Anybody here fish Lake Guntersville?

[gregintenn]

I'm going there shortly. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.

[MacGyver]

Get your topwaters in order and make sure your depthfinder is running well.

The topography of Guntersville is good - you've got decent flats that are a ways off the bank - so you can sort of park it in deeper water and cast into the grass flats for good bass fishing.

Panfish bite should also still be pretty strong, too.

It's a gorgeous lake.

[Chucktshoes]

I’m jealous. I used to deliver there quite often. It’s beautiful. 

[gregintenn]

When I was a kid, my sister lived in Scottsboro, right on the lake. I would go stay down there in the summer some. There was a boy who lived next to them and was about my age. We’d fish from the bank and caught a lot of bass.

He would somehow rig a crankbait to where it would chase a rooster tail. It looked like it was about to eat the little spinner. The bass loved that setup. I wish I could remember exactly how he did it.

[Guest BCR#1]

I used to but the $50.00 out of state license isn't worth the very few times a year I went down there. Now I will fish the head waters for $5.00 a year.

Bill

[MacGyver]

1 hour ago, BCR#1 said:

I used to but the $50.00 out of state license isn't worth the very few times a year I went down there. Now I will fish the head waters for $5.00 a year.

Bill

I really wish that Tennessee would adopt reciprocity on Lifetime Sportsman licenses like some of our neighboring states have done.

There's a change I could get behind.

[gregintenn]

2 hours ago, BCR#1 said:

I used to but the $50.00 out of state license isn't worth the very few times a year I went down there. Now I will fish the head waters for $5.00 a year.

Bill

I’m the same way about Kentucky. I bought a license last year and fished at Barren River twice.

[bersaguy]

The last tournament I fished was on that lake and it was the most miserable trip and week I ever spent fishing and it was the last time I fished for about 5 years and then I went back to night fishing for smallmouth's on Percy Priest Lake and have not done that now in 3 years. We got down there on Tuesday to begin practicing and it was raining dogs and cats and winds 30+MPH

It was that way all the way thru Friday and wake up Saturday to zero wind and high bluebird skies. We started the tournament and about 2 hours later my partner said did you hear that? I said what and he said never mind and then about 15 minutes later he said it again and I said you hearing Gallatin calling and he said you heard it to huh? An hour later we were back at motel, packed up and got credit for that night coming and we were back home before the 1st day weigh in started. We fished the first day for 3 hours and never got a bite is why we went home. Went thru Hell in Practice for 4 days and then wake up to a beautiful day told us the bite was not going to be on and we left. I had looked forward to fishing that tournament all year long and it broke my heart! I never fished another tournament since.

All I can tell you about the lake is make sure you have plenty of Hollow Body Frogs and 60lb Braided line and fish all the grass or weeds you can find. The closer you get to the dam the better the grass bite is. Just sit on the weed line and chunk them frogs. If you can't get bit on Frogs try soft plastic swim baits both in the weeds and on the weed lines. If those don't work it's pot luck from there.

[bersaguy]

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

I really wish that Tennessee would adopt reciprocity on Lifetime Sportsman licenses like some of our neighboring states have done.

There's a change I could get behind.

Don't look for that to happen any time soon. There are far to many tournaments on that lake that have an average of 100-150 out of state anglers in any one tournament that has to buy out of state licenses. If the tournament directors would talk to the merchants and motel owners and tell them they will not be coming back if they have to keep buying the licenses the merchants and the motel owners might be able to apply enough pressure to get the Game and Fish of Alabama to waive anglers from neighboring states that have their home state license and get them to start working together.

[gregintenn]

15 minutes ago, bersaguy said:

The last tournament I fished was on that lake and it was the most miserable trip and week I ever spent fishing and it was the last time I fished for about 5 years and then I went back to night fishing for smallmouth's on Percy Priest Lake and have not done that now in 3 years. We got down there on Tuesday to begin practicing and it was raining dogs and cats and winds 30+MPH

It was that way all the way thru Friday and wake up Saturday to zero wind and high bluebird skies. We started the tournament and about 2 hours later my partner said did you hear that? I said what and he said never mind and then about 15 minutes later he said it again and I said you hearing Gallatin calling and he said you heard it to huh? An hour later we were back at motel, packed up and got credit for that night coming and we were back home before the 1st day weigh in started. We fished the first day for 3 hours and never got a bite is why we went home. Went thru Hell in Practice for 4 days and then wake up to a beautiful day told us the bite was not going to be on and we left. I had looked forward to fishing that tournament all year long and it broke my heart! I never fished another tournament since.

