Anglers Face Two Choices In Alabama Bass Trail Championship Smallmouths Or Largemouths
Anglers in the Alabama Bass Trail Championship on Wheeler Lake this weekend basically have two choices, according to veteran tournament angler Mark McCaig: run up the river and fish for smallmouth in the tailrace behind Guntersville Dam or stay down lake and fish the channel edges and shellbeds for largemouths.
“A lot of people will make the run up to Guntersville Dam and that is where a lot of fall tournaments are won,” said McCaig, who with teammate Tim Hurst, both of Oxford, Ala., is ranked 5th in points in the ABT North Division. “But there are some good largemouths in the back of Flint Creek which runs by the the ramp and I think that will be a player, too.”
Recent rains have poured a lot of water in the Tennessee River system, which creates current, and that will boost the tailrace fishing. However, this time of year Wheeler goes through an annual draw down, which has pulled the water off shoreline structure down the lake, causing the bass to move out to the channels and scatter, McCaig said.
“It’s down about two feet now,” he said, “which eliminates a lot of flats areas. A lot of those fish may be drawn out and are on the shall beds. I think there will be some fish on the shell beds and up the creeks.”
The choice, McCaig said, is for anglers make the run up to the Guntersville tailrace and fish for a few bites or stay down the lake and fish for more bites.
“I am not crazy about fishing in the tailrace. It’s kind of an all-in deal. You don’t have to time to go anywhere else if it doesn’t pan out. But if you catch five up there, some of them will be big ones. There are some really good 3-0 to 4-pound fish up there.”
Conversely, he said, if you fish down the lake you will likely get a lot more bites, but you might not have but 11 or 12 pounds. Or, you could have a lot more weight than that.
“I think it will take 17 to 17 ½ pounds a day to win it and I think I can fish down the lake and have 17 pounds a day,” he said.
Anglers will be fishing for a complete boat package for the first place prize – a Phoenix 819 Pro complete with a 200 Mercury, Garmin electronics, 2-Garmin VIRB Elite cameras, HydroWave H-2, T-H Marine Atlas Hydraulic Jack Plate and Minn Kota trolling motor.
Alabama Bass Trail Championship
Oct 9-10, 2015
Wheeler Lake
Ingalls Harbour
Call Kay Donaldson 855-934-7425
