Guntersville Lake 4-22-23-2013

Well, it is off to Guntersville Sunday afternoon, April 21. Jack Neal and I are meeting Duke Dunsford and his father, Gary, at the Hampton Inn in Scottsboro, Al,  to fish the lake Monday and Tuesday. The weather projected to be pretty good Monday and Tuesday. Over dinner, we plotted our strategy for the next day. Neither Jack, Duke or Gary had been on Guntersville before. I suggested several areas to try but it has been about 5 years since I had been. Monday headed to Waterfront Grocery for a quick, excellent biscuit breakfast, launched our boat and headed for an area called Mountain Lakes. I had had some success in this area in the past. We fished hard but had no luck. We did watch a commercial fisherman running a very long trot line pick up 2-4 pound channel catfish on almost every hook. Left this area and went to Church house area. Finally picked up one bass here about 1.5 on a lizard and lost one on a squarebill. From here we motored to South Sauty creek and was unable to find fish. We are getting somewhat discouraged by now. After all, Guntersville is rated the fourth best bass lake in the country. Headed back to Waterfront to meet the Dunsfords for lunch. They had had similar results. We did speak to a guide who said he had been getting 60 fish a day but only had 6 that morning. He said the cooler water had cooled the fishing. We felt a little better.

In the afternoon, Jack and I headed to Mink Creek, a familiar area to me. Jack picked up a fish pretty quickly on a point but sadly the grass was much sparser than expected. We continued to fish around this area until I finally caught a nice bass off the point of a tiny island on a lizard. She weighed 5 lbs 10 oz. We then began to fish some grassy shoreline that had a type of grass I hadn't seen before. It was small green leaves with under water very tough vines and was quite thick on top. Jack picked up 3 nice fish by targeting holes in the cover. Had one nice 3 lb 13 oz fish. He was fishing a Hoo Daddy, yep a Hoo Daddy. The fish seemed to be moving toward the shallow water as it warmed up. Started the morning at about 63 degrees and got up to 70 degrees in the afternoon. We finally headed back to Waterfront bay to fish before calling it a day. I soon caught a drum that was in the 6 lb range that put up quite a tussle. Not to be undone Jack set the hook on a monster fish that turned out to be another drum but about 12 lbs. What a fish. And that completed our day.

5 lb 13 oz

3 lb 13 oz

Tuesday we went back to Mountain Lakes area hoping the water had warmed but it was still about 63. Jack caught 1 on a Tomahawk worm and I picked up one on a Excalibur rattle bait. I haven't mentioned the wind but I should. Monday it started out from the North at 10-15 mph. Later in the day it switched to from the South at 5-10 which was the original forecast for the day. Tuesday it began again from the North at a good clip and later switched to the South East at 15-20. You could get out of the worst of the wind but the main channel was pretty choppy. We next motored to the Preston Island area. We found one small area with scattered grass without the black, mossy snot grass that has been our nemesis both days, fouling our lures. Jack picked another 2 lbs bass here and I had a couple of bites. We finally headed to Waterfront for lunch somewhat deflated. Spoke to a guide coming in with a client. He said they caught 46 that morning on crank baits. A little more deflation but optimism springs eternal. After an excellent barbecue sandwich we headed back to Mink Creek.

12 lb Drum

Jack picked up a bass on the worm and I changed strategies with a Watermelon Candy Centipede on a mojo rig. I began to catch a few fish most around 1.5-2 lbs on a flat in the open water. I had one 3 lb 13 oz. As we moved toward the grass that Jack had fished so well the previous day, he apologized to his Hoo Daddy for abandoning it for the worm. However the Hoo Daddy sulked and wouldn't do his proper work. I stayed with the Centipede and set the hook on another nice bass that weighed 5 lb 3 oz. Two 5 lb plus fish in two days is pretty satisfying for me. Let it clearly be known that I generously offered Jack a centipede for only $4.00 each...rental. I don't know why he turned me down. I finally caught a total of 7 bass in the area with 8 for the day. Jack had 3 for the day. We left the lake around 4:30 headed back to Franklin. Duke stayed a bit longer and called to tell us they caught several more in the late afternoon.

5 lb 3 oz

It was obvious to us that the afternoon bite was much better which is typical for Spring fishing. Again, Guntersville is a wonderful lake but fish can still be elusive. You must know spots that consistently produce and that is what the guides do so well at. The grass has not come up well and was non existent in some traditional places. The mossy gunk was a real problem in some areas. When the water warms a bit more the topwater bite should explode.

Osprey

3 lb 13 oz

Percy Priest 4-20-2013

Tournament time for Cumberland Bassmasters. Met my partner, Scott Jordan at Long Hunter ramp and prepared to fish the tourney. it was a frosty morning with temps around 35 degrees. We headed down lake on a chilly run and fished a stumpy islands with little to show. I finally caught a short fish on a lizard.

Scott had a couple of spots to try near Hamilton Creek but still no luck. Fished Chigger point and a flat in Smith Springs but same result.  Fished the creek near the bridge on the south side and we finally picked up a couple of keepers. Moved to creek on the north side near the bridge. Scott picked up a keeper. We then moved up lake to an island and I caught my final keeper.

I had 3 keepers for 4+ pounds, Scott had 1 keeper. All of our fish were caught on lizards. Rob won the boater's side with 12+ pounds including a 5 lber. Omar won the non-boater division with 9+ pounds.

Jack and I are leaving shortly for Guntersville lake for a couple of days of fishing.

Percy Priest - April 15, 2013

Taxes filed. A day to fish.

