fish stick very tight to cover. Once you find fish in a section notice where it is in the creek(ie. in a bend to right or left, shallow side, more or less sun). This pattern will hold up throughout the entire creek area. This way you can fish areas harder and only work productive water.

Once you find the fish on the blade then you can pick an area clean by slowing down and working the area hard. I like to do this by rigging a small black/blue jig with a green pumpkin Jackall craw on a Jackall Delta Spec Flipping rod. I also like to use a Daiwa 6.3 Steez reel with Lake Fork Flourohybrid 39lb line. I slow the boat down and look for the shade side of each part of cover I can find. Sometimes you might have to hit the smae spot a couple of times to trigger a strike but the work will pay off. I find this tactic gets alot of the less aggressive fish and an angler can upgrade his limit by pounds instead of ounces.

For anglers that like alot of bites fishing for the Spotted Bass is the most productive. Now don't get me wrong alot of Spotted Bass on this lake are huge, with some pushing the 5lb mark. I like to fish for these on almost any rocky main lake point where current is present. I have found current plays a big roll in how the fish are positioned and how aggressive they are. If there is current you can position your boat on the down river side of a point and make long cast above the break. Then just let the bait come back to the boat while bouncing it off the rocks. I like to do this with either a "shakyhead" and small worm or with a dropshot. On the drop shot I use either a small(3.5) Lake Fork Live Magic Shad or Jackall Crosstail Shad. When looking for fewer but bigger bites I move to either the Jackall Muscle 10+ crankbait, jig or a Carolina rig. On the C-rig I like to beef up the bait to something like a Lake Fork Topdog Lizard in Green Pumpkin. One thing I have found that helps is drop a little of the tail in some garlic dye. This helps the fish hold on to the bait a little better in some cases. Another way to find the Spotted Bass is on docks. I love to flip docks with a Jackall Flick Shake worm rigged on a Wacky Jighead. This bait will catch fish anywhere and they can't stand this bait when it falls near them. Just find the shade lines and get the bait as far back in them as you can. An angler can also get a little extra when bonus when a largemouth hides from the sun as well.

This is just a couple fo ways I fish the upper end of Lake Wheeler. For additional tips and to see these tactics used give us a call at Fins-N-Grins Freshwater Adventures to set up a trip. I will be posting tactics on fishing the mid and lower end of Lake Wheeler in the coming weeks. Be sure to check back with us everyday. Thank you for your continued support and good fishing.

Capt. Chris Jackson
God Bless
Phil.4:13

Frog/Rat Fishing 101

After my trip to Lake Champlain I learned this is not a tactic just used in the Southern states but also on lakes up North. Frog fishing(aka "Rat fishing") is something I learned to do years ago and love it. I get tons of clients from all over the US coming to Guntersville to learn this tactic and some of the tricks we use here. I thought I would pass them along to our readers and hope this will help anglers out in getting better hook up's as well as some tricks to over come those presured fish.
First thing I notice is alot of anglers that don't do this often don't really know the terms. When I am talking "frog fishing" I am talking about using a topwater soft plastic from like a Lake Fork Frok or Jackall Mask and swimming it over topped out grass or areas where the grass is matted but also covered with very little water(kind of a sloppy look). The other fishing is "Rat fishing" this term is used by those "old school" anglers that fish soft hollow body frogs over fully topped out mats.
When talking frog type fishing make sure you have the right equiptment for the job. I like to use a heavy rod with an extra fast tip to cast the bait a long way without a weight. This bait is awesome for working areas where grass is topped out in spots and "buzzbaits" will not work. To be honest the Lake Fork frog has almost replaced the buzzbait in my boat. I like to use Lake Fork FH Flourohybrid line in 32 lb test. Now if the grass is really thick under the surface I use braid in atleast 50 lb test. The braid will assist you in cutting the grass after a hook set. I like to make long cast as not to get too close to the areas I want to fish. One reason for this is alot of these fish tend to be just under the surface of the water and they get alot of presure. After making the cast just bring the bait back to the boat with a steady pace. Sometimes you will want to "pop" your rod tip up and make the bait splash a little. This will trigger strikes and bring fish from a distance. Also after a pop I sometimes let the bait fall just under the surface for a second. This will also trigger some high presured fish to bite when they are following it but will not commit to it. The biggest thing I can say is dont be affraid to work the bait and make it do alot of things until you get the fish to tell you what they want.
When an angler encounters more of a matted area the frog works but the ol' "rat style" fishing works alot better. I like to use a strong rod like a Jackall Delta Spec or Daiwa 7'4" swimbait rod. Both of these rods work well and have alot of backbone to pull those big fish out of some of the nasty mats. I top it with a Daiwa 6.3:1 reel. One thing to remember is always use braid line. I use atleast 65 lb braid but have been known to use 80. I do this for one reason. Alot of fish tend to "stack up" in the grass and if you have to go in and get them from the grass you will spook the rest of the school and not get another bite from that area. The areas are sometimes very small(sometimes smaller than 10 feet) so this is important when fishing tournaments. I have worked miles of grass for hours without a bite then hit one "spot" that will produce 25+ pounds in 5 cast. I use several types of hollow frogs when picking my baits. I love the River 2 sea baits but have had alot of luck on the Spro baits as well. I have also seen color is not that big of a deal but sometimes it will change the way the fish will hold the bait. I tend to stick to about 3 colors Green, Black, and White. When looking at a bait also don't just look at the bottom of the bait. I like them to be the same color on top as on bottom. I do this because more often than not the frog will flip over while you work it.
There are alot of little tricks I use to stay ahead of other anglers. I always have some rattles in my bait and that's not a big secret. The kind I use might be though. Sometimes I use jig rattles(like the ones you see on the bands). I cut one of the bands off and use the small band to thread it over the hook and let it dangle under the bait like legs. I do this on both hooks. Also trim the rubber legs on the bait some. This will make a fish keying on the legs to hit the hooks more often. I also use glass worm rattles and place them inside the body of the frog. This makes a bait loud and easy to track on the mats. Now for some old school stuff, my dad used small bells. He would tie a bell(like the ones you can find in the arts/craft section of a store) on the front of the frog. He said this made alot of fish attack the bait from a distance.
If you find that you are getting bites in an area but the fish are not taking the bait I make several changes. First I change the color of the frog. If that doesn't work then down size the bait. This is one thing I have seen make alot of difference in how many fish eat the bait. I have also worked an area catching fish then switch to the smaller bait to get a couple of more stikes in the same area. The other thing I like to use is always have a follow bait on the deck of the boat ready. If a fish hits the bait and you hold it in that spot shaking it and it will not return to hit it again follow it with another bait. I like to use something like a Jackall Cover Craw or the new Sasuteki craw. I rig these Texas style with a pegged heavy Tungsten weight. If I miss a fish of have one just "slap" at the bait I reel it in fast and follow it by tossing the creature bait in the hole the fish made.. Just toss the bait in and let it fall to the bottom. alot of times it will not make it to the bottom.
I hope this gives anglers a little more insight on fishing topwater mats and helps give you an edge the next time your on the water. If you want to see these tactics used and a few more tricks I use on the water be sure to give us a call. We will be more than happy to get you on the water and show you these in action. See you on the water. FISH ON!!!!

