LAKE MARTIN

DAY: If we have little rain (like most summers) the fishing can be affected by water clarity. Lake Martin gets very clear (especially downriver) to a point of 5-10 foot visibility. Bass feed by sight and fooling them often involves downsizing lures and fishing a little deeper than normal on Lake Martin. Light line and finesse fishing are the ticket to getting many bites during the day.

Fishing main-lake points is a good area for searching out deep water schools of both spotted bass and largemouth’s. Ledges on the main lake and up in the deeper creeks also hold bass all throughout the summer. Deep-diving crankbaits fished with 8-15 lb. test Trilene Big Game line and Carolina-rigged plastics are good combos for searching out both of these deep water areas. Piers with brush near deep water and shade are best for finding numbers of bass seeking these comforts during hot weather. Again, lures such as worms, lizards, jig & pig combos, and topwaters, should be downsized with line from 8-15 lb. test.

Jigging spoons or fishing with grubs, shad imitations or lead tailspinners along the ends of points, rock bluffs, around the ends of islands, along ledges and drop-offs will take bass of all sizes. Search out water as deep as 10-30 feet (or deeper) when looking for these bass. When a few are caught thoroughly fish the area with several different lures, or return later.

If fishing from Wind Creek park, upriver to the lakes headwaters, you may encounter a little more color to the water as you approach the lake headwaters. Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits can be fished on heavier line for cover-seeking spotted bass and some big largemouth’s. Flipping worms, lizards, jigs, tube baits and fishing with deep-diving crankbaits are all dependable tactics for these upper lake areas. Many run-ins and rocky shoals adorn this upper portain of Lake Martin. Bass seeking the cooler water can be caught with jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, floating worms, rattletraps, topwaters and mid-to-deep running crankbaits. Boat traffic and recreational jet skis, may hamper your daytime fishing on this busy summertime lake, often calling for a few night fishing trips.

NIGHT: With very clear water fishing for bass at night can often be more productive than during the day on Lake Martin. Bass that drop their guard after sundown will move up on points, humps, islands and other shallow water areas, near the deeper water hangouts that most bass suspend around during the day. A lot of these bass feed at night and in some very clear water. This is where their eyesight traits are accompanied by picking up vibrations through their lateral line when they can't see the prey.

This means fishing with lures that emit a lot of vibration, create flash and have sound. Worms and lizards should have added rattles for more enticement. Jigs with rattles and a pork trailer are also good because bass smell their prey as well. Adding fish attractants to your lures at night (such as Dr. Ketchum's Bass Jelly) not only will mask human odor, but will help bass smell out the lure and often make them hold on a little longer, enabling you to get a better hookset.

Some bass hold deep during the day and moving shallow at night on Lake Martin, due to boat traffic and water clarity. This can mean only hitting the nearest structure at the same depth the bass are holding or suspended in. This means working a point (or other cover) all the way out to deep water. Some strikes can come right under the boat, so be ready.

With very clear water, topwater lures can call bass out of deep water at night. At times, a lot of noise, action and staying in one spot, is needed for some very finicky bass. Noise makers such as pop-r's, zara spooks, clacker or head-knocker model buzzbaits, jitterbugs, prop-baits, chuggers, minnow-type lures and baby (or tiny) torpedoes, are all good in slightly dark areas, stained water or around well lighted piers.

Quieter model lures such as frog and rats, soft jerkbaits or floating worms, crayfish and lizards, may be needed on calm, windless nights. This especially holds true on calm shallow water, where BIG bass can be finicky and very spooky. All of these lures and tactics are good for day or night fishing on Lake Martin throughout the Summer.

Links to other summer fishing tips on Alabama Lakes:
Alabama's Featured Lakes :Tallapoosa River System- Lake Harris and Lake Martin
Coosa River System- Weiss Lake, Neely Henry Lake, Logan Martin Lake, Lay Lake, Mitchell Lake and Jordan Lake
Warrior River System - Bankhead Lake and Demopilis Lake
Tennessee River System- Gunthersville Lake , Wheeler Lake, Wilson Lake and Pickwick Lake

"NOT JUST ANY GUIDE SERVICE"
REEDS GUIDE SERVICE
"OVER 30 YEARS FISHING ALABAMA FOR BASS & STRIPERS"
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA PHONE (205)787-5133
E-MAIL: ALABASSGYD@AOL.COM
WEBSITE: WWW.FISHINGALABAMA.COM

Lake Martin Winter Fishing Techniques

Lake Level: Down for Winter
Water Temperature: Low 50's

Winter on Lake Martin

Dropped each winter season, Lake Martin shows new water for anglers to target, from now until April. I have seen this lake down 15 feet during winter. It is not unusual to find it down in mid winter at least 10 feet.

