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Blue Gill Beds & Bass Fishing |
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Written by Captain Mike Gerry
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Saturday, 07 August 2010 12:59 |
Blue Gill Beds Make Great Summertime Fishing Spots
Most people fail to realize that bluegill spawn 4 or more times a year and their beds make for great areas in the heat of the summer to find active bass. Most bluegill beds are easy to find just look for hard bottom areas in 2 to 6 feet of water, you can’t miss them. Areas like scattered grass, stumps and water soaked wood make great areas for them to bed. Bedding areas aren’t always the same size as they take on different areas from as small as 10 or so beds in a given area to hundreds in others. The thing to remember is the beds will generally be near deep water, ranging from 10 to 12 feet and sharp drops with beds on them make for the best bass fishing.
One of the best ways I catch fish over bluegill beds is using top water baits, the noise and motion of buzz baits, or popping baits make for great top action and catching plenty of bass. One key to me is making several casts and covering the area inch to inch. The key is not disrupting the beds so you don’t run the bluegill off of them.
You accomplish that by keeping your boat positioned away from the beds preferably in deep water where you’re trolling motor won’t scare the bluegill away, if the bluegill stay in the area so will the bass. It’s also important to not overwork an area, develop a pattern to cover the bedding area so you are not pounding the same piece of wood over and over, cover the area with a plan and move on to another bedding area if you don’t get bite.
Lastly look for activity on or near the beds, many times the gar are moving over and around the beds or there are schools of bait fish in there with the bedding bluegill. The more active the bedding area is the more chances you have of getting your line stretched.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email:
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Call: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry
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It's Time for the Fall Frog Bite |
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Written by Captain Mike Gerry
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Sunday, 01 August 2010 10:11 |
It’s Time for the Fall Frog Bite
August is upon us and the fun is about to begin! Every year about this time, I start to get that urge to watch a bass destroy a frog over the grass. We are right on schedule the grass is beginning to brown up, turn nasty and icky and the nastier it gets the better the frog bite. If you go back to the history of this technique, no technique or pattern has brought more people or notoriety to Guntersville than catching fish on a frog.
In the late 60’s and early 70’s Lloyd Talent of Guntersville invented this technique and the soft rat along with it, he called it “rat fishing” and along with the Guntersville grass made Guntersville as famous as any lake in the country. In the late 80’s Lloyd Talent sold his technology and patterns to Mann’s bait company and the rest is history. Rat fishing became frog fishing and has proliferated all over the country, there are now probably 10 companies making their own version or the rat or frog and people come from all over the country to fish Lake Guntersville. This attacking explosion of a big bass busting up through the grass to eat a frog is as addicting as any fishing pattern ever discovered.
The best thing about this is as we move into fall, the frog bite last all day long. The brighter the sun, the nastier the grass, the ickier the top is, the more it foams and creates a path with your frog the more fish you catch. There is no real key to it, you just have to find that icky brown grass, listen for the bream sucking insects off the top of the grass and you’re ready. Throw the rat out there slowly wind it back, maybe pop it a little, or stop and move it and hang on. The frog fishing pattern is upon us; my preferences is Tru-Tungsten Pro Maxx Frogs, their tough, weighted correctly and catch fish with extremely sharp hooks.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email:
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Call: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry
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Written by Captain Mike Gerry
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Saturday, 24 July 2010 13:08 |
Fishing Grass Lines can be Productive
Not all grass lines are created equal, not all have active fish but I have some ideas on what to look for. As you move up and down Guntersville there are now grass edges from ledge to ledge. The problem is how you can pick out grass edges that you can catch fish on, what makes one edge more productive than the other? There are some very distinct differences to look for.
First thing I look for is bait activity, if you pull up to a grass line and after fishing a few minutes you don’t see bait moving about, it’s time to move on. You also need to examine the grass edge for structure, in most cases bass will hold on the grass edges, but if there is stumps or debris on the break lines there is a good chance you will find bass. Ride the edge of the grass line with your Lowrance structure scan, if you see stumps or debris you will also see the bass sitting over or near the structure.
