Alabama Bass Trail Lake Guntersville Wheeler Lake Pickwick Lake Lewis Smith Lake Neely Henry Lake Logan Martin Lake Lay Lake, Lake Jordan Lake Eufaula The Alabama River The Mobile-Tensaw River Delta
16 MAY 2012
Donaldson says. “All 11 lakes scattered throughout Alabama provide different habitat types, but they all offer opportunities to catch quality bass. For instance, Lake Guntersville is known for its grass habitat. Lakes on the Coosa chain are more rocky. In the delta, we have swamps and tidal marshes with influence from salt water.” The largest lake in Alabama, Lake Guntersville, covers 69,100 acres on the Tennessee River and drops to more than 60 feet deep in places. The lake can produce giant bass – including one 14.5-pounder – and numerous fish in the 10- to 12-pound range. The northern portion of the reservoir still resembles the original river channel, while the lower lake opens into a typical southern reservoir with several large creeks flowing through vast weed beds. “Without a doubt, Lake Guntersville is one of the premier bass lakes in the nation,” says Mike Iaconelli, a former Bassmaster Classic champion who won a major tournament there in 2006. “It’s an amazing numbers lake, but can also produce giant bass. I caught one
10-pounder in that lake, but I caught bunches of bass in the 6- to 8-pound range.” Besides promoting fishing, the Alabama Bass Trail will partner with the Alabama Student Angler Bass Fishing Association to teach high school and college students how to build and maintain fish habitat. In addition, the Trail will promote the preservation of natural resources and raise awareness of natural resources conservation. “We hope to expose bass fishing in Alabama to an entire new group of people, and get people more interested in preserving natural resources,” Donaldson says. “The Alabama Bass Trail and the Alabama Student Angler Bass Fishing Association have developed a service program that engages Alabama’s youth anglers. With the help of these young men and women in building artificial reefs, performing drops at designated GPS locations and cleaning up trash during the annual water draw down, we will ensure healthy aquatic habitats and ecological systems at the lakes.
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