Anticipating Guntersville Action

 

When the Bassmaster Elite Series kicks off the 2026 season at Lake Guntersville later this week I’ll be tuned in — eager to see which patterns and areas produce best and which angles find the most success. The season opener always brings fresh excitement for bass fishing fans, but Guntersville takes that up a few notches for me.

I’ve been fortunate in getting to spend quite a bit of time on Lake Guntersville over the years with longtime guide and tournament pro and good friend Jimmy Mason. We spend a few content days together every year, fishing for bass and shooting photos and video content for YUM, BOOYAH, War Eagle and other brands that are part of PRADCO-Fishing, which is my employer and one of Jimmy’s sponsors.

That’s Jimmy in the photo from one day last winter, and, yes, I realize be Elites can’t use YUMbrella rigs! They are part of Guntersville’s heritage, but that’s probably another story for another time!

Over the years, I’ve been all over Lake Guntersville and have gained a fairly decent understanding of the fishery, controlling factors and key types of areas. That familiarity adds fun to watching live events and tracking patterns. During the MLF Bass Pro Tour event a couple of weeks back, I watched anglers catching bass from specific spots I’ve fished.

Adding to the personal interest, PRADCO has several sponsored anglers fishing the Elites. Additionally, I’ve spent time in the boat with other anglers in the field during my years as a freelance writer. Knowing some of the competitors deepens the interest in every Elite Series event.

Personal interests aside, Guntersville is an iconic fishing destination and one of best bass lakes in the country, so the fish-catching action will be fun to watch. Undoubtedly, some big bags will come to the scales.

The anglers definitely face challenges. This will be the first of several Elite Series tournaments where no live sonar may be used. In addition, the region is coming off the two hardest winter fronts of this winter. Unlike normal season openers in Florida or Texas, this is shaping up to be a genuine winter pattern tournament.

The Elite Series pros will figure out the bass. They always do. I have my guesses on the patterns that will prevail. Lure-wise, I’ll pick a BOOYAH Flash Point Jr Deep and a One Knocker as winning lures. We’ll find out how it all goes down Thursday through Sunday!

Alabama Fishing Travel

Lake Guntersville is an iconic bass fishing destination, and the same is true about Weiss Lake for crappie. Fortunate for me, my first fishing travels of 2026 will include time on both lakes, fishing with longtime guides and friends Jimmy Mason and Lee Pitts.

Photos and blog material for Lurenet.com are the primary goal of both outings. Jimmy and I will focus on photos for  YUM, BOOYAH and other bass-heavy brands owned by PRADCO-Fishing and sold on Lurenet. Lee and I will focus on photos for Bobby Garland Crappie Baits.

The lore of both lakes, the lake quality of the fishing and the knowledge that any bite could be a truly memorable catch make them really fun places to fish. Guntersville will also be just ahead of the MLF season opener, so there should be extra buzz with many top pros around the area.

I’ll most likely do some “Fishing on Foot” along the way. There are docks and causeways I really like to fish at Guntersville, but there are also potentially productive stops along the way in Georgia and in Tennessee. I probably won’t settle on my first stop until I’m on my way, and then I’ll continue to play it by ear.

I don’t know what the days will bring but it’s hard to imagine me not tallying a fish species or two for 2026 and having stories to share. Stay tuned!

2025 Fishing Adventures

 

Angling adventures during 2025 generally kept me closer to home than normal, with no fishing trips outside the Southeast. Typically I find my way to some other region a time or two, at least, but this year, the farthest I traveled was to Arkansas for a fall bass trip on Lake Ouachita.

Pursuit of the Georgia Bass Slam gave me reason to explore a bunch of Georgia areas, including some spots not too far from home that I had never fished before. The slam was central to several outings this year and turned out to be a lot of fun. 

I achieved the Slam and ended up catching seven different black bass species from Georgia waters this year. Meeting an added challenge I’d set for myself, I caught them all “Fishing on Foot,” either bank fishing or wading.

The below video explains more about the Georgia Bass Slam and my pursuit of it this year.

As always, I also spent time in trout streams in North Georgia and Western North Carolina and did my share of pond hopping for bluegill, bass or whatever bit. 

I also made a few trips to Lake Guntersville to fish for bass and get photos for work with guide Jimmy Mason. Jimmy is a great friend, and we spend a few days fishing together every year.

One of my favorite fishing days this year was spent with Daniel Griffee of On Deck Fishing Charters, casting topwater lures for aggressive, hard-fighting bluefish over the shoals at Cape Lookout in Eastern North Carolina. Except a bit of casting from a pier near Charleston, SC during a mostly non-fishing trip early in the year, that was it for saltwater pursuits for me in 2025.