All I can tell you about the lake is make sure you have plenty of Hollow Body Frogs and 60lb Braided line and fish all the grass or weeds you can find. The closer you get to the dam the better the grass bite is. Just sit on the weed line and chunk them frogs. If you can't get bit on Frogs try soft plastic swim baits both in the weeds and on the weed lines. If those don't work it's pot luck from there.

My wife and I are going. She wanted to go on a trip for our 25th anniversary. We were going to Cody, Wyoming bit our flight got cancelled. This seemed like a good fall back plan. I don’t reckon things are being burned or looted there. We’ll have fun whether or not the fish bite.

[bersaguy]

5 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

My wife and I are going. She wanted to go on a trip for our 25th anniversary. We were going to Cody, Wyoming bit our flight got cancelled. This seemed like a good fall back plan. I don’t reckon things are being burned or looted there. We’ll have fun whether or not the fish bite.

If I was going and wanted a chance to catch a big fish or 2 I would go to Lake Chickamauga down near Dayton Tennessee and you would not have to buy a license and have a much better chance of catching a big fish!! Use same baits you would on Guntersville.

Edited June 4, 2020 by bersaguy

[MacGyver]

Heck, if the fish aren’t biting just sit back and enjoy the birds.  They’re great down there. 

[gregintenn]

28 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Heck, if the fish aren’t biting just sit back and enjoy the birds.  They’re great down there. 

We rented a house with a covered boat dock. I’d be happy sitting on the dock nursing a cold one or cup of coffee.

Dang! I’m getting old.

The occasional tug on the line would make it nicer though.

Edited June 5, 2020 by gregintenn

[Quavodus]

9 hours ago, gregintenn said:

When I was a kid, my sister lived in Scottsboro, right on the lake. I would go stay down there in the summer some. There was a boy who lived next to them and was about my age. We’d fish from the bank and caught a lot of bass.

He would somehow rig a crankbait to where it would chase a rooster tail. It looked like it was about to eat the little spinner. The bass loved that setup. I wish I could remember exactly how he did it.

 

I heard somebody else talk about a rig like that. An old man told me about he used to take a simple white hair crappie jig and put a 3" or 4" shiner hooked through the lips. Or sometimes a tuffy minnow the same way. 

[Lumber_Jack]

17 hours ago, gregintenn said:

He would somehow rig a crankbait to where it would chase a rooster tail. It looked like it was about to eat the little spinner. The bass loved that setup. I wish I could remember exactly how he did it.

Id tie the rooster tail on the line and leave a long tail on the knot, maybe 6" or more and then tie the crank bait to the tail of the line how ever far back you need to achieve the look.  

 

[bersaguy]

3 hours ago, Lumber_Jack said:

Id tie the rooster tail on the line and leave a long tail on the knot, maybe 6" or more and then tie the crank bait to the tail of the line how ever far back you need to achieve the look.  

 

I fished a very similar rig like that but I used top water baits in the beginning. I use a bait called a front runner made by Norman bait company which I think are still sold and a Zara Super Spook Junior. The Front runner had a front and rear line ties and 1 Treble hook hanging from the belly. I would add a 12 inch leader to the back of the front runner and nose ring of the Zara spook. I used a 7.6 foot road and I couldn't count the times I would catch doubles on the rig. Bass are very competitive and normally there will be a couple around that will compete for both baits. Normally the front runner bass was the smaller one but it was tough fighting 2 fish at the same time but was also exciting too!!!  I did a lot of experimenting with that rig and found another bait that worked better then the front runner and that was a SSR 5 Shad Rap with and would remove the rear hook and tie a leader about 12-15 inches long and put a Rattling Rogue bait on the leader and fish it in 5 to 10 foot water. Caught a lot of fish on it also. I don't know how many people like to experiment but it can be a lot of fun and sometimes very productive!!! 

[gregintenn]

Dang! This thing is shallow except for the channel. Full of weeds too. I need th o find an ap or something.

When I finally got it to the dock, there was a bale of hay wrapped around my prop!

Edited June 8, 2020 by gregintenn

[MacGyver]

Oh man. I didn’t think it would be that heavy this early in the season. 

Don’t forget to check your intakes on your outboard, too. 

[TomInMN]

10 hours ago, gregintenn said:

Dang! This thing is shallow except for the channel. Full of weeds too. I need th o find an ap or something.

