Wife and I took our annual summer trip to Guntersville.  I was glad to be on the lake without cold, snow and rain.

Stayed at Guntersville Fisherman's Village .  Great place to stay for big parties as the cabins will sleep up to 8 and have two covered boat/car ports.  Excellent accomdations and located midlake (within 15 miles of about any ramp).

Headed out into the heat Sunday, started off on a spot where I had some luck in March.  Luck didn't continue to June, however.  Ran out to the river ledge near the mouth of South Sauty Creek and let the wind push us upriver.  Working a jig and worm through the grass in 5-8 FOW, got a few bites.  Landed this one after a while.

Stayed on the ledge for a little longer, then the wind really picked up and forced me to find a sheltered spot.  Ran up to North Sauty and found a sheltered area just past the first bridge.  Second cast around the bridge resulted in a decent fish.  Just kept working along the grass line east of the bridge, boated two more on a jig.  Hooked a good 5-6 lb. fish, but it threw the hook. 

Had been wanting to fish lilly pads for as long as I've been fishing, so we headed across the creek to a pocket and started working a grass line.  Eventually picked this one up on the jig.

Fished a few more spots, but the heat had killed us.  Went through a gallon of Gatorade and a bunch of bottled water, so back to the cabin we went.

Got up early Monday morning and put in at Waterfront.  Worked the river ledge there and let the wind push us down the lake.  Same thing, jig and worm.  After about two hours of nothing, we headed down to Mill Creek and worked a few humps with no luck.  Ran up to the bridge in South Sauty and tried a jig and crank with no luck. 

At my wit's end, I called a few guides and booked a trip for Tuesday.  Thinking it couldn't hurt, I ran back up to N. Sauty to try the grass lines again.  First line didn't produce.  Went over to the other grassy point and worked a little deeper.  Got a surprise with this one as I never felt a thing.  Just got heavy.

We worked the area for about an hour, but that was all it was going to give up.  Went back to the cabin for lunch and a nap.

Decided to try new water, so we drove down to the state park and put in.  I wanted to fish something closer to what I fish around home, so I stopped at the first bluff wall I saw and started working with the jig and deep crank.  Got a good spot on the jig within 10 minutes.  After 10 more minutes of nothing else on the jig, I picked up the 6XD and had this one on the second cast.

After I got another on the 6XD, I handed it to my wife and picked up a Little John DD.  They liked it better.  Ended up getting six on the crank in about an hour or so.  Good mix of spots and LM.  This was one bad arse spot.

Enjoyed the sunset and headed back home.

Had an 8 hour trip booked with JoJo's Guide Service on Tuesday afternoon.  Met him at the state park at 12 and headed out.  He had been having good luck offshore on a shell bed, so we hit that first.  He got one within three casts and I got one on my second cast.  After that, my bite dried up and he and my wife started catching them.

We stayed there for about three hours, bite got really slow due to a lack of current.  We headed back to the ramp for a bit to cool off, then tried a few more of his spots.  Bite wasn't all that good, but we caught a few here and there.  Learned a lot about what he looks for when finding spots and how to fish them.

He did a great job with my wife.  She's been fishing for  a month or so and struggled with casting, bite detection and hooksetting.  He gave her several great lessons and by the end of the day she was 100x better in all aspects.

We ended the day cranking a few offshore humps.  Wife loves throwing crankbaits, so she was happy.  We hammered them for about 30 minutes.  Ended up catching at least 10-15 on the crank. 

All in all a good day and well worth the time.

Headed home yesterday, wishing we could spend another day.  With the weather that pushed through, it was just as well.

Was glad to exact a little revenge on the G as on my previous two trips I had caught a total of three fish.  Learned a lot for my next trip.

sounds like a great trip BL. You seem determined to learn that place.

Nice photo's Burley....Looks like the Anaconda helped you out on your big fish . That's an awesome lake and the fish should be on the humps, drops, gass edges and ledges for the most part.

Glad you and your wife had a good time...

Big O

www.ragetail.com

Sounds and looks like an awesome getaway!  I'm glad to finally get to "meet" your wife.  She must have some more patience to be married to you

Glad you have a good time!!!!

I keep hoping Greg & I will make it to Guntersville to escape a little while :

Great post!

                              

Sounds like an awesome trip!