Guntersville Pics and Info

[Deb]

We got to make the trip Guntersville. It was beautiful. We spent around 4 hrs snooping around. :

Let me see what all I can tell you....if I forget something just let me know what you want to know. Alcohol is available both in restaurants, package and convience stores. Dont know if alcohol is sold at the lodge...... but there is a convience store right at the entrance to the park.

The renovations seem to be moving along. Just so happened we didnt read the yellow "NO TRESPASSING" tape we had to go around to get the pics

The Lodge door was open, so according to souhern hospitality, that meant........come on in....first thing we saw was a huge rock fireplace.....lets just say, it is lookin great.....there is a back deck overlooking the lake......talk about a view......sittin on the top of Sand Mountain, lookin over the rocks and trees with the lake on below. You can see the boat ramp from here. but it is a ways off.

Lodge rooms were also open......just like they were expecting us :-? Also found a cabin open....Someone must have forgotten we were coming........the chalets we couldn't get in... but we could see in......at least enough to know they were nice....fireplace and all. The chalets were mostly on the side of the mountain....with lake view. The chalets were about a mile from the Lodge.

Most of the cabins had close lake frontage.....Nice but not quite as nice as the chalets (personal preference)..bank was all rip rap......might want to be careful with beachin a boat here.....The cabins are about 3-4 miles by road......now if you are a crow and can fly.................

Boat ramp could launch 3 at a time......had approx 125 parking places for trucks/trailers plus there is an overflow lot. Ramp looked to be in excellent condition with two walkways. There is also a picnic area close.

The campgrounds was awesome with more than 350 full sites plus there are primitive sites too...it has a store, playground, and private fishing area. Sites looked to be level.

There is also a large swimming area. There are boat slips but I'm not sure if they are just for the campground or not.

The lake itself, well, it's a lake........it's gotta be good!

Took lots of pics......I'm addin the photobucket link....check em out........there are 3 pages of pics...be sure and look at all on them....

http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/ee70/fishinmom_2007/

[Gatorbassman]

You are amazing. Thank you so much. You saved me some big bucks and a long trip. You are awesome.

[Matt Fly]

Some very pretty scenry.

Thanks

Matt

[Deb]

You are amazing. Thank you so much. You saved me some big bucks and a long trip. You are awesome.

You are very welcome.....it was fun.  The fall colors were awesome, the winding roads thru the mountain, the sunshine......Wish someone would have been around to ask questions but at least we did get to do some snooping..... just made ourselves at home and took our own private tour.........

I think it will be a great time!.......

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Thanks for the info, Great job!!!!!!!!!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Awesome Deb, thanks for doing the leg work

It "Looks" like the total opposite of Fork.  At Fork, every inch looks like it holds a fish,....all that timber....

Here, it looks like lots of open water, the stuff I am more comfortable in.  Time for a good map.

Thanks again guys!

[Jimzee]

Ditto on the thanks Mom....Are you still not going after seeing the lake?  

[roadwarrior]

Awesome Deb, thanks for doing the leg work

It "Looks" like the total opposite of Fork. At Fork, every inch looks like it holds a fish,....all that timber....

Here, it looks like lots of open water, the stuff I am more comfortable in. Time for a good map.

Thanks again guys!

This is a "river lake". There are stump fields, but no standing timber. There is grass and other vegetation, but not everywhere. The focus is "structure," both deep and shallow. Guntersville is a completely different lake if you are comparing it to Fork.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

As I become bored w/ work, I will try and find articles/info regarding the lake and any other pertinent information I can locate.

Here is one I enjoyed.....

http://www.jimporter.org/lakes/guntersville/

Wayne

[Jimzee]

Good read Wayne, Thanks!    

[Long Mike]

To DEb and Wayne - Great info folks!  Much appreciated.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Some more reading material for springtime at Guntersville:

Seasonal Guide to Guntersville Bass

By Troy Jens

At just over 69,000 acres, and 65 miles from dam to dam, Lake Guntersville can be intimidating when trying to figure out patterns and locations for bass in what is considered to be among the finest bass fisheries in the Southeast. With miles of hydrilla and milfoil grass lines, humps, roadbeds, rip rap, ledges, boat docks, steep bluffs, shallow sloughs and about everything else that can be found in a dream bass lake, it's hard to know where to start. However, with a few key pieces of seasonal information, a little knowledge of break-lines and a good map, Guntersville gives up it's secrets, and it fishes primarily the same from season to season, year after year.

