It seems to me that when planning a trip to a famous fishery, the expectations are almost always set very high. I’m fortunate to get to fish Lake Guntersville several times throughout the year, and one thing I’ve learned is that while the lake can yield some amazing fishing, it can also be as tough as just about any other fishery on a given day. I had the opportunity to spend a couple days there recently. It’s certinly common knowledge that the rattlebait bite can be spectacular on Guntersville in February. Just look at the results of the recent FLW Tour event held there! Of course, I went well prepared with what seemed like every rattlebait known to man and a few others just for good measure. Of course, I also had to take along a few swimbaits, because I just can’t help myself and I have to stick to the plan!

Having fished the Big G for a few years now, I have come to expect that when I show up on Guntersville in February, its either cold and rainy or I’m slammed by gail force winds – and Guntersville can get rough in the wind! Day one produced the former and day two the latter – so my expectations were met with flying colors!

I wasn’t expecting a major swimbait bite given the 48 degree water, but hoped to entice a big strike or two. My thought was – if they’ll chase a little rattlebait, surely one of those Guntersville pigs would chomp down on a nice big tasty looking shad slowly swimming by, right? Well, one of those spots that has produced numerous quality fish for me in Februarys past was my first swimbait target. I made quite a few casts with a 6″ huddleston, then a 7″ triple trout, then I picked up a sinking hyper herring. I made several more casts to the area slowly swimming the bait down the side of a moderate drop, and THUMP! I boated this healthy 6 pounder!!

With a heightened sense of confidence, I continued to cast to the same drop and boated another respectable fish, but nobody else wanted to play. As hard as I tried to duplicate my catch elsewhere on the lake, my efforts just didn’t pay off. Needless to say, I was very pleased to draw a couple of quality strikes on a swimbait in 48 degree water. I hope to go back soon when the waters warm a bit more and really work the swimbait bite, which I expect will be on fire very soon! Though conditions were tough, I certainly took advantage of the rattlebait bite and had a great time catching fish which is ultimately what all of this is all about!

“Catch, picture, and release!”