There are times that I regret vowing to blog every fishing trip I take. Sometimes there just isn't much to write. This was one of those days. Jack and I launched about 7:30 am for Long Hunter ramp at Priest full of anticipation. The water was continuing to warm and was on the rise. I caught a sardine size fish on a jerk bait that was longer than the fish. I have no idea what was on his mind...sex I guess because the bait was too big for him.  We fished several more of my trusted hot spots (humor here) with no hits. Finally went to one of my favorite areas and finally Jack caught 3 fairly quick fish. One might have been 12" but the others were small. He caught them on shakey head and lizard. I then caught one on a T-rig lizard and that completed our day. Disappointing to say the least.

To rub salt in my wounds, just before I began writing this, my friends Phil and Doyal called to report their fishing trip to newly opened Carroll County Lake near Huntingdon, TN.  They only beat our catch (5) by 100. Yes, they caught 105 fish mostly on rattle baits. When I asked how many over 2 pounds, he got quiet. How about over 1 pound? Same quiet. But, I will be the first to say 105 beats 5. At least they had action.

With a front coming on Thursday / Friday, I fear our Saturday tournament will be tough but someone always catches them. We probably should fear Omar after his great showing in the State tournament last weekend.

Tims Ford 4-8-2013

Didn't sleep much the night before heading to Tims Ford. Thought about those great smallmouth bass on Tims. Must have been a nightmare instead of happy dreams because the smallmouth (nor largemouths) refused to cooperate. I drew a blank, a zero, a doughnut, a skunk......

It all started at Church Sunday when I asked my fishing partner, Jack, about going fishing on Monday. He was ready despite having a relatively disappointing trip to Lake Fork the week before. We thought about Percy Priest since we have a tournament there on April 20. But, we decided to go to Tims since we have not been this year, it's spring and a perfect time to go. Since the water has been cold early we decided to arrive at the lake at 9 am. Might have been a mistake. If there were an early bite, we missed it as well as the later bite, we missed it too. Not fair. Jack did have one good bite.

We began the day fishing the back side of an island not far from our launch site at the State Park ramp. We have caught fish there in the past. Not today. On to Ray Branch, a good size creek with lots of fishable banks. Fishable but not necessarily catchable. Interestingly, when we arrived at the lake, the water was quite calm, just a ripple or two. By the time we reached Ray Branch, there was a small gale blowing. We finally decided to go to another of our favorite spots that we call Five Fingers, an area with 5 different coves. We did find some wind protection in most of them. We fished hard with the usual, jigs, craws, cranks, and finesse baits. Finally near the back of one of the coves, Jack set the hook on a nice fish. It was obviously a smallmouth. What was not so obvious, was that it didn't jump and fought lethargically. When I netted her, I told Jack he had a 5 lber. It should have been but it was not to be. The fish was 21.5 inches long but weighed a paltry 3.2 lbs. It had no girth nor breadth. Beautifully colored, a handsome fish that should have been a 5+ fish. Although the tail was not bloodied from fanning a nest, I believe she had spawned out and was exhausted from the effort. Jack was using a jig with an ultra vibe craw attached.

 Although Jack did get a couple of more bites, there were no more fish to the boat. I might have had a nibble but it was undocumented. I did have equipment failure. The ceramic guide on the tip top of my jig rod came out. And, mysterious line breakage occurred a couple of times on my craw rod. That's my story and I am sticking to it. I really can't imagine why we did not do better today. Water temp was mostly 58 degrees. The wind kept us off main lake points but these fish should have been in the creeks. Oh, well there will be another day ahead.

  

Percy Priest - April 1, 2013

What a weird Spring. High winds, rain, snow and abnormally cold. It has been hard to find good days to fish, especially if you have gotten a little wimpy like me. As I looked at the weather forecast for this first week of April, it looked like more of the same except for Monday so I went. Didn't go for the early bite since the early bite lately has been early afternoon, so I got to the Long Hunter ramp a little before 9 am. Supposed to warm up to the mid 60s with 8 mph wind and a lot of sunshine. The forecast was pretty accurate but didn't describe that light wind as frigid. All in all 'though, a really nice sunny day. I found water temps early at 51-53. As the day progressed I saw a lot of 53-55 with a couple of locations at 56-58 in the back of creeks in shallow rocky water. A few warm, sunny days will get that temp to 60 and above and should bring the bass up to the shallows.

I began my day in Bryant Grove in the shallow water. Threw an Excalibur Lipless Red and a finesse jig but got no bites. Moved to the big creek to the left under the Hobson Bridge. Fished the Excalibur, jig and the KVD 1.0 crawfish square bill. Again, no bites. Next stop was the little island opposite Party Cove named Raccoon Island. Lot of stumps along the East bank in 2-5 feet of water. Finally caught a nice little 1.5-1.75 lb bass on the KVD 1.0. Fished the big island (Bear Island) across from this little island and back to the little one for another pass. (Truth be told, I was thinking about the 7 lb 9 oz bass that Heath Richardson caught by himself with a little drag adjustment from Dad and net assist from Corey, a week or so ago. Heath is the 6 year old son of Noah in the Cumberland Bass Club. I have been fishing for about 70 years and this tops my personal best).

After cruising around a bit I moved into Party Cove where I can usually catch a fish or two. Not today. A water hall. Moved across to the Hole-in-the-Wall bluff where I expected to catch a spot or two on a finesse jig. Rob always can. I couldn't.

Then moved to the cove to right past Hobson bridge toward the dam. Fished the shallow bank on the North side and finally picked up 4 fish in 11-13" range and lost one (in the 6-7 lb range on April 1). All caught on the KVD 1.0 crawfish. Finally decided to beat the traffic home (I didn't) and loaded out about 3:30 pm. Total 5 fish with only one fair fish. Just a few more degrees warm up in the water and I think the fish will be good.