By Lawrence Taylor
The following is a recount of three days on north Alabama’s Lake Guntersville. The event was a combination of writers and fishing professionals where there was a lot of fishing and a lot of working on this beautiful bass lake.
Oct. 27, 2009
Light rain pelted the window in the fuzzy morning darkness as I scrambled to turn off the alarm. Disappointment is the worst way to start the day, especially one in which you get to fish one of your favorite lakes. Then again, starting so low, there’s no place to go but up.
Fortunately I was fishing with Jimmy Mason, who guides on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, so regardless of the temperature (high 40s) and steady rain I was confident of working up a sweat catching fish. We put in at the Goose Pond and fished the north Sauty area of the lake. While I hunkered down to keep the rain from running down my neck Mason motored us to some weedbeds just off the main channel. Mason started with a Pip-Zqueek Buzzbait and a Money Frog and I rigged a Money Hound. The 5/0 hook fits the smaller sized Hound perfectly.
I struck first – actually twice – and missed both fish by reacting to the strike instead of waiting to feel the weight of the fish before setting the hook. The Money Hound sashays back and forth with very little effort, and skitters and bumps and slithers over the weeds. A tremendous benefit is that with quick, short twitches of the rod tip, the Hound walks-the-dog virtually in one spot, allowing the angler to work open spots in the weeds longer and with more action than with other baits.
After an hour the fish turned on and got more aggressive and my first fish on a Money Hound slammed the bait as it was working through the thick stuff and buried itself deep. Fortunately the Excalibur line held and I eventually landed the grass and bass. The next two strikes were twin 4-pounders that slammed the bait and literally hooked themselves.
By now Mason rigged a Money Hound and started catching a few fish. “It’s a great alternative, or maybe addition to a frog,” Mason said. “You can’t work a frog back and forth in those open holes like you can with the Hound, and it gives a totally different look than a frog.”
In a little more than half a day of fishing Mason and I boated 3 bass weighing more than four pounds and a good number of smaller bass while frog anglers were blanking. The Hound was durable. It walks the dog with ease, and what I like about it most is that side-to-side movement each time it hits a small opening in thick grass.
Most of the fish struck working the bait quickly across the weeds with quick twitches, the same rod technique that produces the walk-the-dog retrieve. Mason and I caught a good sack of fish that cold, rainy day. Our best five would have gone close to 18 pounds, and I think we’d all take that any day.
Matt Reed cooked steaks on the grill for everyone this evening. They were absolutely fantastic.
Post script: from Mason, who borrowed my rod when I left. He was using braid and a 7 ½-foot heavy action foot rod and didn’t get the action out of his Hound. He only had a couple fish and I had seven. After I left and another angler joined him, Mason borrowed my rod and caught three nice fish in short order. “The action of the lure was so much better with your rod (a 6 ½ foot medium-heavy action Quantum) and line (17-pound Excalibur copolymer) than with mine.”
Oct. 28, 2009
Today was bright sunshine and light winds. We worked much of today, doing interviews and photos with the pros, Dave Wolak, Tim Horton, Matt Reed, Jimmy Mason and Kyle Mabrey. Had lunch at The Docks at Goose Pond Colony and everyone needed a nap after that – it was fantastic.
During midday when the light was too harsh to take photos we located schooling fish and wore them out with Rattlin’ Spooks and the Money Hound. It was a sure positive that with the Hound we could be working the ample weeds and then use the same bait when the schools surfaced in open water. In fact, the biggest fish of the trip was caught doing just that, a bass weighing more than 5 pounds.
Dinner at Steverino’s in Scottsboro and it was fantastic. Everyone was ready for bed by the time we got back to Woody’s Lodge.
Oct. 29, 2009
Rain again! Morning bite was slow but we did scratch out some fish on the Money Hound working weedbeds just off the main channel. No schooling action until afternoon, when it finally cleared off. We found a bay with bass slashing baitfish on the surface and couldn’t get them to bite anything we threw at them. These bass were feeding on young of the year shad less than 2 inches long and no one had crappie gear with them. Look for a story on Lurenet in the near future on what to do when you encounter a situation like this. Basically, we had to go find other fish.
Again, lots of photography and interviews this afternoon. Lake Guntersville is a true jewel of north Alabama and despite the press it’s been getting lately and the number of anglers working it, it’s still producing good numbers and size of bass. I can’t wait until the next time I get to fish wonderful water.
Dinner was with Kay Smallwood of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association at the Blue Willow in Scottsboro. Incredible food again, and I suggest the vinegar pie for desert. What a blast! I can’t wait to return.