I don’t know what kind of fishing opportunities the new year will bring (although I certainly have some ideas), but I look forward every adventure!

 

Favorite Fishing Destinations Countdown: No. 10 - Tennessee River, Alabama

Jimmy Mason with a couple of Guntersville chunks during my most recent Tennessee River outing.

I'm not going to narrow it that much, though, because that would exclude some crazily good bass action on Guntersville, watching Nathaniel wrestle a 60-pound blue catfish from Wheeler when he was about 12, hammering schooling bass on Wilson, side-pulling for Pickwick crappie and much more. I've simply had too many great experiences on all four of these impoundments to not include the entire Alabama run of the river on my favorites list.

I suppose I might be cheating a bit with this one. The Tennessee River is a vast and diverse fishery that truly encompasses many destinations. I am at least narrowing it to the Alabama impoundments. That says nothing against classic waters like Kentucky Lake or Chickamauga, which are themselves among the nation's elite fishing destinations. I just have far more time logged on Guntersville, Wheeler, Wilson and Pickwick, and that time includes dozens of legitimately outstanding fishing days.

Pressed to pick an actual top spot, it would have to be the tailwater of either Wheeler or Wilson Dam. I love the diversity and dynamic nature of the waters below the big dams, and I can quickly think of at least 10 species I've caught below both dams. Catches in those tailwaters have included 5-pound-plus smallies, double-digit hybrids, jumbo blue cats and stripers (salts, as they call them locally) up to 20 pounds.


Big-fish potential is certainly part of the Tennessee River's draw. When I'm throwing a swimbait for smallmouths in one of the tailwaters, I have an ongoing awareness the next fish to hit legitimately could be the smallmouth of a lifetime, and any bass that hits on Guntersville could turn out to be a 10-pounder. Of course, the same idea applies anytime catfish baits are down on any of these lakes.

My fondness for the Tennessee River begins with the fishing itself, but it certainly doesn't end there. I've also gotten to spend many days in the boat with great anglers like Jimmy Mason, Tim Horton, Brad Whitehead and Jerry Crook and have first met many longtime friends at media events held on these lakes. I also love the settings, from Guntersville's grass flats to Pickwick's bluffs to the tailwaters themselves, which are always alive with diving birds and baitfish busting on top.

Another excellent thing about the Tennessee river, from my standpoint, is that its story continues to be written. I'll be back at Guntersville to fish with Jimmy Mason in a little more than a week!

Want to Go?

Visit North Alabama
Fish Pickwick & Wilson Lakes
Jimmy Mason, 256-762-0014

Red Hot Guntersville

I just realized I never reported back about this week's fishing at Lake Guntersville. I posted a few photos on Instagram (jeffsamsel) and on my Jeff Samsel Fishing Facebook page, but not here, where I promised a report.

In short, Guntersville is rocking right now. Jimmy Mason and I spent two days working out of the Waterfront Bay area of Guntersville. I say "working two days" because Day 2 was mostly spent shooting photos. Even on the first day, when I'd guess we landed 35 or 40 bass and could have weighed and easy 20 pounds, we probably spent a combined three hours doing photo work. My job is to shoot photos and gather content, and Jimmy is a guide and a pro staffer for the company I work for, so we really were working. It was just fun work!

Yumbrella rigs were the main deal. Specifically we were throwing Flash Mob Juniors rigged with YUM Pulse and Money Minnow swimbaits, focusing on ditches and sunken islands and other structures along the main Tennessee River channels, usually over eelgrass.

As a plus, we also caught a few big, pot-bellied spotted bass, which are a major bonus at Guntersville. Largemouths were the main attraction, though, and we caught a bunch of them, including a few 5-pound-plus fish. Big, big fun!

Guntersville Calling

When Jimmy Mason sends word that the bass are biting at Guntersville and suggests we get together to do some story and photo work, I don't need any convincing. Not long ago, Jimmy sent such a report, and plans are now set for us to fish together next Monday and Tuesday.

A 69,100-acre impoundment of the Tennessee River, Lake Guntersville is one of the nation's most renowned fishing destinations and somewhere most bass fishermen like to visit anytime they get the opportunity. Bluff lined and famous for expansive grass flats, Guntersville is a fish factory, and one of those places that holds and extra charm because as you fish there, you know that any bass that takes your lure could turn out to be a genuine giant.

Early winter tends to be a good time at Guntersville because the fish get congregated, and you can catch them quite a few different ways. I suspect we'll spend some time slinging YUMbrella Rigs, which means it's possible that I'll get to catch more than one bass in a cast, which is always fun. Jimmy also mentioned that the jerkbait bite has been good. By my way of thinking, few things in bass fishing that are more exciting than pausing a Rogue presentation and having a bass suddenly knock the slack from the line and nearly take away the rod.

