Launch & Weigh In March 11, 2023 Beeswax Landing 245 Beeswax Park Road Columbiana, AL 35051 Our local restaurants, stores and other businesses are ready to welcome student anglers and their families! Then another tournament was held there by FLW Outdoors. Weekly. McCaig recommends that you cast umbrella rigs around bridges and to creek channel banks on the main lake. Lay lake is close to 50 miles in length from dam to dam. But today, some of these six Lakes are really rather small lakes. #b. Flooding many major feeder creeks, farm lands, flats, railroads, old houses and churches, standing timber, stump rows, and even old cemeteries. There have been three largemouth over 10 pounds weighed in at Lay Lake in the past three years, McCaig said. But at any time, Lay lakes striped bass can be located in any feeder creek. Boat Rental: YES that lead the four day Bassmasters tournament with 15 bass weighing 60 pounds on day three! ]. But how is this possible you may ask? Additional locations include Shoal Creek and Bridge Creek, where anglers will find brush-lined shores, coves, and even a few small islands that are favorites of spotted bass. However, the offshoot creeks and spring-fed channels are more likely to hold these large silvery fighters during the cooler months. Or try Pitchin a jig combo along Lay lakes weedy edges, and around wood and rock cover. Many of the last days top ten were fishing from mid lake below the main lake bridge crossing, to the lower lake dam.). Each team is accompanied by an adult boat captain. "Tournaments can be won off five spots or five largemouth," Davis said. 9 oz. Lewis Smith Lake offers more than 20,000 acres of prime bass fishing waters. Heres just a few suggestions of the basic lures an angler will need while fishing Lay lakes shallow, weedy waters, and wood and rock cover, this spring season. The diversion tells a slightly different tail. Guiding on Lay Lake and all other Alabama Lakes For Over 40 Years!. They may even be discovered bedding on a hard, red clay bottoms like those void of weeds featuring scattered rocks, stumps, or a sandy bottom. The best black bass spots are creeks and cuts, including Haw Branch, Bluff Creek, and Slate Rock Creek. Striped bass Like the smaller spotted bass (but only in their habits), striped bass can be found inLay lakes headwaters during the fall season. These offshoot coves provide bush- and tree-lined banks and a handful of sand bars where bass retreat from the main lake in search of bait fish and other prey. If those times won't work for you, 12:00AM to 12:00AM looks promising. Meanwhile, in front of the Wheeler Dam, anglers will find plenty of stripers, white bass, and even a strong contingency of smallmouth lurking around Big Nance Creek and Lock Three. Anglers will find small sandbars, an island, and a handful of coves lined with docks, making it a prime location to angle from just a short boat ride from the docks at Bozo Fishing Camp. Though anglers may catch the occasional striped and white bass at Bartletts Ferry, it is a black bass haven, and for a good reason. Guiding on Lay Lake and all of Alabamas Lakes for over 50 years! Weed less Lures You can cast these lures and retrieve them, right through the thickest of weeds. The duo from Century High School in the small town of Ullin, Ill., caught 19 pounds, 5 ounces to win the second stop on the 2023 Bassmaster High School Series circuit. Spotted bass, some exceeding 8 pounds, have been taken in years past from Lay lake. Most anglers are very satisfied with the bass fishing on Lake Jordan because it has remained very consistent during the last 20 years. Tough on fishing tackle, tough on fishing line, rods and reels and often these little, balls of fighting fury are tough on themselves, often ripping theirmouths with your lures sharp hooks, in their attempt to escape capture. We look forward to having new families discover Shelby and all we have to offer.. With information (and some of the top ten anglers and their 3-4 days weights, lures used and results), while featuring two previous, professional bass tournaments held on Lake Eufaula in south Alabama (Impounded 1963). 