BY Chris Erwin
The As
If you love to bass fish, you have heard of Guntersville Lake. It has been touted as the best bass fishing lake on the east coast by just about every fishing publication still in existence.
Every year in our upholstery shop we get a lot of fishermen (and women) getting ready for their first spring fishing trip. More often than not it’s to Guntersville Lake. Today, I interviewed Scott Doan; he has been on the pro-staff of Kentucky Angling News for a few years now. He is a local pro, and he just got back from Guntersville Lake.
We are going to tell you just where he went. Where he stayed and how well he did on the water. Before we do that, I want to tell you just a little about the lake, in case you want to make the trip this spring, and you haven’t been there before, or maybe you want to stay in a new place while you are there.
Guntersville Lake is located in northern Alabama between Bridgeport and the town of Guntersville. The lake is the largest lake in Alabama it consists of 69,102 acres. It is a little over 75 miles long from Nickajack to Guntersville Dam. One of the well-known features are the huge weed beds that seem to produce unmatched bass fishing.
I suppose I should call them different kinds of aquatic vegetation; however, to bass fishermen (and women) they are better known for what they are, Eurasian watermilfoil, hydrilla, and eelgrass. If you don’t know what they are and you plan a trip to this lake you should take the time to learn. Because the best fishing is usually in one or the other types of grass, so knowing the difference can be the ticket to putting a lot of fish in the boat.
Scott Doan and his fishing partner Melissa Kegg like to fish out of Waterfront Bay, right by the Bait and Tackle Shop. I asked Doan, why do you like to stay there? He said. “I like to stay there because of the fact it’s right across the street from the launching ramp, and when I come in from fishing, I can pull my boat out of the water and park it right by the cabin that also has covered parking for the boat.”
I asked Doan, whats the biggest Bass he caught while on the trip. He told me seven pounds; however, that was Bass, Melissa caught a 33-pound catfish on a Silver Buddy crankbait on light tackle. Scott said. “Most of the fish were caught on a 110-Magabass lure and the Silver Buddy crankbait”.
He told me that while they caught a lot of fish, they were pulling water through the Dam creating a lot of current, this changed where he found fish. He told me that in previous trips he had been finding the fish around the eelgrass: however, this trip the fish were relating to current, and they were using the milfoil instead.
It is the time of year to plan your trip if you want to visit one of the best bass fishing spots on the east coast and if you go send me your pictures.
The fishing at Guntersville Lake is just going to get better. If you haven’t tried this lake, I want to make it as easy as possible for you. It’s about a seven or eight-hour drive from here straight south. If you think you would like to go where Scott and Melissa stayed here is the information you need.
Waterfront Bay, 6989 Scottsboro, Highway 79 Scottsboro, Alabama 35769
Reservations: (256) 444-5017 They are located U.S. Highway 79 right next to Waterfront Bay Grocery and Tackle, 8 minutes south of Goose Pond, 10 minutes from Scottsboro, and 15 minutes from Guntersville. This location info was provided by Waterfront Bay.
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