The forecast calls for stable weather early next week, and we should be fishing just ahead of a winter system. There's not saying for certain what will really happen, but those definitely are promising conditions. I'll find out in a little less than 100 hours (not that I'm counting it down, or anything like that!)

Smallmouth Fishing Weather

With spotty rain turning steady even falling hard in spurts, and the temperature holding right around 38, there was only one good thing to do with the couple hours of daylight that remained after traveling. So we did just that: We went fishing. Only one chunky bronzeback made it into the boat, and of course a bigger one did what big ones (especially big smallmouths) do best. It jumped high enough to show off its thick, bronze sides, shook the hook and returned to the river.

It was fun getting out for a head start on the three full days of Tennessee River fishing that will follow, and in truth the rain and semi-cold air only added excitement. It also allowed us to have the Wheeler tailwater to ourselves.

Tomorrow's plan is to spend a full day on Pickwick with Jimmy Mason. Oh, and if you happened to read a day or two ago when I said the rain was supposed to clear by tomorrow. That's changed. Cold, dark and wet, all day long. Sound like smallmouth fishing weather to me!

Bama Bass, Come Monday

All the big bass pictures I've been seeing and sometimes sharing on my facebook fishing page have me really looking forward to a few days of fishing the Tennessee River next week. Plans include a day on Wheeler and/or Wilson and a couple of days on Guntersville.

Word is that the bite has been very good of late, with YUMbrella Rigs, Boo Rigs, jerkbaits and jigs all producing good action. Along with fishing a couple of different lakes, I'll be fishing with five different pros in three days, and I suspect that each will fish a little differently, so I'm guessing I'll get to try several different things.

I actually might sneak out to the Wheeler tailwater on Sunday, after driving to Alabama, and do a little fishing on my own from the rocks, just to mix it up a little and get a headstart on things. That depends a bit on weather. As of now, the forecast is calling for significant rain on Sunday, and if it's coming down hard, I might just settle in and wait to fish from a boat on Monday morning. On Monday, I get to fish with Jimmy Mason. Jimmy guides full time on the Tennessee River, so he's out there every day and pretty well always has the fish dialed in.

The weather appears it will make a cold turn this weekend. High around there today was supposed to hit 72 degrees. Tuesday temps are supposed to top out in the mid-30s. That's part of making fishing plans during the winter, though, and what warm clothes were made for. I'm glad I'll be out on the lake to get cold instead of sitting at my desk.

Drop in on Changing Ledge Fish

"A few years ago, you wouldn't have dreamed about using a drop-shot rig for ledge fishing,but I find myself using one more and more," said Jimmy Mason, a tournament pro and guide on the Alabama portion of the Tennessee River.

When fishermen think about ledges, most think about big baits -- deep-diving crankbaits, 10-inch worms, 1-ounce spinnerbaits and big swimbaits -- and those baits till play a very large part. As ledge fishing gets ever more popular, though, and as anglers get ever-better educated about how find and fish offshore structure, the fish are getting wiser. For anglers who still want to catch them well, that often means making adjustments.

"When they first move out late in the spring, they're dumb, but they get educated pretty quickly, and on some summer days when everybody has been out fishing the ledges, it's hard to catch them with a crankbait."

Any time Mason can find the fish but they won't bite traditional stuff, he rigs up a YUM Mighty Worm on a drop-shot rig and fishes it by dragging the weight slowly along the bottom.  They fish rarely can resist the drop-shot, and he has found that the little rig even produces it's share of big bass.

Thursday Tips: Fish 'Em Where They Are

"They're all really high," Jonathan Newton said as he graphed a Pickwick Lake ledge. "There are plenty of fish down there. They are just farther from the bottom than I'd prefer."

Although the fish weren't positioned ideally in the mind of the FLW pro and Pickwick expert, we decided to work the spot. We fished initially with a crankbait and a finesse worm on a shaky head -- both summer ledge classics -- but didn't get a hit. Knowing the fish were high, Jonathan decided to pick up a Flutter Spoon, which you work by popping it off the bottom and then allowing it to flutter back down. Three bass in four casts convinced me to pick up a jig and to fish it by "stroking," which is a similar presentation. First stroke yielded a feisty largemouth.

We ended up trying to catch fish from that spot with other classic ledge baits, including a swimbait a couple of different crankbaits and a football head jig. However, nothing beat the high-rising baits for fish that were sitting a little higher than normal in the water column.