Lake Guntersville(8-26-09)

The lake has had some heavy winds in the last week or so and that has made the large grass mats hard to fish on the main lake. They are still fishable just hard to fish with topwater frogs. The fish are still under the mats and aggressive but have a hard time getting through the mat to eat the bait. After a few blow-ups I went to the Jackall craw and started flipping the same areas. This produced numerous fish in the 4-6 pound range. The fish are just below the mats so you better be ready to set the hook as soon as it breaks through.

On the other hand the numbers bite for schooling fish is just crazy right now. This is a great time to load up those young anglers and get them on the water. You can pull to just about any openwater hump or creek channel and see loads of bait fish. Once you find these bait fish use some type of blade bait like a small spinnerbait and just go to town. Now these fish are not very big but alot of fun. For a bigger bite in the schools you can use a swimbait like the Netbait BK Swimmer. I like to work this bait one of two ways, first I slow swim it below the bait fish, if that does not work then I work it faster up to the surface then let the bait fall. The bait does not make it to the bottom often.

I will be back out on the water on trips the rest of the week so the updates will be better as the week goes on. Right now target ledges and creek channels with big swimbaits, jigs, and Flick Shake worms. These baits were the most productive so far this week. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Champlain-Day 2 BASS Open

As many of you know that fish big events drawing a early number on day one hurts on day two. I started the day boat number 179 of 181 with a blast off about an hour after the first flight. This is not a bad thing though, I had about 2 hours longer to fish than the first flight. The second day weather was nothing like the first day. The winds were smoking out of the south at daybreak and it was gong to be a long ride to my first spot. After rolling through the check in line me and my co-anlger made a start to our spot. Over an hour later we made it to find it was getting blasted with hard winds.

I stuck with the plan and we started with the drop shot. Today is starting alot slower than the day before. I had to work for every bite and got and to my dismay lost 3 more fish before my limit was in the boat. My co-angler put his limit in the boat and was working on culling as I got my limit but with the conditions I made a move. I moved to another section on the reef I had found in deeper water and started to cull but only by ounces. I then moved to another grass line further south not getting a sniff at my baits. With only 2 hours left I made the run back to my first stop on a gut feeling I had. This was a good thing but not for me. My co-angler boated a huge 5 lb smallmouth to cull his only 2 lb fish in the box. I did move up a little but the lost fish were still haunting me.

With about an hour and a half to run back I made the run to the ramp. I pushed the boat hard to get back and was closer to the ramp with more time so I hit an area I found in practice to finish up. We both boated another limit of fish but neither of us culled up. We then made the short run to the ramp and made it in with only 4 mins to spare. My co-angler had a great bag with 15+lbs and made a huge move from down in the 100's on day one to the top 50 for a check. I moved up some but the fish I lost cost me the cut and a check.

I was happy for both my co-anlgers making a check and doing well and also happy I had traveled over 1400 miles from home to a lake I had never seen and had a limit each day. I learned a ton about Smallmouth fishing and how they do it up north. There is a huge difference between fishing up there and in the south. The day two baits were the Lake Fork swimbait and Jackall Crosstail shad again. My co-angler also had a couple of fish on a jerkbait(not sure on the brand).

All in all a great trip and a huge THANK YOU goes out to all my sponsors without them I could never be able to do this. Jackall Lures, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, Frazier Marine Group and Daiwa. Also a huge thanks goes to the Peet family(Don, Will, Eric, and Mandy) there is no ammount of words that I could ever say to give back the things they have done for me and my family. My Mom, Dad, and Wife Beth for all the support and pushing me to become a better angler each day. The last thank you goes to the one that deserves it most and without I could never be living this dream, our Lord and savior. I also want to thank everyone of my fans and followers for the support and well wishes. Together we will make it to the Elites and together we will celebrate the big win. FISH ON!!!

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Champlain- BASS Open Day 1

Well today was the day of the first day of the BASS Northern Open on Lake Champlain. Time to put the practice to use and get things started on the right track of the 3 day event. I ended up drawing boat number 3 at the meeting so I had to get up and ready to be in the water at 4:30. For those of you that know me I always like to be one of the first boats in the water to allow for time to relax and take care of any problems that might come up. Well, I didn't know this until later but it was a good thing I did that. My co-angler was placing his buddy in the water and they ended up getting into a mess of traffic at the ramp. This would not be a problem except it left me without a co-angler and I missed my number and flight out of the launch waiting on him. I just shook it off and after he arrived made the run to the area I found in practice.

Once there I sat the boat down with only a couple fo other guys near me. Things were starting a little slow but I knew not to panic. I stuck the first fish and it was pulling hard! After it did not make a jump knew it had to be a Pike. After getting it to the boat saw the teeth and got my bait back. My co-angler hooked up two in the time I was getting the fish in and un-hooked. He boated his on a drop shot. After not seeing the sun come out from the cloud cover I changed to the drop shot and had a limit in the boat in less than an hour. My co-angler did the same. We both worked the area hard and both upgraded a couple of times. I had 3 fish over 4 come off at the boat and one break my line in the grass. This is just the price you pay for fishing light line in heavy cover. I found in practice I had to fish the light stuff to get the better bites so I took the risk. Little did I know how much those fish would "haunt" me in the next few days.