9 oz. That was Ryan Ingram from nearby Phoenix City, Al. Locations like Town Creek and Douglass Branch are small cuts off the river with a heavily forested shoreline and a few docks for good measure. Also known as the Middle Pond, this smaller-by-comparison reservoir on the Tallapoosa River is home to some trophy largemouths, stripers, and a handful of spotted bass. Airport Marine Tournament Trails and annual events should be on your list. As mentioned first place had about 65 pounds. The northern shoreline features sandbars and heavily brushed banks, while the southern bank offers several easy-to-access coves and a handful of drop-offs. Including, its an impoundment that can be known for providing anglers with sheer numbers of bass on any outing. Phoenix Bass Fishing League - Lay Lake - Day 1 Weigh-in (9/11/2021) 1y Phoenix Bass Fishing League. But his bass played out and he lost some good bass on day three, bringing in only 11 pounds and fell to fourth place. Fishing Alabama's Lakes for Big, Early Spring Season Pre spawn Bass. These deep water bass are actually resting bass, recuperating from the rigors of the past spring spawning season. PART ONE / JUNE Lay Lake on Alabamas Lower Coosa River System. Full of shad, minnows, and other small bait fish to feed hungry bass, Lake Martin also is loaded with piers, drop-offs, undercut banks, and brush piles that make it a bass anglers dream. Further downstream, the black bass angling picks up in locations such as Big Branch and Shoal Creek, but this location doesnt yield the same numbers as some of the lower-lake spots weve already discussed. Often they are found as far up any creek as their travels in search of food will take them, to the far ends of even small feeder creeks too! Including those tackle-testing, Coosa River System breed of spotted bass found lake wide. Lay Lake is producing the heaviest catches of all the Coosa River reservoirs, claims Alabama bass ace Mark McCaig. Written by Reed Montgomery / Owner of Alabamas oldest, professional bass fishing only guide service. At its southernmost point, Lay Lake offers some excellent spotted bass fishing in the offshoots of Paint Creek and Little Tom Creek in a large backwater on the lower east side of the reservoir. Also referred to as the Walter F George Reservoir, this giant lake on the Alabama-Georgia border is a bass fishing paradise. With a highly diverse ecosystem hosting crawfish, shad, snails, and even freshwater mussels, there is no shortage of prey for bass. A deep-diving crankbait is your best bet, but check the water clarity before deciding on a color. Paradise Point Boat Launch Ramp Catfish can be caught on live and cut shad fished near shallow and deep cover. And largemouth bass love weeds! When it comes to choosing top water lures for Lay lakes bass you have two types of lures to choose from. They can be found dwelling in the deeper depths in the lakes mid-to-lower lake section, often located in water depths of 15 feet down to depths of 50 feet deep on Lay Lake! Additional locations include Miller Bottom, Lick Branch, Bates Branch, and Brushy Creek, where spotted and largemouth bass are commonplace. Many deep water bass too! Including jigging spoons and inline spinners! Stick with bottom rigs baited with shad or troll with shad swim baits for the best results. Although there are many kinds of grass (including lilly pads), there isone invasive type of stringy aquatic weed, Millfoil, that has recently spread lake wide. "Lay Lake offers some of the best bass fishing in the country, and hosting events like this reminds us how fortunate we are to have this resource in our backyard. With both docks to cast under and plenty of steep drop-offs, anglers would be foolish not to take the boat ride out to Little Cove to try their luck in this bass bonanza. Soft plastics like worms, lizards, crayfish, tube baits, sweet beavers and creature-style soft plastics all work well, while utilizing these springtime techniques too! Whatever the choice, diverse landscapes, a variety of attractions and abundant Southern hospitality will be found. * Looking for a new or used boat? Anglers who work topwaters or crankbaits beneath these docks will have little trouble hooking into a sizable lunker on this portion of Lake Eufala. Lake Host Shelby County Commission 1123 County Services Drive Pelham, AL 35124 1-205-620-6631 DiscoverShelby.com All regular season tournaments are single-day team events held on Saturdays. This summer season Lay Lake anglers can relate, while targeting bass holding along deep creek channels, river channel ledges and old river channel drop-offs. But you hardly ever seen a striped bass hit a buzz bait. One is to swim a 5/16-ounce All-Terrain Tackle Swim Jig dressed with a NetBait Paca Chunk through the grass. Although most tournament anglers target largemouth bass, Lay Lake also offers exceptional fishing for magnum spotted bass. Right after the post-spawn