A little later in the day, Jimmy Mason and I found fish positioned similarly on another ledge and the most productive thing for those was a drop-shot rig, which kept the worm higher in the water column.

Some days, the fish are on the bottom, and dragging is the very best approach. Other days, like today, they are higher, and you must adjust accordingly. In truth, the same idea applies to most kinds of fishing. Pay attention to you graph and to other clues, and if something helps you narrow a pattern or tells you that things need to change a bit, pay attention to details and fish accordingly.

North Alabama Ledge Run

Word has it that the ledge bite is going strong on Pickwick, so I'm Alabama bound this afternoon to see for myself. I'll be dividing time in the boat with Jimmy Mason and Jonathan Newton, both pros from that area and both authorities on ledge fishing on the Tennessee River.

For as big a deal as the ledge bite becomes throughout the summer and for as much time as I've spent on Pickwick, Kentucky Lake and other waters along the Tennessee River, I've not done much ledge fishing. Obviously, I'm looking forward to catching some chunky bass. Just as much, though, I'm looking forward to learning what draws the fish to the ledges, how changes in river flow impact positioning and bass behavior, how Jimmy and Jonathan position their boats, how they use their electronics, what presentations they prefer...

Be sure to watch this blog, my YouTube Channel, and my facebook fishing community page. I expect to have some good information to convey and plan to post some fish pics and at least a couple of new videos from this week's outing.

Blog updates have been slow coming for the past week or so, and I apologize to anyone who checks in regularly and anticipates something fresh. I very much appreciate folks who follow my blog, and do try to keep things updated. Non-fishing travel and other stuff just made computer time and access a little too thin and allowed me to fall behind last week. I'm back at it, though, so check back soon!

New Video: Pro Tip for Catching Bass

This short "tips" video,which was shot while the fall frog bite was going strong on Pickwick Lake, features bass pro and fishing guide Jimmy Mason talking about patterning.

To see more fishing videos produced by Nathaniel Samsel, visit our YouTube Channel.

What's Your Line?

As I spent time in the boat with pros from Vicious Fishing earlier this week, we talked a fair amount about line preferences, and I was reminded how critical it is to fish lures on the best line for the task at hand. Although pros' opinions differ about the best line to use for specific lures and techniques, their choices are always well thought through and are made based on a line's characteristics and what they want the lure to do in the water. Stretch, visibility, toughness and buoyancy are just a few of the considerations.

Maybe the most noteworthy thing to me was a realization that some of the most touted characteristics of line aren't the best characteristics for every situation. For example, everyone always talks about the extreme low-stretch quality of fluorocarbon, which is perfect for many application. However, Kevin Short prefers Vicious Ultimate, which is a copolymer monofilament, over fluoro for many cranking applications BECAUSE the mono stretches a bit. With fluorocarbon, Short feels like he actually feels too much and he has more of a tendency to pull crankbait away from bass. The slight stretch in mono gives the fish a moment longer to take the bait, and Short gets better hook-up rates. Jimmy Mason likewise favors Vicious Ultimate for much of his shallow cranking because it's more buoyant than fluoro and then helps him stay out of snags.

The pros and cons of various line types for different applications could be subject of an entire book. The key is to keep in mind that mono, fluoro and braid are all different in character and to carefully consider the best tool for any given task.

Pickwick Frog Lessons

"Are those holes where bass have been feeding?" I asked Jimmy Mason, looking toward the group of holes my Booyah Pad Crasher was approaching.

"Absolutely," Jimmy said, with the answer barely leaving his mouth before a bass annihilated my happily hopping frog. Jimmy had been explaining to me that it's critical to pay attention to clues, such as holes in a mat, which suggest bass have been feeding in that area. So when I'd spotted a little group of holes that looked like what he'd described, I  had cast directly past those holes.

Other clues to watch for while frog fishing:
-Popping sounds (like Rice Crispies, Jimmy said). That's the sound of bluegills feeding on bugs in the grass
-Greener grass
-Wood or other hard cover in the grass
-Swells from moving fish

Other frog fishing tips from Jimmy Mason
-Cover water till you find active matts or get hits. Then slow down.
-If a fish hits and misses, it usually will hit again. Bring your frog back in fast, cast back to the spot and work it carefully.
-Pay attention to what the fish show you.
-Work the bait to the edge of the grass and then reel it back quickly and make another cast.
-When you catch a fish, work that area carefully. The bass move in groups under the mats.

Jimmy and I had a big time catching from fish from Pickwick mats, and the fish obviously wanted our Pad Crashers because when we'd bring in a fish it would have the frog so deep in its mouth that you couldn't see the lure until you looked down the fish's throat.