Winter Bass Fishing Lake Guntersville with Capt. Mike Gerry

When you get in your boat in middle to late December on a cold winter fishing day you start

to wonder where do I start? You look out over the lake and there is no visible grass, there is

no obvious structure and your mind says where do I start and how can I put some fish in the

boat? I believe there are some obvious patterns; as every lake whether Guntersville or others

there is an abundance of underwater points that make great winter fishing spots. Deep

points make excellent places for bass to hide from the current, set up to ambush bait and

generally hold lots of oxygen from the water movement. Under water points are clearly

defined on your mapping loaded on your electronics; many times, it’s the end of a creek or a

change in depth that just seems to end nowhere. The important thing is to understand that

bass want it easy when its cold and the current is strong in the winter because of rain so

finding their habitat that allows them to be lazy and feed is imperative.

Bass move to points and deep structure in the cold, they become creatures of habit when

those cold winter days are upon us you should use these areas of deep points as starting

places to find bass. There are many reasons for this, the end of a point drops quickly into

deep water giving bass safety in their quest for depth change. It also becomes good habitat

for bait fish as the area that has the sharp drop is generally out of the immediate current and

allows bait some place to hide. The first thing I suggest is you start surveying the bottom for

depth change with your Lowrance electronics or use a good lake map. Look for areas where

under water points meet structure like deep stumps and old shell beds that form a hard

bottom. In most lakes the deep points hold plenty of bottom structure and for Guntersville it

always seems as though the grass has formed somewhere along the underwater point. So

scanning the bottom for points and structure puts you in the area where the bass move to

when it is cold. Bottom structure is key and extremely visible on today’s electronics; the dark

stumps show up with some simple pallet coloring selection and can easily be followed to the

point where it originates or ends and become a great location for the big winter hog you have

been hunting.

Now that you have located some possible structure and under water points I suggest you fish

the point from deepest area pulling to the shallow top of the point; I believe that bass will

work up and down the point as the day moves on. Your job is to thoroughly work the area

until you’re sure you have covered it completely. Working from the deepest part of the point

to the top allows you to be precise and cover all the edges and drops around the point, and I

believe in most cases the bass will hold at the bottom of it and starting their puts you in

position early in your fishing trip. This boat position means you will be sitting in the shallow

part of the point casting to the deep water; letting your bait drop completely to the bottom

before you work it up the edge. When your sitting on top like this you can slowly move your

bait up to the top of the point or work a crank bait from the deep to the shallow allowing you

to cover it as is needed for winter fishing.

Finding deep points is easy but staying on top and get the boat in position is not, but with

patience and slow movement it can be done! It’s also true that today’s trolling motors have a

feature they call spot lock; winter can be windy and full of current, but spot lock is a cure for

the need to steady your boat and work the area thoroughly. This feature locks the trolling

motor via GPS on a spot and the motor takes over and keeps you located until you put your

foot back on the button. In doing this you must remember that spot lock will turn you into

the wind or current to hold you on a spot and you must account for this when trying to cover

every inch of a deep point.

Winter fishing can be different but finding the correct under water point can make your day!

Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service

www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com

Email: bassguide@comcast.net

Call: 256 759 2270

Captain Mike Gerry

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