Some grass lines form just a straight line edges, when I see this, if there is no bait about, I generally move on as I want a grass edge that changes definition with points and thickness differences all about the line of grass. Bass have to be able to ambush bait and if there is just a straight edge it eliminates the ambush areas and they generally aren’t there.
I also look for thickness change protruding out from the visible edge another few feet, if the grass just ends I find it harder to get a bite; there is one exception to this. When the grass line drops directly into a creek, this immediate depth change is different than others. I find creeks hold fish in the heat of the summer and the immediate drop to a creek is a good thing. Grass lines are productive, you just have to identify the correct line of grass!
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email:
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Call: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry
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Some Ideas on Beating the Summer Time Doldrums |
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Written by Captain Mike Gerry
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Saturday, 17 July 2010 17:52 |
Some Ideas for Beating the Summer Doldrums
It’s well documented every summer that the heat removes the oxygen from the water and the bass spend more time suspending than they do feeding. The thing that most people don’t know is that bass actually feed more in the summer than any time of the year. The problem is the feeding is generally limited to early morning or late evening so if you’re not on the water early or late you struggle more often than not.
One thing that I find is that as the summer moves on the bass move deeper into the grass and believe it or not they actually move shallow off the deep points and ledges. So finding fish in less than 10 feet of water becomes easier as the summer changes in July and August. Head to the grass in the slews early in the morning and you will see more activity than on the deep ledges. This allows you to fish top-water in active areas because you can visually see them feeding around the shallow grass areas. It also allows you to utilize many of the new swim baits out there on the market. I find that the jerking action of swim baits over grass is just deadly during periods of early or late feeding in the hot summer. As stated above the problem is you may only have a few hours each day where this activity exists, so you have to take advantage of it while it lasts.
This summer I have found that we have had many early mornings where the wind has been tough on the top water activity. The good news is you just need to find areas protected from the wind and you can catch the bass. So far this year buzz baits have been deadly over the shallow grass just slightly under the water. My favorite is SWL buzz baits; they are just killing this bait in the active back waters. To help you get started you can buy them on line at www.secretweaponlures.com and use my FLGGS9 promo code and get a 30% discount on line. Hope this helps you find some of those tough summer bites.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email:
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Call: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry
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Written by Captain Mike Gerry
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Saturday, 10 July 2010 09:09 |
Lowrance Structure Scan
Fishing for most of my adult life has been a great challenge and I have been fortunate enough to have seen the progression of the technology. Never have I been as impressed with technology as I am today. I thought that the GPS technology from Lowrance was the cat’s meow; but folks I must tell you the new Structure Scan technology has taken the on board electronics to another level.
I have spent many years now describing what my eyes tell me is on the bottom to my many customers while using the depth finders and GPS technology, now I can confirm my thoughts because the bottom is so clear and defined by Structure Scan that I am just amazed. I don’t know at my age that many things wow me, but this has and fishing has just taken another leap forward.
Structure Scan defines the bottom structure out from the boat in both directions, and directly under the boat. The image is so defined that you can see things like gas cans sunk to the bottom, sunken brush, stumps and even in some areas where vehicles have been sunk to the bottom creating fish heavens under the water. Emergency rescue teams can view the bottom during times of need. The amazing thing is you can adjust the view to one side or the other or both, change the number of feet you can view or take a direct view of the bottom directly under the boat. It also has a built in tool that allows you to measure the width of a creek bottom or height of a tree and actually see the fish hanging on the structure you are viewing.
If you want to be wowed has I have been come fish with me and let me show you this amazing technology. The problem is after you view this, Structure Scan will jump on your “got to have” list and you won’t be satisfied until it is installed on your boat!
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email:
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Call: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry
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