Part I. Guntersville “Rat Bite Fever”
Capt. Mike Gerry says this disease is one you won’t mind catching

Judging by how fast rats fly off tackle shop racks this time of year, a lot of anglers must have come down with a case of Guntersville Rat Bite Fever. Not surprising... it’s catching. The Rat is king on grassy Tennessee River lakes as late summer rounds into early fall.

However, rat fishing isn’t as easy as most folks think. There is more to rat fishing than just throwing that frog or rat out over grass and pulling it back. First, you have to find the correct type of grass, and second, there must be bait fish present. [More]

Part II. Guntersville “Rat Season” Fishing Tips
Capt. Mike Gerry tells how to make the most of “Rat Season” on Guntersville

Most parts of the world have four seasons. On lake Guntersville, we have five. “Rat” season falls somewhere around late summer to early fall.

In the past I have shared Guide Tips on how to catch big bass during Rat Season. Now I am going to expand on that and reveal details on how to find and exploit productive rat fishing areas on my home lake [More]

Bird Watching & Bass Catching
Benny Hull says let the birds show you the way to hot schooling bass action.

The sun had not yet crested the ridge over the Tennessee River when my buddy, Jim Rhodes, Regional Manager for Sportsman’s Warehouse, his son Trent, and I piled into my Key West Boats center console bay boat and pointed it upstream. It was early April, and I was hopeful I’d be able to put them on fish. The tailraces below Nickajack Dam can almost always be counted on to produce good number of fish.

Although the day would eventually warm up to around 70 degrees, in the shadows of the mountains the early morning boat ride was pretty nippy. Our discomfort was forgotten, though, when rounding the last bend into the sunlight, the dam came in sight. Up ahead the sun-washed sky was filled with white seagulls wheeling and diving over the boils. We knew we were in for some hot action. [More]

Coping With Crowds
Capt. Mike Gerry has a tournament strategy for crowded lakes

Having a lake like Guntersville as your back yard is good news and bad news. The good news: well, it’s Guntersville and fishing should always be great. The bad news: on weekends the lake gets crowded and the fishing pressure is getting worse.

The question becomes what to do when every spot you have gets beat to death day after day. [More]

Off to the Races!
The Ol’ Stump Bumper has the keys to hot fishing action below dams.

As summer turns the corner to fall, some of the hottest action on the water can be found on tailraces below dams. From August to October, my guide trips are booked solid with anglers eager to get in on some of the most sure-fire fishing of the year.

Walleye, smallmouth and largemouth bass, stripers and hybrids; in August they start moving up around the swift waters to gorge on the new generation of shad that hatched out in mid-summer. If you set the table for them, serve up lures that match the hatch and present them properly, the fish can be easy pickings. [More]

Catch Suspending Bass
Capt. Mike Gerry offers hope to anglers confronted by bass with lockjaw

In late summer and early autumn, short hours on the water stretch into long, unproductive days because the bass are suspending and seemingly not feeding. You may find bait all over the graph but can’t seem to get a bite. Let me explain what I try to do. I believe it will work for you also. [More]

Three Years Recoil Rigging... and Still Learning!
Lee Smith shares successful techniques learned over three years of Recoil Rigging.

I have been fishing for bass over 25 years and fishing tournaments for over 20 years. I have fished most states in the South: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, and, of course, Mississippi, my home state. The waters I fish are a spread of deep, shallow, rivers, and backwaters, from crystal clear to pure mud.

Despite all this experience, when Rodney Long introduced me to the Recoil Rig, I found out that I knew oh so little about the new techniques of bass fishing. Here is what I have learned in the past three years with this rig. [More]

Marine & Sportfishing Company Struggles Eventually Benefit Consumers
Capt. Mike Gerry explains what the companies that supply us are going through and offers hope for the future.

Have you become aggravated lately with the sportfishing and marine industries? It might help us deal with frustration if we better understand what they are going through in these tough times.

