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!!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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.
"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.
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.
Monday, June 8, 2009
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.
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.
Week In Review
Fishing this past week on Guntersville has been nothing short of HOT! With not only the weather but the fishing being great anglers are packing boat ramps everyday last week looking for the prized Guntersville Largemouth. The fishing has been some of the best I've seen in years on Guntersville and oddly enough, the lake has made some changes. The areas I have fished for years on the ledges has suffered from high winds and rain and the grass is either not there or extreamly short. Most areas have no grass at all but fish are still there.
If you ride around you can tell where the grass is for sure. There will be tons of boats sitting on top of each other. This weekend on the point of Pine Island I would venture to say I saw atleast 40 boats at any given time on that one small acre grass patch. Personally I prefer not to fish that close to other anglers so I have had to change some tactics. To be honest I am glad because it has made me think outside of the box and fish baits and areas I would not fish this time of year and made me learn alot.
We have been catching huge numbers of keeper fish on several baits like the War Eagle spinnerbait, Lake Fork Live Magic Shad, Netbait swimbaits, and Lake Fork big worms. Most of the best colors seem to be Green Pumpkin, Junebug, and Watermelon. On the spinnerbaits and swimbaits just stick with natural colors and you will have a great time. The better fish have been on deeper drops and ledges. I got to catch my first ever "deepwater" swimbait fish this week with a Jackall Ninja in water deeper than 20 feet. That was awesome to say the least. The best baits for the bigger fish have been the Omega 3/4 oz jig with Netbait trailer, bigger worms, and swimbaits. I have had a couple of fish on the spinnerbait but most are coming on the jig and swimbaits.
There has also been some exciting stuff going on in Guntersville that is sure to have anglers happpy. This coming week we have Wilson Frazier, of Frazier Marine Group, coming down to conduct a Sonar/GPS class at Wintzell's off Highway 431. The class will be from 7-9 on Thursday June the 11th. The cost for it is $50.00. If you have never seen one of his classes you should not miss it. You will learn more in two hours about your sonar and GPS than you could get from the book in weeks. This really cuts the "learning curve" in half.
Also this week was the first week of a the new tackle shop in Guntersville being open, Lake's Edge Tackle. He is still getting everything up and going but already has a full selection of several products. I would say he has the best selection of Netbait in Guntersville. After talking to Byrant(the owner) he has said there will be alot of big things to come in the next few weeks. They are planning a huge Grand Opening which he says will have great deals on all kinds of tackle, a fishing tournament, as well as great discounts on some products. It has not been confirmed yet but sources say he will also being carrying some baits no other tackle store in the area will have. He also wanted anglers to know he will be open everyday and if they dont have an item your looking for they can get it fast. Be sure to drop by and welcome him to the industry.
Later on this week I will be posting part 2 on my crankbait article as well as more fishing reports. Be sure to check back daily. We also are excited to announce together with WAAY 31 TV we are able to to up-to-min. fishing reports on the WAAY TO BETTER FISHING site(www.waaytobetterfishing.com) I have a link to my twitter account which allows me to send information on trips and tournaments while on the water each day. I update these several times a day on the lake. So if your headed out or on the water and want to know how the fish are biting or what baits are working you can check it out as I post. Be sure to visit the site as well for current weather information for every lake in the State. Also we will be doing a drawing each week. For those of you that go to the WAAY site and follow twitter, I will post sometime during each week to e-mail me a code. The first one to send the mail will get a halfday guide trip or other great discounts on products.
I hope everyone is likes the new sites and blogs. Be sure to e-mail me anything you would like to see or changes you think would make them better. Untill then good fishing and see you on the water.
God Bless
Phil.4:13
If you ride around you can tell where the grass is for sure. There will be tons of boats sitting on top of each other. This weekend on the point of Pine Island I would venture to say I saw atleast 40 boats at any given time on that one small acre grass patch. Personally I prefer not to fish that close to other anglers so I have had to change some tactics. To be honest I am glad because it has made me think outside of the box and fish baits and areas I would not fish this time of year and made me learn alot.
We have been catching huge numbers of keeper fish on several baits like the War Eagle spinnerbait, Lake Fork Live Magic Shad, Netbait swimbaits, and Lake Fork big worms. Most of the best colors seem to be Green Pumpkin, Junebug, and Watermelon. On the spinnerbaits and swimbaits just stick with natural colors and you will have a great time. The better fish have been on deeper drops and ledges. I got to catch my first ever "deepwater" swimbait fish this week with a Jackall Ninja in water deeper than 20 feet. That was awesome to say the least. The best baits for the bigger fish have been the Omega 3/4 oz jig with Netbait trailer, bigger worms, and swimbaits. I have had a couple of fish on the spinnerbait but most are coming on the jig and swimbaits.
There has also been some exciting stuff going on in Guntersville that is sure to have anglers happpy. This coming week we have Wilson Frazier, of Frazier Marine Group, coming down to conduct a Sonar/GPS class at Wintzell's off Highway 431. The class will be from 7-9 on Thursday June the 11th. The cost for it is $50.00. If you have never seen one of his classes you should not miss it. You will learn more in two hours about your sonar and GPS than you could get from the book in weeks. This really cuts the "learning curve" in half.