After we both upgraded a couple of times I made the run back south to get closer to the ramp. This was both a good and bad thing. When I moved back into open water it was nothing short of nasty. We were in 4-5 footers for over an hour working out way south. I had parts coming loose on the boat and after spearing several waves almost lost my front sonar. I stopped one point above the launch site with an hour to go before check in. We fished there until we had about 45 to get back. We then made the run the rest of the way back and ended up getting back sooner than I expected. I ended my day with 25 mins to spare but was not the only one to do this.

I got my fish out and after hitting the scales had 12.1 to show for my efforts. To be honest I knew I was only a few pounds shy of where I wanted to be and those fish I lost cost me that but I was still proud to have a limit on a lake 1400 miles from home. My co-angler ended his day with a solid sack of 12.7 pounds and both of us were still in the hunt for day two.

I boated all but one of my fish on the Jackall Crosstail shad(Ayu color) rigged on a drop shot. The other bait was the Lake Fork Magic Shad I used alot in practice. The thing that I feel made the drop shot more productive was the sun. When we fished in practice the sun was out each day except one. One the first day of the tournament the sun only came out for about a half an hour, which was when I caught the fish on the swimbait. My co-angler being from the north, knew this already and started out with the drop shot and never put it down. He was also fishing the Crosstail shad as well.

Bass Northern Open-Lake Champlain Practice

Well the 2nd of 3 events on the BASS Northern Open Trail was held last week at Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, Ny.. I made the trip in one 23 hour drive getting to our rental house on Sat. afternoon. After getting things put away I hit the water to start looking for areas and learn my way around the lake.

I found this lake to be the biggest lake I have ever encountered(at 217,000 acres of water)so I made the dession to find an area and devote my time to learning that section as much as I could. I hit the upper section of the "New York Arm". I found a section on the map that had several reef areas on it and hit that the first day. From reading reports in the past I would be fishing for Smallmouth Bass this far north. I wanted to cover water fast to learn about the area so I picked up the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad and started working the grass. After about an hour I found several bites and one good fish. I then worked the area with a drop shot a little deeper boating several better fish on the Jackall Crosstail Shad.

On day two of practice I went back to that area and hit other sections on the reef. I also hit some other reef areas in the 10 or so miles of the arm. I found the pattern to be working well and my good friend from Chicago, Will Peet had a couple of solid bites there as well. Will is fishing his first Bassmasters Open at the young age of 16 and I could not be more proud of him. He has come along way from the young angler I met several years ago. We made the choice to find other sections and do some more scanning with the sonar. We found several other grass lines in 12-30 feet of water to check on the next few days.

One the 3rd day of practice I moved into the Vermont section of the lake and found the pattern I was fishing to be holding up there as well. We found several areas there but none holding fish that had the size that the New York section had. One thing was for sure I knew I was fishing the right baits and colors. I burnned through alot of Magic Shad and Crosstail shad baits. I wanted to try some other baits but found that bite to be too strong to change up. I then made the choice to move back to the New York section and pick it apart even more. I spent the rest of the day looking at the sonar and marking areas with fish.

Day 4 of practice I made the run from the ramp in Plattsburgh to see just how long it would take to get there in bad water. We put the boat in the water and after rounding the point at the ramp hit flat water. I burned up the lake making the run to the area in 21 minutes. I fished the areas I had marked on the sonar and found several deeper places that produced solid fish. The winds got up as we fished and the water became almost too rough to fish. Being the conditions were different that when I had hit the reef in other days of practice I wanted to check and see if that had an effect. I went to one section I had marked and caught fish and after 3 cast put one in the boat. I knew then that the fish would hold there in atleast several types of conditions. The run was good for me to time coming back and to give you an idea, what took me 21 minutes in good water took 2 hours to run back in 4 footers. This was something I needed to know forsure. To explain a little, finding fish on Lake Champlain is not that hard. Getting to them and back to the ramp during a tournament on time is where the hard part comes in. I have seen a ton of anglers in my research that have had great sacks of fish only to be late or not make it back at all. This was something that I did not want to happen to me in my first Northern event.

On the last day of practice I made the run to the Inland Sea area and looked at some grass lines and drops I found on the map. I found several places that looked good but also saw a ton of boats as well. I wish I had more time to fish this area but that is a down fall to only getting a few days to practice. I know there are some areas in there that would be great and produce alot of fish but without having time to pick them apart I was not willing to "gamble" on them.

I got all my baits in line and loaded the boat ready for battle. I want to thank all of my sponsors for thier help in this event and the Peet family for doing all they did for me, without them I would not even be fishing this event. I also need to say a huge thank you to Curt from Jackall Lures and Tracy from Lake Fork Trophy Lures for getting me the baits I needed in such a hurry and making my stress level go down. You guys are the BEST! Be sure to check out the rest of my tournament blog coming up in the next few days.

Importance of Logs and Fishing

You know after years of being a Police Officer and then making Detective one thing I learned was "if it's not on paper, it did not happen." I took this to my fishing career and started making logs of every fishing trip. When I started I found I had tons of information that was just plain useless and some things I needed to add until I finally got it right and found what worked best for me. Now I'm not saying this is a perfect log but you can take this information and subtract or add to it to make a log that fits you the best.

First thing I started keeping up with was weather. Now that doesn't mean to just put sunny or cloudy on the log. I break it down into sections. I list each type of conditions under the weather section. Things like Barometric pressures(and if it is falling or rising as the day goes on), wind(both speed and direction throughout the day), cloud cover(or lack there of), sunny/rainy periods, and outside temps at the start and finish of the day.

Next I list water conditions. I list starting and finishing surface temps. numerous anglers pay attention to water temps but I take it one step further. I use not only my temp gauge on my boat but also one I picked up at a store in the cooking section. Most every person that cooks meat in a stove has one but I wouldn't suggest taking the one out of the kitchen, the person in charge of cooking might get a little upset. Once you place it in the water drop it down about 6 feet or so and you will get the "real" water temp. You will be surprised what the difference is between it and the surface temp. I also list water levels and if current is being pulled and pushed. What I mean by "pulled and Pushed" is if the water you are fishing has a dam on both ends. Check the times of running water on both ends. Sometimes dams will run water on the top end and not be pulling on the bottom. This is very key on some situations and tactics used to fish deeper water. Also always check the water levels at the start and end of the day. You can do this by calling the lower dam or just look at the pier when you launch and take out you boat. Anglers also want to pay close attention to the water color. Make sure to watch this in every area you go to and note any changes throughout the day. I have seen the water stained in one section of the lake and not at another or an area clear up as the day goes on. Last one thing that is over looked way to often, boat traffic. This can make an area non-productive fast especially shallow water fish.

