Ferry Nuclear Power Plant . This area , known as “ the Flats ,” will surely attract many anglers in November , according to Alabama guide Brent Crow , who won the Toyota Series Championship on Pickwick Lake in 2021 .
“ In November , you can win from one dam to the other ,” said Crow . “ Even without massive grass flats like we had in the old days , the Flats still has a stronger population than anywhere else on the lake .”
Other popular areas will likely be down the lake around First Creek and Second Creek , the Elk River and directly below Guntersville Dam , which isn ’ t far from the tournament takeoff at Ditto Landing in Huntsville .
“ You can run up the river and catch fish — mainly spotted bass with a few largemouth and a few smallmouth mixed in ,” Crow said . “ Down the lake around First and Second Creek could be good , but they don ’ t tend to be as much of a factor as the Flats are for tournaments . But , below Guntersville Dam , you can definitely win there . If we see a 25-pound bag during this event , it will likely be from below the dam , but it ’ s hard to do that three days in a row .”
ILLUSTRATION BY BRANDON ROWAN
The State of wheeler lake
Ekema , also an avid angler , oversees all of the Tennessee River lakes and offered a state of the union on the fisheries . “ Guntersville is doing well and most well known , of course , and Wilson is probably the best right now when it comes down to it ,” said Ekema . “ Pickwick may be down a little bit compared to previous years , and Wheeler may be slightly down , but it ’ s still fishing well . But comparing each lake is hard since they are so different .”
According to Crow , one of the primary reasons Wheeler is fishing better than years past is because of the re-emergence of vegetation .
“ The lake went a long time without grass , and it was awful , and then about four years ago , we started to get some eelgrass , milfoil and hydrilla , and the fishing started getting good again ,” said Crow . “ This year , we have less grass , but there ’ s still some coontail left and a star grass that doesn ’ t mat but is better than nothing . Overall , the grass is not near as good as it was a couple of years ago , but it will still be a player .”
Water star grass is a unique vegetation , and Ekema believes it will be a factor , but other options could be more productive — if anglers can find them .
“ It ’ s almost like a little tree with a center stalk and little leaves that come off of it ,” he said . “ It ’ s a very tough weed , and you feel it when your lure hits it , but if you find a dense band of it , the bass will use it . If you can find some milfoil or hydrilla , you might find a hot spot , and there ’ s still some of it out there . The TVA does not treat weeds ; the grass fluctuates from year to year on Wheeler primarily due to Mother Nature from things like current , water levels and wind action .”
largemouth vs . smallmouth
Wheeler is home to all three major bass species , but both Ekema and Crow believe largemouth and smallmouth bass are likely to represent the bulk of the weight at the Toyota Series Championship . Smallmouth have the potential to dominate , as they typically run bigger and the population is currently in good shape .
“ Proportionally , the smallmouth are doing better than the largemouth right now ,” said Ekema . “ They ’ ve always been there , but it used to only be right below Guntersville Dam and down by Wheeler Dam on the lower end ; now they are from one end to the other . The minimum size for smallmouth is 15 inches , and there ’ s not much difficulty catching one that big . Fifteen to 20 inches should be a popular size , whereas most largemouth will likely be between 14 and 16 inches long .”
Those numbers stem from electrofishing conducted by Ekema and his team during the spring months . They ’ ve also noted a resurgence in the largemouth population , although the top-end size might not be there yet .
“ We primarily survey largemouth because our gear is only good to about 8 feet deep , and the smallmouth and spotted bass , due to their behaviors , are not as well represented , but both are doing well ,” he shared . “ There was an excellent year class from 2020 and 2022 for largemouth from good spawns , and those fish are now mainly 15 inches for the fish two years ago and 16 and 17 inches for the 2020 class . The spotted bass population is also pretty strong , but
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