Last Updated
January 4, 2012
Alabama
Guntersville
Fishing in January should be pretty good as the December month has been better than expected. Most lures (plastic worms, jerk baits, jigs on the bottom, square-bill cranks) will produce fish as long as you are near the baitfish. Try fishing the mid-lake area on the secondary points. If the wind is blowing then fish the windy side. Swim baits, jerk baits, rattle traps, jigs and Alabama-rigs should work well. Use spinner baits (white) in the afternoon. Water temperatures are below 50-degrees now, expect a full winter pattern. Crappie can be caught with a minnow on the hook of a roadrunner jig trolled slowly. Also try jigging straight down over brush piles if temps continue to drop and water levels rise as fish will be close to cover.
Pickwick/Florence/Wilson
Brian Barton (Guide) of Brian Barton Outdoors (256-412-0969, brianbartonoutdoors@aol.com) told us, "The cold, damp, and dismal dreary days of January, along with passing cold fronts is not normally associated with catfishing. However, if anglers can be on the water in between and just before frontal passage they can experience some great catfishing. The lower portion of Wilson Lake is a good place to start this month. I like the areas of bluff along the southern shoreline in 60- to 75-feet of water. There is a lot of submerged timber in the section just downstream of Wilson Lake Shores, which will hold both numbers and quality fish. Use your electronics to determine if the fish are suspended in the tops of the timber or along the bottom. Most fish will be on or near the bottom at this time of year. A catfish laying flat on the bottom is almost impossible to detect even with the best fish finders and down imaging systems. Once structure is located your best bet is to fish the area for 15- to 20-minutes and if there is no action search out another location. Fresh skipjack or shad minnows are your best bet if available. Use smaller baits quarter of half dollar size is best in cold water. If your targeting big cats then upsize your offering to a 2- to 3-inch chunk or whole 4- to 5-inch shad. The bluff lines on the north side of the lake will hold plenty of cats also. Fish the same depths and look for under water ledges or wood structure along the bluff bases.
Pickwick Lake will produce some big cats this month. The larger fish will be located in deep holes in and along the main river channel. The downstream base of shell mounds and islands are also good places to locate big cats. Try to fish when the dam is generating maximum current. To fish these areas anchor the boat 30- to 40-feet upstream of the area you want to fish. I use a 2- to 4-ounce slip sinker above a barrel swivel. I attach a 3- to 3-_ foot section of Viscous 50-pound test mono with a size 6 or 8 circle hook at the end of the line. I attach a small red elongated float about half way between the swivel and hook. This will help prevent hang-ups as well as suspend the bait, which allows for a better hook set. For channel cats fish rock ledges and the top of the river ledges in 8- to 15-feet of water. Cheese based and prepared stink baits works well on the channel cats. If heavy rains occur muddying the river and creating flooding conditions find eddy pools and currents just inside the main stream flow and get on the water. Cats will stack in these locations and can often be caught as fast as an angler can keep bait in the water. Visit Gray’s Tackle Shop at 2813 Jackson Highway in Sheffield for all of your local bait and tackle needs. For trip information contact Brian Barton at brianbartonoutdoors@aol.com or call at 256-412-0969."
Wheeler Lake
Keith Dodd (Keith Dodd's Guide Service ) told us, "The Crappie bite on Wheeler has been great. The water temp in most areas has been 51-degrees and the lake level was near summer pool due to the rain we have gotten. We have been catching a lot of good crappie in 4- to 8-feet of water using a roadrunner head with a live minnow. A Lake Fork Tackle (live baby shad color) has been good too, any color scheme with green. The fish right now are relating to structure and with fronts they get real tight to the structure. In that case the best method is to just sit right on a top of them and work the bait in it good. I look for this pattern to continue for the next five or six weeks. If you would like to book a trip on Wheeler give me a call at 256-679-1866."
Fishing for bass should be scattered until you find the baitfish. Stick to shad-like lures and tight-line jigs on secondary points. Expect January fishing to be fair to good. With December rainfall the water is murky in places. Catfish will hit live bait or cut bait in large chunks. Fish eddies and rock banks in deep water.
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