Next I look at conditions when myself or a client hook a fish. I make a note of this and attach it to the picture of the fish along with the depth the fish was at when hooked. I also note what the bait was doing(ie.sitting still, moving, being pulled in and rate of speed). This can be VERY important when working the area days later with other conditions. To put this in simple terms if you find you are catching fish in an area when the clouds are heavy and presure is falling with a faster retrieve or "hopping" a bait on the bottom. Then you return to the same area when the sun is out on a high pressure day try slowing the bait down or keeping it on the bottom. This can sometimes get bites in the area that most anglers would just say the fish are there because of the conditions. EVERY TIME a fish is hooked on my boat I note each condition in the log on the picture. Once you do this for awhile you will start to see patterns form and you can hit areas at certain times during tournaments so you don't waste time on a spot that will not produce when the conditions don't match.`

The last thing in the log for the trip is one thing that seems obvious but often over looked. The baits you use during the day. I write down what works as well as what did not. The best way to keep up with the baits used during a day is don't put them back when you change them. Just toss them in the floor of the boat, put them in a tray, or in a box. This will not only help you keep track of what you use but also keep you tackle organized after you have time to place it in the right boxes at the end of the day and not be rushed. If I'm fishing soft plastics I always toss them in the floor. Main reason is I never want to litter the water with used plastics that take years to dissolve but I also to keep up with what color is working best. If I look down and see that there are 20 junebug worms in the floor and only 5 green pumpkin then chances are green pumpkin was not very productive that day. If a bite slows down in an area I either change the type of bait with the same color, the size of the exact same bait, or vary the color just a bit(ie change from plain junebug to junebug/red flake) to see if I can get a few more bites in the area before giving up on that spot.

I know from experience keeping logs are not easy and numbers of people do it for a month or so but if you stick to it you will be able to look back to years worth of information and see solid patterns for every condition and time of year before ever putting your boat in the water. This is a huge thing for anglers that don't get much time on the water and want to make the best of the time they have. Now like I said in the start of this article it's not the only way to make up a log but feel free to use all this information and build on it to fit your needs. With the age of computers you can use hundreds of programs loaded on your computer and build on them the way I did. I now can punch in conditions or times of year into my laptop and find areas of the lake to start out and build from for every trip. This information is time consuming but once you start it is easy and invaluable.

Guntersville Fishing Last Week of July

This has been one of the best years I have seen on Lake Guntersville in a long time and even the slower days have been very productive. The "schooling" fish are up on top and feeding like it's the fall. I have had a mixed bag of clients in the last few trips with some wanting size and some looking for numbers and both have left the docks happy. The numbers bite has been doing well on several baits like the Jackall MC60SR, Mikey Jr., Mask Frog and Lake Fork Live Magic Shad. I did notice the better fish in the schools have come off the Jackall Dagored and Bowstick but fewer bites. Most of the bigger schools have been found on main grass lines all over the lake but the biggest areas of fish and most consistant bites from areas in the mid-lake area.

The deep bite has been hit and miss but when it's on it's been ON! One thing I noticed that made a huge impact on the deeper bite was the sun. We fished one area in more than 25 feet of water with no bites in an hour the returned when the sun had been up for two hours and hit one big fish after another fishing the same baits as we did before the sun hit it. The main reason I did this was to show the client first hand that, just because they don't bite at one time doesn't mean they have moved but that deeper fish tend to need a certian weather patterns to trigger bites and feeding at certian times of the year. To be honest it's not hard to find out these things or the things it takes to make an area productive. Just simply pay notice the conditions when you get on a good area and fish there when conditions change. This does take alot of time on the water but once you can find the conditions that tend to "fire" fish up in an area then move to another area like it and check those well. You will find that there are special times you can load the boat and when the weather is not on your side for that area don't bother going to it. Spend time on an area you have found the bite to be strong for that weather. This is why it is VERY important to keep logs of every fishing trip(good and bad).

I will be doing a blog later this week talking about what I have found to be important in keeping logs and why those things have helped me in being able to just hit areas that the most productive for that pattern and save alot of time on running and spend more time fishing. Be sure before you head out you can check the weather on any lake in the state at www.waaytobetterfishing.com or also look on that site for on-water updates from my Twitter account (Fins_N_Grins)while my clients and I are out looking for that trophy Guntersville "toad". Be safe and see you on the water!

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Report for the Week

This week has been great and weather for the most part keeping the fish in the areas and eating. I have had several trips this week and clients wanting several types of trips. Some wanting numbers, some wanting to learn new tactics, and some looking for that "fish of a lifetime". Being a guide on Lake Guntersville, I am blessed to be able to deliver a chance to all of this.

My numbers trips have been nothing short of happy with the schoolers eating like it's the fall. We found schools of Spotted Bass, Largemouth, and Stripe in several areas. The Spotted Bass are deeper but coming in huge numbers with an angler being able to catch 30+ and never move the boat as fast as you can get the bait back to them. The Largemouth and Stripe are on the ledges and there are some solid keeper fish mixed in but for the most part alot of smaller fish. On the Spotted Bass, we have boated them this week on a couple of baits. The best being the Jackall Crosstail shad and Flick Shake on a drop shot. I rig this bait on a light 10lb Lake Fork FlouroHybrid line and look for schools of fish in about 20-40 feet of water. Once you find the school then drop the baits down on them(just above the school) and watch it on the sonar. When you see the fish move to the bait on the sonar, set the hook. You really dont have to watch them eat the bait but it's fun and anglers don't miss near as many fish. The Wacky Jig Head rigged with the 5.8 and 6.8 Flick Shake is working well also. The schooling Largemouth have been coming off just about anything you can toss out in them. We have used Jackall Muscle 7+ and 10+ crankbaits in light colors, and SK Grande' topwater baits. The bigger fish have come on the Dagored and Bowstick. You will get less bites but the size is alot better.