months of May, the early portion of the month of June can show recuperating bass getting back to their normal, feeding habits while fattening up for the hot, summer months ahead. A strong weather system was predicted to move through the area on Saturday with high winds, tornados and possible hail. Hotbait. Anglers should keep in mind, your lures will be in front of more big bass and always closer to their strike zone, while targeting these bunched-up bass, that will be gathering around Lay lakes many types of aquatic weeds this spring season. Neither does the spotted bass, but they both can cruise the weed edges. LaCoosa Marina on Lay Lake McCaig fishes bass tournaments 42 weekends a year. Anglers should anchor just inside the cove mouth to fish the structure along the banks without spooking the fish. They all practiced for a few days and some anglers fished shallow and some fished deep water. By those very astute anglers that want to win. Fishing water willows is another strategy thats sure to put you in touch with heavyweight largemouth at Lay Lake. Bass Fishing Lay Lake | Lay Lake Flipping for Bass | Not the biggest bass I have caught, but it sure was some fast flipping action for a few hours in the mor. Including another invasive weed species Hydrilla. For example, largemouths prefer imitation shad, while smallmouths prefer faux crawfish. These artificial structures are home to more than a few trophy bass, and anglers who jig or work a crankbait from the shadows beneath them are sure to hook into at least a 3-pound lunker in the early morning or late evening. Like Mitchell Lake (situated right below Lay Lake dam discharge) and the next Lake downstream, Jordan Lake (situated right below Mitchell Lake dam discharge). A high quality largemouth and spotted bass fishery exists at Lay Reservoir. So when you see either of these bass tournaments on T V apply their lures and deep water fishing techniques this summer season, you can too! Barbour Creek and Cheneyhatchee Creek boast catches of both white and striped bass. 205-458-8000 It is rewarding to see the community of support that has grown for fishing tournaments. Both bass species usually bed in April and both bass species can often be found mingling together, in select locations. FLW Outdoors Lake Eufaula It took an average weight of almost 20 pounds a day to make the top tenand it was won with a three day total of 64 pounds and 15 ounces by Josh Stracner from Vandiver, Al. Bass fishing onlyon Lay lake year round. Spinnerbaits are a hot commodity here, but soft plastics rigged weedless will get you into those hard-to-reach backs of creeks and coves where lunkers lay up waiting to ambush shad and minnows. But spotted bass and largemouth bass will! The western portion of the lake is fed by tributaries like the Sipsey River along with Brushy and Clear creeks. So make plans to return to where you recently caught them and fool em again! In terms of an excellent bass fishery, Lay lake easily rates as one of Alabama's top three best, big bass lakes. Jig combos are popular lure choices for this technique. Largemouth Bass with a Strike King Standard Buzzbaits, 3 lb. The next lake down stream (below Weiss Lake dam discharge), is Neely Henry Lake, located near Gadsden, Al. Anglers can work the series of coves and cuts that line the shore running all the way behind Henry County 97 and hook into some nice bass. Visitors can get away from it all at the nearby Talladega or Tuskegee National Forests, with their camping and other recreational opportunities, or head for the city comforts of nearby Birmingham or Montgomery. 12 oz. Tobannee Creek sits across on the Georgia side and is also known to produce some large lunkers. So, read on and be sure to check back real soon for Part Two July. As a result, anglers will start to see an uptick in black bass activity in locations such as Cove Branch and Clay Creek. Shallow-to-mid diving crankbaits, both suspending and floating hard-bodied jerk baits, and rattling, lipless lures (like Bill Lewis rattle traps and Strike Kings red eye shad), all feature weed and wood grabbing treble hooks. Always have plenty of colors, jig trailers and various weights for these kind of lures. Elite winner. Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau This addition raised Lay Lake dam another 15 feet. 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Shad swim baits for the best results trailers and various weights for these kind of lures days and some deep...

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