Before I discuss seasonal tactics that work well for me, it would be worth discussing a little about how Guntersville bass relate to their constantly changing river environment. The primary obvious cover in Lake Guntersville is grass. As it is on all lakes, grass is a supplemental type of cover. It's very important to remember that bass continue to relate best to permanent types of structure and cover. Humps, creek channels, ledges, stumps, etc. are what bass use continually. Finding concentrations of bass, and especially bigger bass will mean looking for permanent cover and structure features other than just grass. Grass helps keep the population of food cycle organisms, bait-fish and bass growing, and it is great for keeping bass on shallow cover areas year around, but grass alone rarely holds consistent concentrations of bass. To find the best fishing areas in any grass lake, it's best to look at the map and pretend the grass is not there, looking for bass in areas they would normally be without grass.

CURRENT

Current is a big factor on Lake Guntersville. While bass can be caught during periods when current is not running, generally current helps the bite, especially during the daytime hours. Current positions bass on the ledges and open water humps. One of my long standing theories is that when current is present, bass have to swim, they expend energy and may as well feed at the same time. During slack water periods bait-fish are scattered, and bass can rest easily, making them less likely to chase a bait. When there is no current, I target the sloughs, as most of the sloughs and protected areas are mostly void of current, and these fish are less current dependent. During hours when power is generated through the dams, I focus on ledges and open water humps where the bass may be more active due to the current flow. When current is running, many people believe it is best to fish a bait with the current, as the bass are facing into the current. I find this not to be true much of the time. I'll also note that anytime I've ever seen a bait-fish swim in current, it is swimming up into the flow, and fishing baits in the same manner tend to look natural to the bass. On the ledges during current flow, I have success fishing against the current and across the current, as well as with the current. I normally find bass positioned on the down river side of humps, or just inside cuts in the grass lines where there is any current break. Even small current breaks can produce big catches, so paying close attention to how the current is flowing around cover is important when fishing during generation hours. The back side of the ledges, or shallow side just over from the lip of the main ledge itself also has less current, and is often more productive than the steep side of the ledge during slack water times.

BREAKLINES

Lake Guntersville is all about getting away from the bank. Much of the good fishing and many of the best slopes to fish are many yards off the shore. Break-lines may be the most important aspect when learning to fish Lake Guntersville. The drops seem to have a consistent magic number formula. Anywhere that drops from 4 to 8 feet within the distance of a long cast is a good break-line. Usually this is the first break-line off the bank. The flats often run off the banks from 0 to 4 feet, then drop off quickly from 4 to 8 feet. I've found many bass on Guntersville just keeping the boat in 7 to 8 feet of water, and throwing onto the shallower flat. This varies from season to season, but much of the time bass use this 4 to 7 feet range on lake Guntersville, and keeping the boat just at the edge of this range, working the 4 to 7 foot areas has been very productive for me throughout the year. Finding productive break-lines off of the flats is easy so long as you have a map. I strongly recommend the Atlantic maps, as the colorized contour lines make finding the shallow flats easy. Look for the dark blue or shallowest points, humps and flats, and fish the edge where they begin to drop off into the deeper water. Again, very often if the bass are not right on the edge, sitting on the break-line, they will be right on top of the points or humps. Many bass live on top of these structure features from spawn through late fall, and can be caught in the thick grass mats that cover them during the warmer months.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

cont.

EARLY SPRING / FEBRUARY MARCH

Early spring on Lake Guntersville can begin in the first week of February. When the water temps get consistently above 45 degrees I declare early spring. Often during this time anglers are still targeting bass in deep water. Some people will be dragging microscopic plastics and jigs slower than a snail on a salt block in 20 feet of water on 4-lb line. Not surprisingly though, a lot of fish are already in 1 to 4 feet of water on a heavy pre-spawn feed during early spring. Early spring for me often means shallow super shallow. I look for shallow bays from mid-river and up, especially bays or creeks that get a lot of sun. The N banks of many bays catch the sun and are protected from the winds, and often I find active bass on the N banks of shallow bays. Pockets that have small creeks running into the back of them are prime areas, and I look for the duck grass. Well, I call it duck grass, the brown cattail like grass growing in the backs of pockets where there is spring or swamp water. These areas warm up fast, and have plenty of minnows, frogs, tadpoles and other food bass love during that time of year. Stumps are the primary cover during this time, and big fish looking for bedding grounds will be close to stumps in the pockets. This is the time of year I do beat the banks on Guntersville, and look for super shallow bass. My favorite search baits are a Cordell Spots, Bayou Boogies, Bomber Model-2 As and spinner-baits in light colors. For plastics I stick to a Texas-rigged 6 Riverside lizard most of the time. Even with water temps in the mid 40s, bass will be very active in these shallow water areas. I can't stress enough targeting shallow stumps this time of year. Shallow points are also good target areas, points around islands, protected shallow banks around islands, and anywhere bass will be looking for bedding grounds. Bass will bed in many of the up river shallow pockets as the water gets in the the upper 50s, and it doesn't take long for the shallow water to heat up during warm spells in mid-February through March. I don't over look the steeper banks during early spring periods.