Also this week was the first week of a the new tackle shop in Guntersville being open, Lake's Edge Tackle. He is still getting everything up and going but already has a full selection of several products. I would say he has the best selection of Netbait in Guntersville. After talking to Byrant(the owner) he has said there will be alot of big things to come in the next few weeks. They are planning a huge Grand Opening which he says will have great deals on all kinds of tackle, a fishing tournament, as well as great discounts on some products. It has not been confirmed yet but sources say he will also being carrying some baits no other tackle store in the area will have. He also wanted anglers to know he will be open everyday and if they dont have an item your looking for they can get it fast. Be sure to drop by and welcome him to the industry.
Later on this week I will be posting part 2 on my crankbait article as well as more fishing reports. Be sure to check back daily. We also are excited to announce together with WAAY 31 TV we are able to to up-to-min. fishing reports on the WAAY TO BETTER FISHING site(www.waaytobetterfishing.com) I have a link to my twitter account which allows me to send information on trips and tournaments while on the water each day. I update these several times a day on the lake. So if your headed out or on the water and want to know how the fish are biting or what baits are working you can check it out as I post. Be sure to visit the site as well for current weather information for every lake in the State. Also we will be doing a drawing each week. For those of you that go to the WAAY site and follow twitter, I will post sometime during each week to e-mail me a code. The first one to send the mail will get a halfday guide trip or other great discounts on products.
I hope everyone is likes the new sites and blogs. Be sure to e-mail me anything you would like to see or changes you think would make them better. Untill then good fishing and see you on the water.
God Bless
Phil.4:13
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Lake Guntersville Report
Lake Guntersville in on fire right now and better than I have seen it in several years. We have had trips the last few days and the bite is like the weather, HOT!! In the mornings the topwater bite has gotten better all week and just seems to be getting better each trip. We have had good numbers on the Jackall SK Grande' and 0 Footer D Cherry but the bigger fish are still on the Bowstick. All baits in shad colors.
After the heat gets up some along with the sun we are hitting the points and main river areas with Lake Fork big worms, Live Magic shads, and Muscle 10+ crankbaits. Our better numbers are on the Flick Shake worms in Green Pumpkin, Bluegill, and Watermelon candy.
I had one trip Monday that was nothing short of awesome. I had a husband/wife couple on the boat that were just a blast to fish with. Both of them fished some but never like I had them fishing. Our 1st stop was kinda slow with them missing a couple of fish between the two of them. We then moved to an area I had found the day before and they were stacked. We boated a fish on the first few cast and never left the rest of the trip. That's right we fished one area for 7 hours solid. We lost count of the numbers and all but a couple were keepers and bigger. They were both Flick Shake believers after that day. I would have to say it was one of the best trips all year and I was proud to see them catch all those fish. Chris had his best fish ever(over 6lbs.) and they both were ready to go again when the trip was done. I was glad to have them let me be a part of thier day.
Also don't forget the Sonar/GPS class in Guntersville on June 11th at Wintzell's off Highway 431 South. The class is being taught by Wilson Frazier and cost $50.00. Be sure to give me a call or send me a mail if your interested in coming due to limited seating. There is also a NEW tackle store in Guntersville, Lakes Edge Tackle. I have been by there several times and it looks better everytime I go in. He has a huge selection of Netbait and will be stocking alot of "hard to get" baits in the next few weeks. I am looking forward to having such a great place so close. Be sure to stop by and say hello. Also, keep checking the blog or WAAY site for some upcomming news on discounts and specials comming your way.
After the heat gets up some along with the sun we are hitting the points and main river areas with Lake Fork big worms, Live Magic shads, and Muscle 10+ crankbaits. Our better numbers are on the Flick Shake worms in Green Pumpkin, Bluegill, and Watermelon candy.
I had one trip Monday that was nothing short of awesome. I had a husband/wife couple on the boat that were just a blast to fish with. Both of them fished some but never like I had them fishing. Our 1st stop was kinda slow with them missing a couple of fish between the two of them. We then moved to an area I had found the day before and they were stacked. We boated a fish on the first few cast and never left the rest of the trip. That's right we fished one area for 7 hours solid. We lost count of the numbers and all but a couple were keepers and bigger. They were both Flick Shake believers after that day. I would have to say it was one of the best trips all year and I was proud to see them catch all those fish. Chris had his best fish ever(over 6lbs.) and they both were ready to go again when the trip was done. I was glad to have them let me be a part of thier day.
Also don't forget the Sonar/GPS class in Guntersville on June 11th at Wintzell's off Highway 431 South. The class is being taught by Wilson Frazier and cost $50.00. Be sure to give me a call or send me a mail if your interested in coming due to limited seating. There is also a NEW tackle store in Guntersville, Lakes Edge Tackle. I have been by there several times and it looks better everytime I go in. He has a huge selection of Netbait and will be stocking alot of "hard to get" baits in the next few weeks. I am looking forward to having such a great place so close. Be sure to stop by and say hello. Also, keep checking the blog or WAAY site for some upcomming news on discounts and specials comming your way.
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