As far as the bigger fish bite anglers need to look for deeper drops and hidden grass. The bigger fish are still shallow as well but the deeper fish get alot less presure. I like several tactics for fishing deeper fish. My first choice and what has been the most effective for catching the 6+lb fish has been the Jackall Swimming Ninja and Sride. I have noticed fish will hit the bait before the eat it so keep ing the bait moving after a strike is key. Once I could get clients to do this instead of jerking the bait when hit they flat slammed it and swallowed the bait. One key to know when to set the hook is after the bite keep moving the bait until the rod loads and you feel the fish swimming off with it. Also something that might help is make sure you have a good strong rod. I use the Jackall Rushburn for my light swimbaits and the Daiwa Steez 7'4" extra heavy swimbait rod for the bigger baits. I have seen clients try to fish them on a smaller rod and they just dont have the backbone to set the hook good on deep fish.

Also on the deeper fish we have had some great luck with the Jackall Muscle 15+ and a 3/4 or 1oz football head jig. When the fishing slows or the barametric presure gets high and makes the fishing slower this is the "go-to" baits. I like to hit deeper drops off main river ledges and humps with green grass on them. I have clients take the baits and toss them out, letting them drop to the bottom. Once they are on the bottom one key is not to take the baits up again. Slowlywork the bait and never raise it more than a couple of inches at a time. I have had to let the bait sit for 30-45 seconds before moving it but the fish are eating it. Make sure you use a good trailer on the bait like a Netbait Paca Chunk Sr. that will contrast on the color jig you choose. I like the Black/Blue with a Green Pumpkin trailer. As far as the Muscle 15+ goes I fish it two ways. One, making long cast and cranking the bait as fast as you can. If it hits the bottom don't slow down. I have seen alot of anglers slow when the bait hits the bottom but to get a reaction strike you need to bang it as hard as you can off the structure. The second way is for fish that are pulled off the ledges or humps. Alot of anglers say these are the hardest fish in the lake to catch and I would have to agree to some point but, if you can learn to catch them you can have a great day when others are not. I like to take the bait and after putting the boat in the right position work the bait with the current running it parallel to the drop. I would have to say the biggest mistake I see is most anglers don't trust something new and just plain don't fish it long enough to build confidence in it. If you will fish the baits and trust your sonar to know they are there you will catch fish more often than not.

Hope everyone has had a great week and if you would like to see these tactics in action feel free to contact us and we will get you set up for a trip. Have a great weekend and be sure to check out www.waaytobetterfishing.com for up to date weather on the area lakes as well as a new section which allows you to see my Twitter feeds while on the water and on trips. Also if you are a follower of my Twitter(Fins_N_Grins) and my blog(www.finsngrinsfishing.blogspot.com) you can win lots of prizes each week. See you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Fishing

This week has had some up's and down's as far as size and numbers go for us but clients have been happy. I had two guys from Fla. at the start of the week looking for numbers. Well it was a great trip for the two days with both of them boating fish and both catching a couple of solid fish as well. We did have a few"one that got away" stories but had a great few days with them. The other two fullday trips have had better size fish with lower numbers but as many of you know, I prefer bigger fish anyway. Each of those trips have had five fish limits over 22lbs for thier efforts and sweat in the heat. I have also started topwater trips this past week and they have been awesome. With the Willow fly hatch in full swing and the full moon afternoon topwater has rocked!

The best baits for the morning and afternoon have been the Jackall SK Grande', War Eagle spinnerbaits(waking it over shallow grass), and Buzzbaits. The better size fish have been boated on Jackall Dagored, Lake Fork Live Magic Shad swimbaits, and Mikey. Best fish have been moving up on the shallow grass flats feeding hard and during the day the smaller fish come in if your looking for numbers. Once the sun is out and the heat starts the fishing slows unless the current is running. If you look for ledges off the main river position your boat at a 45 degree angle and fish toward the upriver direction making the bait follow the current. Fish seem to be working right off the drops and flat attacking the baits as they come off the first drop. Jackall Swimming Ninja swimbaits, Muscle 15+, and 3/4oz spinnerbaits are catching the more aggressive fish and getting the best reaction bites. After working an area you find fish in be sure to drop 3/4 jigs and worms to "bat clean up" and you will boat a few more fish. If the current is not running fish the same areas just position your boat on the shallow side of the ledges and work soft plastics from deeper drops up the ledge. The biggest key is making sure you keep the bait in contact with the bottom and move it SLOW! I need to repeat this MOVE IT SLOW!(just kidding) but one of the biggest mistakes I have seen in the last few years on ledge fishing is clients that fish a bait too fast when the bite gets harder.
I feel like the bites are getting stronger on the ledges but anglers need to know when you are fishing for those Lake Guntersville"Toads" you need to be patient and fish hard. Once you find them work the area hard and you can have a great time. Be sure to let me know if you would like to see something done on a certian tactic or bait and I will either get it done or interview someone that is an expert on it. We are always looking for ideas for future articles. Also be sure to check out www.waaytobetterfishing.com for all the up to date weather, articles, video, and on water fishing reports. Let us know what you think and if there is something there that you think would make the site better. Good fishing and see you on the water.