When I finally got it to the dock, there was a bale of hay wrapped around my prop!

Check out Navionics, see if they have data where it would be useful to you. A lot of guys up here really like it.

[felinesNfreedom]

You can download the Navionics app for your phone, works great.

[gregintenn]

Yeah. That helps. Now if I could get the fish to bite.

[TomInMN]

19 hours ago, gregintenn said:

Yeah. That helps. Now if I could get the fish to bite.

It's harder when fishing topwater, but my go-to technique to get fish to but when jigging or bobber fishing is to act completely uninterested. Get yourself set up, then grab a sandwich or some chips and crack open a beer.

And hey, if the fish still don't bite, at least you're on the lake having a sandwich and a cold beer!

Edited June 9, 2020 by TomInMN
Typos.

[gregintenn]

On 6/4/2020 at 6:31 PM, bersaguy said:

The last tournament I fished was on that lake and it was the most miserable trip and week I ever spent fishing and it was the last time I fished for about 5 years and then I went back to night fishing for smallmouth's on Percy Priest Lake and have not done that now in 3 years. We got down there on Tuesday to begin practicing and it was raining dogs and cats and winds 30+MPH

It was that way all the way thru Friday and wake up Saturday to zero wind and high bluebird skies. We started the tournament and about 2 hours later my partner said did you hear that? I said what and he said never mind and then about 15 minutes later he said it again and I said you hearing Gallatin calling and he said you heard it to huh? An hour later we were back at motel, packed up and got credit for that night coming and we were back home before the 1st day weigh in started. We fished the first day for 3 hours and never got a bite is why we went home. Went thru Hell in Practice for 4 days and then wake up to a beautiful day told us the bite was not going to be on and we left. I had looked forward to fishing that tournament all year long and it broke my heart! I never fished another tournament since.

All I can tell you about the lake is make sure you have plenty of Hollow Body Frogs and 60lb Braided line and fish all the grass or weeds you can find. The closer you get to the dam the better the grass bite is. Just sit on the weed line and chunk them frogs. If you can't get bit on Frogs try soft plastic swim baits both in the weeds and on the weed lines. If those don't work it's pot luck from there.

We had roughly the same weather. To get to the channel from where we were, you had to go up or down the lake about a mile and find a hidden creek channel. Then you had to raise the motor and remove the bale of grass from the lower unit before you could get on plane. I only caught a couple of small bass and a few catfish. Missed one big bass on a buzz bait. My wife caught a few small bluegills.

It also turns out that everything in northern Alabama is closed on Monday and Tuesday for some odd reason.

We were almost to our rented cabin when we encountered a road closed sign. I looked and it was about 40 miles to go around. Luckily I have a 4 wheel drive truck and insurance on the boat. The road was washed off the hill, but not quite as closed as they made it out to be.

i don’t think we’ll be going back either, Doug. I’ll never doubt you again. I

[bersaguy]

12 hours ago, gregintenn said:

We had roughly the same weather. To get to the channel from where we were, you had to go up or down the lake about a mile and find a hidden creek channel. Then you had to raise the motor and remove the bale of grass from the lower unit before you could get on plane. I only caught a couple of small bass and a few catfish. Missed one big bass on a buzz bait. My wife caught a few small bluegills.

It also turns out that everything in northern Alabama is closed on Monday and Tuesday for some odd reason.

We were almost to our rented cabin when we encountered a road closed sign. I looked and it was about 40 miles to go around. Luckily I have a 4 wheel drive truck and insurance on the boat. The road was washed off the hill, but not quite as closed as they made it out to be.

i don’t think we’ll be going back either, Doug. I’ll never doubt you again. I

Well your luck sounds like mine on that lake. I know a lot of people go down there and have a great time. I'm just not one of them and it sounds like your trip was not all that great. Glad you got out away from things for a while. They say a bad day on the water is better than a great day at work. I think that is from people that just hate their jobs.....LOL. About the grass on lower units. I have had friends or known several people that burned up their lower units trying to push their boat through that grass so I never did get in the grass but just fished from the weed lines with motor in clear water.

Edited June 12, 2020 by bersaguy

[Eddie Southgate]

Drive careful . I've hit bottom on that lake more times than I can count . Be in 8ft of water one minute and 1.5ft the next . I'd rather fish Wilson or Pickwick any day .

Edited June 21, 2020 by Eddie Southgate