Many of the bass that are not already in the pockets or around spawning areas in the early spring season will be staged on the break-line. That magic break-line that goes from 4-5 feet and drops down quickly can be just that, magic. Fishing the break-line for pre-spawn bass with big spinner-baits, ½ to 3/4oz Cordell Super Spots, and the shallow crank-baits such as the Model-A or the Excaliber Shallow Fingerling series work great for big bass. Fire-tiger, baby-bass and bream colors are good choices for crank-baits this time of year. Fishing the break-line around humps and points, in the mouths of pockets or on the channel ledge itself is very productive for bass that are using the 3 to 7 foot range. Of course the standard 6 Texas-rigged lizard is always a good bet. A black and blue Riverside jig with a craw-bug trailer is also good for some big bites on shallow stump flats near a drop, on the edge of the river ledge around the old hydrilla lines. I stick with a 3/8oz jig probably 95% of the time. Points near deep water or creek channels are productive, and I don't over look steeper banks with docks or rip-rap when the shallow bite is tough during the early spring period. When water temperatures are changing and falling frequently, steeper banks with docks, rip-rap or other cover can be good. Red clay points with stumps are excellent places to search for staged bass. The bridges and causeways are always good targets when the shallow water bite is tough. Deep running crank-baits and jigs are my favorite baits on the steep banks, and I often do well on big spinner-baits and jigs. Suspending jerk-baits such as the Pro-Rogue are also very productive on the steeper drops during early spring when the water is clear. If bass are very inactive, and the water temps drop back into the low 40s during early spring, I resort back to the winter patterns and slow down the retrieve, or downsize a jig and work the steeper banks very slow.

SPRING SPAWN TO LATE SPRING POST SPAWN / MARCH-LATE APRIL

Spring spawn up to post spawn is one of the most productive times for both numbers of fish and big bass. I firmly believe that many bigger bass spawn first, and they will spawn in cooler water than many people know about. Generally, most of the grass has died out of the shallows during the winter, leaving the spawning grounds clear of most cover other than stumps, lay-downs and docks. I have seen bass and caught bass locked on bed in water temps as low as 57 degrees. We have a long spawn season, a true blessing here in the South, and bass will spawn in temps up to the low 70s, and up through the month of May if conditions stay right. Mid-March through mid-April seems to be the prime time for big bass to be active in the spawning grounds. Many bigger bass will also spawn a little further out than the smaller females, and big bass during the spring pre-spawn and spawn cycle really relate to stumps. However, many big fish do get shallow, and very shallow. Many people would be amazed to know how many big fish are caught by anglers in the know in 1.5 to 3 feet of water during the spring season. In late February through March, depending on the weather, the water temps get into the 50s, and the activity really begins. Everything seems to work in the shallows during this time. I've had great days on top-water baits when the water temps are in the mid to upper 50s, targeting very shallow stump flats or spawning areas during warmer days. Spinner-baits are very effective, and probably my two favorite baits this time of year are a 1/2oz Cordell Super Spot, and a Texas-rigged 6 lizard in watermelon seed color. Shallow pockets in the mid-river areas are prime areas for active bass to move into when the temps get into the 50s, and again I target those with small creeks running into them, and of course, stumps. Top-water baits can also be effective in the shallow stump flats anytime the water temps are over 50 degrees, with temps over 55 being the best starting point for top-water baits.

I also target some of the ledges with crank-baits during this time of year. A Bomber Model-2A, or one of the Excaliber Shallow Fingerling series baits worked fast over the growing grass on the open water ledges is a strong tactic for staging bass on open water areas. A 3/4oz lipless crank-bait such as the Cordell Super Spot is one of my best tactics for big bass on ledges before the grass gets to tall, or when working the old hydrilla on the edge of the drops. The crank-baits, and often suspending jerk-baits such as a Rogue are also very productive on the edges of milfoil that is growing on the break-lines during this period of time. Generally the bite begins up river, and moves down over the days and weeks as the water warms. The upper end warms faster, and stays a little more stained than the lower end under normal conditions. I often find the upper end of Lake Guntersville can be as much as 4 weeks ahead of the low end during the spring season. As the big fish begin to drop their eggs, they move off the beds, but often they don't move far too fast. I find big post-spawn bass in the bedding grounds for several weeks after they spawn, taking advantage of the bream that are moving up to begin their spawn cycle.

[5bass]

Great article there Wayne, lots of good info flyin around.

[electrikal]

Hey folks. I've been looking over some websites of Lake Guntersville and found this one to be helpful http://www.fishinglakeguntersville.com/index.htm. Maps with notes by a local fisherman, and interactive photos (not the best lighting, he needs to hire Niksfishinmom ;D). He gives the lure setups that are working best for the current season and other tips. Hope this helps someone. I'm trying to work out my plans for making the trip. I would be bringing a boat and may have an open seat. Hope to see yall there .