Over the past few decades, sportfishing and boating businesses enjoyed unprecedented growth. The economy about-faced so fast that we ended up with whiplash. Gone are easy credit terms to buy boats, generous sponsorship contracts, and money left over for tackle and boat fuel after paying monthly bills. The sportfishing landscape is littered with the carcasses of failed companies. And though the boat market is awash with new and used bass boats, we either can’t get credit or refuse to go deeper in debt to purchase the boat of our dreams.

The good news... Companies that survive will emerge better, stronger and more sustainable than before, and we consumers will be the beneficiaries. Here’s how I come to that conclusion. [More]

Pulling Big Bass from the Grass
Capt. Mike Gerry tells how to catch tournament-winning bass in the fall.

One of the most difficult things for anglers to do in late September is to find bass big enough to win a tournament. On lakes like Guntersville there’s an enormous amount of matted vegetation in the shallow waters. The grass, milfoil, duckweed, and hydrilla are at their thickest and bass are buried way back under the matted weeds feeding on bait. Getting to them is extremely difficult, but it can be done if you’re willing to put in some prep time on the water before the tournament and some hard work the day you fish. [More]

Fishing the Ledges with Dustin Wilks
Bass Pro Dustin Wilks explains his techniques for fall bassing on the ledges.

Ledge fishing.... Summertime with current.... Nothing beats a bend in the river channel when there is current. Current brings the bass fresh water and an easy meal. Current on a ledge means the fish are open to eating all the time. You often hear the bass pros complain about no current. When there’s no current, the fish are harder to pinpoint, and they may suspend and feed only in spurts. Here’s my approach to fishing the ledges in the fall.... [More]

Keys to Crankbait Success
Capt. Mike Gerry suggests three key practices that will increase your crankbait catches.

With the deep cranking bite in full swing and the fall crank bait bite just around the corner; I thought I would give you some ideas on making a crankbait work. Several people in my boat lately have talked about crankbait fishing but really didn’t understand the factors that make the bait work for you.

Let’s first discuss how using crankbaits help you locate fish big enough to win tournaments. [More]

Stroking a Jig
Capt. Mike Gerry describes a very effective jig-fishing technique with his own personal twist.

Over the past several years an effective technique for fishing jigs has evolved from the use of spinner baits, spoons and the like. It has become known as “stroking a jig.” For several years I have used similar presentations with jigs; not, maybe, quite as erratic, but very close to the new stroking technique.

The presentation is very easy to do. You just basically throw your jig out, let it sink to the bottom, rip it upward as hard as you can, and then let it fall again. Keep repeating it until the jig gets back to your boat. [More]

The Difference between Pitching and Flipping
Capt. Mike Gerry explains when each of these close-quarters presentations works best

I often get asked to explain the difference between flipping and pitching, when each of these presentations seem to be the most productive, and what type of skill set is required to do both.

Let me first state that these presentations are used in generally different situations. When you are trying to put a jig in an exact hole in the grass or along the edge of a boathouse post you are generally flipping. Your presentation is exact, you want that bait in a very distinct hole or edge, and you are trying to be very accurate and generally are not spooling out any line. Flipping requires you to have the line in your hand and release the bait from your hand toward your target. [More]

Bounce Back from Summertime Blues
Benny Hull’s advice for for coaxing bites from lethargic bass on main lake structure

A lot of anglers sing the summertime blues every year. The hotter it gets, the harder it is for them to coax fish into biting. It has been so hot down home that all my ol’ redbone hound wants to do is crawl up under the front porch and lie in the cool dirt. I know how he feels. By mid-morning, the intense August sun beating down on my neck and shoulders has me looking for shade, too.

The dog days of summer puts game fish in a slow-down and cool-off mood as well. And when that happens, it’s a good idea to crawl right in there and join them. By that, I mean first locate fish where they’re hunkering down, put slow-moving lures right in front of them, and keep them there for as long as it takes to trigger a bite. [More]

Fall Fishing on Guntersville
Capt. Mike Gerry offers an edge for fishing lakes like Guntersville in the fall.

