AL - Newbie at Wheeler Lake in AL. Advice?

[golf n fish]

When I say newbie, I mean to bass fishing, not just to this forum. I just bought a boat one week ago. Any advice for fishing Wheeler Lake out of Decatur, Al would be appreciated. I figured starting with a worm and jig set up would be a good start. Any advice?

David

[Clark Stewart]

If you put in at that really nice newish launch (the one the pros put in at) then hang a left toward the plants you'll do pretty well fishing those barge docks - they mostly have clay banks and we've slayed the crappie there too in the winter. There's probably a mile worth of weeds in the middle that you can flip/pitch but I think that's pretty obvious. Also the train tracks and the marina next to it are good for plenty of kicker fish. If you've got the stomach for it then head back up the creek on the marina side of the train track in Decatur - it's stumpy and super shallow so be careful but one of the classics was won there a year ago I think. Not my lake I'm from Gadsden, but I have family who I fish with on Wheeler periodically.

[golf n fish]

I haven't tried fishing the barge docks yet.  I see a lot of people fish around the barges.  They look like they're fishing for catfish since they just have poles pointing out to the water.  

I have gone up into  the swan creek area (west of the train tracks) and fished some of the lilly pads.  The action was kind of slow, but I expected that since it was still summer.  

I had a guide take me up the elk river to Anderson creek and we killed 'em early in the morning.  There is lots of cover all throughout Anderson creek, but it's too far to run in the morning, and I don't have a good vehicle to tow my boat.  

I bought an aluminum boat specifically so I could fish some of the shallow water.  My boat is stored at brickyards, which is right next to Ingalls Harbor that you were referring to.

David

[GSU_Fishing]

I was there in June for the FLW college series and ended up placing 2nd. We fished the main river ledges with crankbaits and carolina rigs. I was using the carolina rig to locate the shell bars and the crankbait was catching a majority of the fish. We were throwing deep crankbaits and brining them off the ledge and the fish were absolutely crushing them. I have fished Wheeler several times now and a crankbait is always what I catch a majority of my fish on. I know our other team hung some huge smallies around the rip rap around the train trussel bridge. Just make sure youre bringing the bait down with the current...its more natural that way. Also flipping some of the main lake docks near deeper water produces some good fish this time of year as well. Good Luck