God Bless
Phil.4:13

Lake Guntersville Report

Fishing the last few trips have been alot slower than in the past few weeks making me make some changes. We were catching fish in water from 1-5 feet in the morning deep in pockets then moving to faster drops as the sun got up. Well either alot of people read the blog of found the same fish I have.LOL Most every stop I have hit the last few trips have had atleast 5 boats on them anytime I wanted to fish them. After finding new areas with solid numbers in them with-in a day or so they were getting pounded as well. Finding green grass on Guntersville is like finding hidden treasure in Russia. When you do find it there will be fish in it and if it's deeper grass they will be big! Just don't hit it long or you will have boats all over you in no time flat.
The AM bite this week has been grim at best over shallow grass with the normal baits, like the buzzbait, SK Grande', and swim frogs. The better fish are still shallow in the morning and we have boated the best numbers on the Jackall Dagored, Mikey Jr., and Sride. After the sun gets up on the area your fishing just move to the first drop and toos a swimbait or flip a plastic. This has allowed us to work an area about two more hours before making a run to deeper water.
I have fished alot of the lower end of the lake the last few trips(at clients request) and the humps are working well along with creek channels. The muscle beds are producing great fish in the 15-25 foot range with the Swimming Ninja and Muscle 15+ doing the best. When hitting the lower end be sure to look at your maps and find areas with creek channels near flats. Alot of times the drops will have muscle beds on them and this is where the better fish are feeding.
On the mid-lake areas the bite is great but fishing presure wins over on alot of areas that are easy to find. Look for areas that have deeper grass coming up in water around 12-20 feet deep. Alot of anglers are over looking these and the fish are there. While the daytime bite is a bite slower working an area hard will produce some solid bags. Baits like the Swimming Ninja, Muscle 15+(in shad colors), Lake Fork Big worms rigged on 3/8 or 1/2oz Tungsten weights texas style and Omega 3/4oz football jigs in green pumpkin and black and blue.
The last few days have had alot of high weather presure systems sitting on top of the lake making the bite slower and alot of anglers thinking the bite was dead. Well in some areas fish tend not to feed during high presure but for me that just means you have to work harder. When fronts like these move in I hit the same areas working them with reaction type baits. Now anyone that has ever fished with me knows what that means, cranking grass! I like to use a Jackall MC60MR or Muscle 10+ fishing it extreamly slow in shallow grass. I know from research that when fronts like these hit fish "nose up" on docks and grass and go into a shut down mode. The best way to fish these baits is to keep in infront of the fish as long as you can to force them to eat it. This takes alot of practice and alot of trips I have seen clients get alot of confidence after I talk them through working the bait correctly in the grass. Once they get the feel they are amazed on how easy it is to do and how productive it can be on harder days.
I will be working on some new stuff for the blog in the coming week and getting ready for some other events. If anyone has anything they would like to read about or knows of anything that would help other anglers I will be happy to post it just send me an e-mail and we will get working on it. On other updates, I got a call from Bryant on his Dad and he is doing alot better. His store is also doing well and being the ONLY Jackall dealer in Guntersville getting alot of attention. Be sure to drop by Lake's Edge Tackle located on Highway 69 across from Guntersville Boat Mart service center and check it out. He is also wroking a tournament on Sunday's from the Store. They are launching from Browns creek and fishing from safe light until 12:00 or 1:00. It is a great event and drawing more anglers each weekend. Be sure to contact him to sign up and get a low boat number.

Guntersville Report

Sorry for the blog being late but between sponsor obligations, helping out the new tackle store(Lake's Edge Tackle, in Guntersville) and trips I have just been slammed. Fishing has been everything but boring the last week. I have had some up's and down's but for the most part it's been great. Trips have had alot of happy clients with several of them boating the best fish they have ever caught and more than 50% boating either thier best numbers or heaviest 5 fish limit.

The morning bite has been better hitting the shallows(less than 6 feet of water) near creek channels. I have had clients tossing several topwater baits from Jackall, like the Bowstick, Cherry 0 footer, Mikey Jr., Sk Grande', and the Dagored. The beeter numbers are coming from the Sk Grande' and Mikey Jr. with the better size hitting the Bowstick and Dagored. All the topwater baits have been in several colors in shad patterns. I also found the Buzzbait and waking a War Eagle Spinnerbait have boated a couple of fish after the bite seemed to die a little later in the morning.

The mid-day bite has been slower but very productive for bigger fish. The bigger fish are a little deeper on the ledges and if the sun is out and winds are light the bite is strongest. Alot of clients have boated thier first swimbait fish on the Jackall Swimming Ninja and River 2 Sea baits in natural colors. The big worm bite is always a good numbers bet but I have found the size drops a little. Now don't get me wrong you can catch some solid fish in the 5+ range on the Lake Fork and Netbait worms but you will also bust alot of keepers as well. The Omega Jig has done well also in the 1oz and 3/4 sizes with a Netbait Paca Chunk Sr trailer. Best colors have been Green Pumpkin and one I tie that has a Junebug look to it. The Jackall Muscle 15+ has been the most solid bait on the deeper bite and ledges for us in the last week and to be honest my go-to bait.

Over the weekend I played some while off on the lower end boating some huge spots and several solid largemouth fishing real deep. I boated my first ever Flick Shake fish in water deeper than 35 feet on a submerged tree I found on the sonar. I sat on it and dropped the Wacky Jig Head(1/8oz) down and watched the fish come to the bait. That was nothing short of awesome. On the screen it was right at the 45 foot mark. I then boated a couple of other fish on a drop shot and Crosstail shad. With that being said don't be affraid to go outside of the box this year and do somethings you would not normally do on Guntersville.

The fishing today(Monday) started the week slow for me with a couple of great guys but the fishing was just off. As the day went on I pulled the trip out but nothing like I was wanting to do as far as numbers. I dropped the guys off and hit the water the rest of the day finding some fish still deep but still seemed kinda off. I talked to a couple of buddies that I trade info with and it was slow for all of them today so I didnt feel so bad at the end of the day. I will be back at it in the morning hitting the water bright and early. I hope the bite turns around some and the better fish are hungry.

On another note be sure to drop by Lake's Edge Tackle and check out the new Jackall products. He is the ONLY tackle dealer in Guntersville or even near Guntersville to carry Jackall. If you mention this blog and are a follower on both my Twitter and Blog site you get an extra 10% off. Just ask for Bryant when you get ready to check out. Also please keep Bryant and his family in your prayers. His father, has been put into the hospital on Sunday and in ICU. We know he is a strong man and will make a full recovery but this is still a tough thing for him and the family. Thanks for checking the blog and feel free to contact me at finsngrinsfishing@hotmail.com for any suggestions for future articles or information on trips. Hope you all have a great week and great fishing. See ou on the water!!

Fish Care Tips in the Heat

This is one of the worst times of the year to fish tournament for both anglers and fish. I have seen alot of anglers not drink enough water and get weak or worse, dehydrate to near heat stroke levels. I always have my clients start drinking water right out of the gate at the ramp. Alot don't understand if you get thirsty it's already too late. I try to drink atleast one or two bottles of water an hour during an event. Now I do have to admit I am not big on drinking cold water. I like to drink it fast between runs to save time. To do this I keep my water in the dry box and when I get one out I just add a couple of cubes of ice from the cooler to it and shake it up. This cools it enough but not so much you get a headache when drinking it fast.

I also like to ask my clients to make sure to have a good breakfast before the trip. As many of you know I have had some skin issues and cancer running in my family on both sides. I learned from a doctor that eating alot of tomatoes and other things with Lycopene in them helps your bodies natural ability to prevent sunburns. That being said I eat them all the time. I also like to get the small Cherry Tomatoes and put them in a bag in the cooler. They make a great fast snack. I try to also to eat one Banana a day(but never on a boat because you NEVER have one on a boat). It helps keep your muscles from cramping up when fishing hard in the heat.