As the month of August closes in, the first thing I think about is fall fishing on Guntersville. It might be hard to believe but on Lake Guntersville the number of fish caught in my boat in the September through October timeframe is generally higher than any time of the year. I believe that fall, with the bass feeding up for the upcoming winter, is the most active time of the year. The schools of baitfish are enormous, and bass seem to be pushing and feeding on them all over the lake and in all depths of water. [More]

National Guard/FLW College Tournaments Provide Equal Opportunity for Small School Bass Teams

Wheeler Lake, Decateur Alabama, Saturday June 6, 2009 — John Lawson and Nathan Pirtle placed 3rd out of a total of 40 teams in the FLW College Fishing event, winning $4,000 to split between the FHU Bass Club and the university’s scholarship fund. With this top five finish, Lawson and Pirtle qualified for the Southeast Regional Championship scheduled to take place in November on Lake Monroe near Orlando, FL. There, the team will compete for a top prize of $50,000 along with a birth in the FLW College Fishing Nation Championship. “The best thing about college fishing is the fish don’t care what school you go to. We get to compete with division one schools like Tennessee, Auburn, and Alabama and the playing field is level,” said Lawson. [More]

Nighttime Fishing in a New Light

Anglers who hit the water at dusk and fish until midnight or so can really load the boat with some great fish. The problem is, most people aren’t properly equipped. Although many have adopted some sort of night black light, most of the units in use today drain your batteries, provide poor suction cups that fail to hold the lights firmly to your boat, offer little help in seeing grass lines and holes in the grass, and shed little light on the deck of your boat.

Punisher Lures has come out with some intriguing technology that uses LED to solve all those problems. [More]

Fishing the Fronts
Benny Hull’s advice for cashing in on pre-front feeding frenzies

Ever notice how alike people and fish react in high stress situations? Over the years I observed that forecasts of bad weather stir up folks. We crowd into grocery stores and emerge with stockpiles of toilet paper, bread and canned goods that will do for months. Entire aisles are picked clean of food in just hours. Something about imminent storms throws people into a grocery shopping frenzy.

Approaching foul weather stir up fish, too. Long before a strong cold front rolls in, they’re aware of it, and if they had one thought it would probably be “Groceries!” They pile into areas that hold baitfish to chow down before bad weather pulls all the vittles off the shelves, sending their food supply into hiding. For fishermen, a bad forecast can be good news. [More]

Beating the Heat — Reducing Summer Tounament Fish Kills
Capt. Mike Gerry with some simple tips to reduce summer tournament fish mortality rates

Nothing bothers me more about summertime tournaments than to go by the weigh-in and see fish that have not survived the long day in a fisherman’s livewell. Taking care of the fish is not that difficult; it just takes patience, ice and livewell additives. I believe that every angler has the responsibility to keep his fish alive.... [More]

Coping Tactics for Heavy Summertime Boat Traffic
Capt. Mike Gerry with some tips to avoid boating accidents

We are into the summer months now, and boat traffic is starting to peak on lakes and rivers across the country. Between all the pleasure boats, jet skiers, kayakers, and fisherman, every day can be an adventure. Having been the victim of a boat accident many years ago and not wanting to go through it again, let me offer you some advice that might save a life. [More]

Top Water Tip the Catches Big Fish
Capt. Mike Gerry shares a tip that makes his guided trips successful

Some days all we can catch are small fish on a top-water bite. I’ve seen folks go to big Zara Spooks and increase the size of their Pop-R’s but the big bite still eludes them. We think that the big fish just aren’t biting. We start to lose interest and sometimes call it a day. Tournament fisherman pull up the trolling motor and go to different areas, thinking the big bass just aren’t here.

I believe there is a way to entice that big bite on top-water: buzz baits. [More]