The shortest day of the year is gone, we are gaining daylight everyday and fishing should pick up every day. As I have stated before the early December days always present some problems for me, finding active fish was tough, but the days are getting longer the bass will respond to the longer days and we should all benefit on the water. You shouldn’t have to look far to find improvements in the fishing.

Now that we are past the winter solstice there are patterns that have produced for me for several years now. As always there are some exceptions that can be driven by some extreme long periods of cold, but for the most part these patterns should hold up! Rocky banks should hold active bass, especially on sunny days as the rocks warm the water in the sun. The deeper grass points should also become active, Guntersville hasn’t experienced turnover in many years and unless we get a real long period of cold weather the water will remain constant and this should group bass on 10 foot to 20 foot points with grass showing on your Lowrance.

Creek edges with grass on top of the shallow edges should also produce bites; the grass edges are generally warmer underneath and the bass will stack on the edges of the creek. I have found this creek edge pattern over the years to be a big bass gathering and have always been productive for early tournaments. Lastly the mid part of the day should be the best fishing as we get more daylight, the water should see midday warming and the generally this means active fish during the 10 am to 2 pm time frame. If the bass are going to move and feed this is the time of day they should do so.

In just a short few days we will see the bass start to gain momentum for the up-coming spawn, and once the bass start in motion to the spawn nothing slows them down. “Bass in motion stay in motion.”

Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service