As far as fish care during this heat it's not hard at all. If you are just fun fishing when you get the fish in the boat try to avoid getting it on the carpet first thing. This causes the slime coat to rub off which protects fish from disease. Many people know the carpet does this due to it being rough but it also does this from heat. Think about fishing without shoes on and how hot your feet get after awhile. Also if you catch a fish that you need to measure, dip your board in the water before placing the fish on it. This metal also holds heat as well as cold and can cause injury to the fish as well.

One thing is to always make sure in the summer months to have additive for your livewell water and change it often. I like to time it by about two hours after the first fish in placed in the well I dain about half the water and refill it with fresh and add some additive to it. Also in the summer months I drop in a hand full of ice to cool the water. I am not big on using bottles of frozen water for one reason. If you have several large fish in one well and run any distance that hard bottle of water will simply beat them to death in that small area. I worry enough about beating them up on the walls of the well as it is so I don't like to add something else to the mix with it. Studies show if you keep the water within 5 degrees of the natural water temps(keeping in mind you caught them deeper than most temp sensors) they will be fine. A good rule of thumb I use is if I am fishing an area that is producing fish in 12-15 feet of water and the surface temp reads 85 then I would think the water they were holding at would be around 70 +or- 5 degrees. Now I am not saying this is exact in all cases due to every lake being different but it's just a general rule I go by.

On the last part and one thing I see huge numbers of anglers that are guilty of is at the scales. They take care of those fish all day treating them with "kit gloves" only to either toss them into a bag with very little regaurd to slime coats or while in the line a the scales set the bag on the ground(mainly hot pavement in most cases at alot of boat ramps). I look at it like this, if the ground is too hot for you to walk barefoot on it without burning you feet then set the bag down. If not set it on your feet. I was standing in a line once and a guy told me that. I was curious if it really amde that big of a difference so later I filled a bag with water and put a temp gauge in it. The water temps in the bag raised 9 degrees in less than 4 mins. on the hot pavement. Leason learned on my part.

I hope this kinda helps some anglers on keeping themself and thier fish healthy during the hot summer months. Like I stated before this is not a perfect way but just the way I have used that works. If anyone has any other ideas they would like to add let me know. One thing I learned years ago is you can never learn too much. Thanks for checking out the articles and be sure to check back often for updates. I also use Twitter for on water updates so sign up there as a follower or Check out www.waaytobetterfishing.com for on water updates in the lower right hand side of the main screen. Have a great summer and see you on the water.

Lake Guntersville Report/Deep Water Fishing

Today I got out with great friend and former co-worker from Birmingham Police Department, Lt. Mike Ashworth. This was not really a guide trip but more a catch up and go fishing so I fished as well. We started out on the ledge because the mission of the day was to get Mike a big Guntersville Largemouth. Well The morning bite was just not there with only 2 hits and one fish boated on a War Eagle Spinnerbait(White). I decided to make the move to a guide stop I knew he would atleast catch a fish on. Well as soon as we pulled in they did not disappoint me with us boating several solid keeper fish and also a couple of shorts. Topwater was better today than it has been in the last few days but they wanted the bait moving faster than normal.

After getting the "skunk" out of the boat I moved to a roadbed that held several bigger fish the last few times I fished it. Well they were there as well. I boated two back to back flipping into deeper grass with a 1/2oz Lake Fork Tungsten weight rigged on Jackall Cover Craw. I know that is not the way it was made to be fished but the bait is so soft and the scent is so strong I have found the fish hold it longer and give you some time to get a solid hook set. Mike missed a couple but he has not flipped much so we chalked it up for a learning experience.

We then moved to some deeper fish hitting a creek channel off the main river. About halfway up the channel we got a a school of fish and boated good numbers everytime the wind blew. All of those fish we on the Lake Fork 10" worm and 11" Netbait C-Mac. After beating those fish up fairly well we moved to the ledges and boated a couple of other fish. We moved firther down river to a place I had some huge fish on during a trip this week. Well they did not get the memo that we were coming and just did not bite for us. We did catch a couple of the Jackall Muscle 15+ and Mike had a toad of a spotted bass. I must say he is one of the few people I have had on my boat in the last few years that tossed the deep crankbait the entire time without ever taking a break. We ended up running out of time with him having a long drive home and me needing to make an appointment in the late afternoon so we called it a day.

I would say this weekends tournament are going to pack the lake with the TOC(Coaches Tournament), BAIT, ABBT, and several other events all going on at the same time. I wish everyone a great tournament and lots of luck. Remember to have lots of water on the boat and lots of ice for your fish during this heat. Fish care should be the most important thing this time of year in tournaments. See you on the water.

Jackall Hits Lake Guntersville!!

Thats right, Jackall Lures now has the one and only dealer on Lake Guntersville. Lake's Edge Tackle is currently the ONLY Jackall dealer and has just stocked his first shipment. I was in the store today and owner Bryant Pinyan was excited to show off his new "wall". While looking I noticed he has an assortment of Jackall products ranging from topwater lures like the Bowstick, Dagored, and SK Grande' to the plastics line like the Flick Shake in two sizes and the NEW Cover Craw. He told me he already has a line of people ready to buy the first order and looking forward to placing a new order by the first of next week. While he is new to the tackle business he says he wanted to carry baits that other local stores in the area did not sell and Jackall was at the top of the list.
"I don't have all the Jackall baits in stock yet but if they want it I can have it here soon and will carry it in stock from that point on," he says. While talking to Curt Arakawa of Jackall Lures he let me know real quick how excited he was Jackall would have a store on Lake Guntersville. "I get alot of calls and e-mails asking if there is a dealer near there and while we have several close and alot of internet resources we did not have a place that anglers could go right then and get the baits they needed," and we are glad that willl not be a problem any longer.
Many of you know I am an avid Jackall fan and use every bait they sell on both the US and Japan markets. I am looking forward to alot more Jackall products to be coming soon to the US.
They have some of the best baits in the industry and the things they are getting ready to bring over in the future is nothing short of awesome. I want to welcome Mr. Pinyan and Lake's Edge Tackle to Lake Guntersville and be sure to stop by and say hello. Also if you mention this article during your next visit and have a purchase of $20.00 or more you get an extra 10% off at the check out. Good luck to all and see you on the water.

