Fishing Lake Guntersville

I love spinner baiting in cold water conditions, something about how the blade triggers the reaction strike or just cause I think it looks good. I use 3 setups 90 percent of the time. Gold and Chartreuse for sun, Silver and white for clouds and a very heavy single "hammered brass willow thumper" for deeper water. People talk a lot about matching the size of blade with the bait fish and while this is so very true, I have an additional theory. I like using the one the fish would like to eat. Fish you catch on Spinner Baits this time of year were likely not feeding when your bait came thumping by, especially big fish. Not to mention you are trying to show them something different so they will be willing to move and eat.

Since you will likely be finding grass just about everywhere, try looking for areas like the following maps. I think, if you are looking for the first spinner bait bites of the trip, you will get a better start by trying the following ideas.

Find areas where you can land your bait in water 4 feet or even less while keeping the boat in grass free water.
These are the magic words for 75% of grass fishing on Guntersville Lake. Moving your bait in and out of the grass edges.
Always let your bait touch the cover you are fishing on several of your casts. Rocks, stumps or grass.
In the case of grass, fell it no mater how deep. There are many areas on our lake where the grass in as deep as 14 feet, and there is where you will find the grass edge.
So if your bait lands in 4 feet and you are in 12 you will need to wind slower as the spinner bait gets closer. Using this method of retrieval will keep your bait in contact with the grass.

On the map to the left, are some more examples of places where these five tips can be applied.

The map to the right is showing the same as well, but this area is located far up into a pocket but yet we find grass that still has several unseen edges.

These tips should help you get started at the task of finding some bass. The term edge will be used throughout this web site because it is always your "starting point" when there is this much grass. If you get several bites you have likely found a decent area and you can then experiment with fishing shallower or deeper. And please, have a map and keep it out, because looking at it while you fish is just as important as studying it before you leave the house.