Burley and I are thinking of heading down this spring.  Our club has its first tourny there in early March and it is only about a 4-5 hour dirve and even better I have kin only 30 minutes away we can go and stay with.  

Anyway my question is that I have a BassTracker Pro 17 and he has a 16.5 Glassport and we are concerned about using either of these on the lake with the wake the barge traffic makes.  

Barges don't "sneak up" on you. Guys fish all the Tennessee River reserviors in john boats. Pay attention and you will have no problems, but there may be times when you might need to move!

I wasn't that concerned about it myself, I don't see them making any more wake or causing any more problems than a big houseboat moving along at 20 MPH on a regular wide open lake.

And RoadWarrior what kind of advice can you give to help us win or have a good shot at winning.

I think some of the guys have posted suggestions on Alpsters "Guntersville" site in preparation for the BassResource.com Roadtrip, March 23-28th. From what I read, it's all about vegetation and grasslines associated with spawning areas.

Thanks I'll check it out.

I've got a 16 ft BT and don't have any problems.

I fish Guntersville a lot and before I got my new boat I fished it in a 14 foot flatbottom so you should have no problem in either of the boats you described

Depending on when you go in the Spring, a small boat is great b/c most of the fish will be up shallow in the creeks and bays when the water is 56 degrees through the end of spawn (around the end of April).

The biggest problem with a small boat is running when the wind is 15 MPH +.

The lake gets really rough in high wind, and sometimes you can't even cross the channel. I would find some protected water near the take off ramp in case it gets rough.

In Eary March, the water could be 62 or 48 degrees, depending on the weather. If it's high 40's to mid 50's, the fish will be moving up but staging in 4-10ft (grass edges). If it's warm, and the water is high 50's to 60's, the fish should be dirt shallow (1-4 ft around stumps, on hard bottom, and on inside grass lines).

Barge traffic is sporadic on Big G, and you can see them coming for miles. Wind is the bigger issue. Just watch the weather forecast, and plan your day accordingly.

FYI-

I whacked em good down there on a SK Series 5 and Rapala DT 10 in early March last year on outside grass edges in about 6-10 ft. The water temp was around 48-52 degr. The little lady in my hand in the pic to your left was one of them.

Let us know how you do down there.

Good luck.

Thanks for the great info Shadcranker.  

Found out last night we are definitely gonna be there on March 7th and 8th.  

Beast,

I take my Tracker Pro -185 on the historic James River with the boat and barge traffic and we do fine.

We do bounce around some when they pass but that is too be expected.

I am careful to watch the weather for large lakes or wide rivers that can have white caps during wind and storms; but otherwise, I am out there with the Rangers, Tritons, Bass Cats, Skeeters, etc.

So give it a try but please be mindful of the weather as you have a light boat.

Bamadan,

 Go over to the General forum and intro. yourself so everyone will know you're here and WELCOME ...

                                     As Ever,

                                      skillet

Depending on when you go in the Spring, a small boat is great b/c most of the fish will be up shallow in the creeks and bays when the water is 56 degrees through the end of spawn (around the end of April).

The biggest problem with a small boat is running when the wind is 15 MPH +.

The lake gets really rough in high wind, and sometimes you can't even cross the channel. I would find some protected water near the take off ramp in case it gets rough.

In Eary March, the water could be 62 or 48 degrees, depending on the weather. If it's high 40's to mid 50's, the fish will be moving up but staging in 4-10ft (grass edges). If it's warm, and the water is high 50's to 60's, the fish should be dirt shallow (1-4 ft around stumps, on hard bottom, and on inside grass lines).

Barge traffic is sporadic on Big G, and you can see them coming for miles. Wind is the bigger issue. Just watch the weather forecast, and plan your day accordingly.

FYI-

I whacked em good down there on a SK Series 5 and Rapala DT 10 in early March last year on outside grass edges in about 6-10 ft. The water temp was around 48-52 degr. The little lady in my hand in the pic to your left was one of them.

Let us know how you do down there.

Good luck.

Quoted for later...

Good thing this is a buddy tournament. I would hate to have to ride home with Beast after kicking his *** all over 66000 acres of nasty Bama water. ;D

I hope ya'll do good!  I expect a complete report when you get back.  

Good thing this is a buddy tournament. I would hate to have to ride home with Beast after kicking his *** all over 66000 acres of nasty Bama water.

It would be nearly as much fun as riding home with you from Atlanta after I kicked your *** all over 800 acres of GA high quality H2O.