Weekend On Guntersville

Well this weekend was nothing short of AWESOME! First I got to fish the club tournament with Dixieland Bassmasters with my wife Beth. This would be her first tournament this year due to her being out for the summer break. Well you could not tell she had not been much. We started on some topwater fish I had been catching on guide trips the last few weeks in the mid lake area. She boated fish from the first cast and had a limit in the first 15 mins of the stop on the Jackall SK Grande'(Tenn Shad color). We then made a move to an area to work on bigger fish. With the sun not coming out like in days before the deeper fish I had would just not help us so we made the run back to the mid section. We boated fish on several stops and had more than 50 fish for the day total. We never got the bigger bite before time ran out so only had 18.92 on my scales. After getting back to the weigh-in I saw several guys that were over the 20lb mark and knew we were not in the money. Being that I had not fished but one event with them this year and a long way out of the points we made the dession not to mess anyones points up and tossed ours back. We had a great day on the water fishing and spending some time together in the boatand the day was mostly about that anyway. I do have to say the traffic on the water was the worst I have seen it in sometime. I can't believe how some people act when they are fishing a tournament. Now don't get me wrong not all anglers are guilty of this but we had boats come in on top of us all day in several areas. One boat that was at our first stop was a good 400 yards from us fishing the other side of the pocket(with thier back to us) after Beth boated her second fish they turned and came in on us so close he was casting to the fish we were catching and even had one of the fish he caught splash water on our boat after he hooked it. We stayed on the waypiont and never moved. Later in the day I had a pair of guys troll in so close I could step in his boat and even set the hook on a fish under his trolling motor. I asked him if he could pull his motor up to avoid the fish wrapping up in the shaft. We just could not believe the way some people acted on the water that day. The point to this "rant" is please be considerate of other anglers on the water and give them some space. I heard one person say at the ramp he was given more room by Jet Skiers and Ski boats than fisherman(which to the norm never happens) and I had to agree.

On Sunday I fished a small local "wildcat"(5-11AM)tournament with a few guys from Lake's Edge Tackle out of Spring Creek. The best part of this day was my fishing partner named Will Peet. For those of you who do not know Will, he is a client I started fishing with when he was 12 and now he is 16. He and his father and brother came down from the "windy city" to fish with me a couple of days and being it was his Birthday trip I had him fish with me in his first tournament. I was amazed at how far this young man has come from the first time we have fished together to present. Will has not only grown in years but his skill levels of angling. I told him the tournament was his to win and I was doing nothing but give advise and drive the boat for him(although I did net some fish for him). We made a long run up river to the same place Beth and I had fished the day before and they were still there. Will had a 5 fish limit in less than 10 mins on the SK Grande'. I told him we needed to get a bigger bite so we moved a little deeper but only sized up by ounces on each fish. He had a couple of fish on the Jackall Muscle 10+ off the ledge that helped out but we never got the bigger fish to hook up. Once back to the ramp we found out it was only a 3 fish event but were allowed to cull at the ramp. Will put HIS fish on the scales and had just under 8lbs good for a 3rd place finish. He executed extreamly well the entire event and only lost one fish. I think he learned alot and had a great time as well. Congrats to him on his first tournament and thanks to all the guys for letting us fish with them.

On Monday I fished with Will again and his younger brother Eric on a trip out of Waterfront. We fished ledges and worked on some new tactics he had not used getting him ready for the BASS Open on Lake Champlain in Aug.. He is fishing this event as a co-angler so we worked on some things to do from the back of the boat and how to adjust to what his boaters would be doing. Monday was a little harder on us as far as fishing goes but we did manage several solid limits before he had to get on a plane to go home. I had a blast fishing with them both and can't explain how nice it is to have them come down to visit. This family is a true blessing to both Beth and I. Eric, which has a strong future at NASA, had a good time on this trip and beat his brother by a fish or two. It was fun to see them "rag" each other but at the same time support each others efforts all day. I can just hope when Beth and I have children they are half as good as these boys are.

One Tuesday I fished with 3 guys from Birmingham that have fished with me before. I had set the bar kinda high back in March with both of them catching numbers and big fish on the last trip so I had a little presure on me from the start. We hit some topwater areas with a couple of smaller fish to show for our efforts but not what I was looking for. We then moved up river looking for a bigger bite. They fished hard and boated several solid fish along with great numbers for the conditions we had. On the last stop of the day(just like our last trip in March) they hit the "mother load". We pulled to a ledge and within 30 mins one client had his best 5 fish limit to date pushing 29 lbs on a Jackall Muscle 15+ crankbait(and that was with a 3lb fish he could not cull). His buddy Steve got his 2nd biggest fish ever on the same bait as well. I had so much fun watching them I held the trip over 2 hours to watch them catch some more.

The rest of the week seems to be lining up well with a trip on Thursday with an old friend and co-worker from Birmingham Police Department and a great return client from Tenn on Friday. Rodney and I are fishing a tournament on Guntersville both Sat and Sunday of the weekend. I just hope the fish stay in the same mind set for the rest of the week. The baits that have worked will in the last few trips have been the Jackall Mucsle 10 and 15+ crankbaits, SK Grande' and Dagored for topwater, and Lake Fork 10" worms. All baits fished over grass lines from 4-35 feet of water. I hope everyone has a great week and looking forward to this awesome weather. Remeber to take a kid fishing.

Lake Guntersville Report 6-8-09

Date Fished: 6/8/2009Water Temperature: 81Water Clarity: 4 feet or greater
Had two trips today. The first trip was a morning trip. We fished the lower end of the lake(at his request) starting the day with topwater. The Jackall Bowstick had the best size but the SK Grande' seemed to put the numbers in the boat. We had a great time catching fish on topwater the entire trip.
The PM trip was fishing deeper water. We put in at Waterfront around 3pm and had a blast. We fished the mid lake area starting with flipping baits. After talking him into working the baits and flipping he started hooking up and ended the day liking to flip.LOL We baited fish on all of the 4 stops we made. We moved out to deeper water(around 30 feet) and after a few misses boated several really nice fish. There really was not a magic bait on the trip. We had fish on Paca Craw's, Lake Fork 10" worms, Swimming Ninja swimbaits, and 3/4oz spinnerbaits. The lake is better than I have seen it in years as far as numbers go and fish are starting to group up by size as well.
Hope everyone had a great weekend and looking forward to an awesome week. Also don't forget the Sonar/GPS class held in Guntersville this Thursday night. E-mail me if you need information. See you on the water.