These low water, newly exposed banks, show miles of new shoreline for anglers to fish this winter. Anglers probing offshore structure this winter, will discover new places these fish inhabit as they move further away from the original shoreline. With each passing week, they regroup to areas that were previously sitting right under the boat, this past summer.

Many of Lake Martin's spotted bass population and some huge largemouth bass, will often bunch up during the colder days of winter. This is when severe cold fronts pound the lake and water temperatures remain in the low 50's, often dropping into the low 40's at times.

It is also the time when heavy winter rains can swell the lake for a few days, bringing the lake level temporarily back up a few feet. Meaning stained to muddy water conditions in the lake's headwaters and its major feeder creeks.

Even during January and February, unseasonable warm trends can trigger both bass species to move shallow. During week-long, sunny days and a series of warm nights, water temperatures can rise 5-8 degrees, often close to 60 degrees.

The spotted bass on Lake Martin can be found in water 1 foot deep, or they can actually be caught on the same day, in water 50 feet deep. Fishing for largemouth bass shows most fish caught in relatively shallow water, usually less than 10 feet deep.

Lures for targeting these bass in winter are a lot like fishing the rest of the year. This even goes for a variety of topwater lures.

Jigs, tube baits and other bottom lures are productive all winter. Fishing with worms in the 4-6 inch size, will fool either bass species on Lake Martin into biting. In clear water, choose natural colors such as watermelon, pumpkinseed and root beer. Use straight tailed worms, featuring little or no action. Texas rigs and Carolina rigs show these smaller offerings, a great choice for the often finicky Lake Martin spotted bass.

You may even have to try different leader lengths on the Carolina rig to decipher the day's bite. Start with a short, 1-2 foot leader. If no bites are attained, try 3-4 foot leaders. Or rig several rods with various leader lengths. Even go to the extremes, experimenting with leader lengths, colors, lures and various actions and retrieves. Some Carolina-rigged offerings, even longer than 5 feet, can prove to be very productive.

I have actually seen bass tournaments won on this lake when some canny angler discovered that a 7 foot leader length, fished with a one ounce weight, in very deep water, caught bass other anglers missed!

Deep diving crankbaits can reach depths of 15 feet with light line. Colors of shad and crayfish are best in winter. In stained water always include some red or orange on these lures and always include colors of chartreuse, yellow or lime, to aid the bass in seeing your lures.

Spinnerbaits work year round on Lake Martin. In winter, many anglers have discovered several ways to fish them. Always have two rods rigged with two different spinnerbaits. One can be a small, 3/8 oz. to 1/4 oz. spinnerbait with small blades, in silver tandem willowleaf or Colorado blades, and in white or a silver glitter-type skirt colors.

Another rod can be rigged with a bigger, more gaudy spinnerbait. Try a 1/2 ounce to 3/4 ounce size with a small, gold Colorado blade up front and a #5 to #6 willowleaf or Colorado blade on back. Chartreuse colored skirts and trailers, in heavily stained water and chartreuse and white in lightly stained water. Fish these heavier spinnerbaits on heavier line around shallow cover, or you can buzz them just beneath the waters surface, or drop or slow roll these heavier spinnerbaits, in deeper water.

Both floating and suspending jerkbaits account for a lot of bites during winter, especially in the clear water found from mid lake to the downriver area. The lighter the line, the more action you get on these lures.

Rattletraps and Cordell Rattling Spots can be fished shallow with 1/4 ounce models. Or you can go deeper with a lift and drop fashion, utilizing 1/2 to 3/4 ounce models. Chrome with a blue or black back for use in clear water or on sunny days, in lightly stained water. Or try these rattling lipless lures in colors of gold with a black back, or red with an orange belly, for heavily stained water conditions.

Even topwaters can fool both spotted bass and largemouth's on this lake in winter, usually on cloudy days, following a week-long warming trend. Schooling action may call for smaller topwaters for finicky bass in clear water situations. Stained water calls for bigger, more gaudy type lures and very noisy topwaters.

Give Lake Martin a try this winter and discover why so anglers praise this lake for its excellent winter time bass fishing. Or call Reeds Guide Service (205) 787-5133. "Over 40 Years Fishing Alabama for Bass and Stripers" Many of those earlier years spent exploring Lake Martin, situated in mid Alabama on the Tallapoosa River System.

"NOT JUST ANY GUIDE SERVICE"
REEDS GUIDE SERVICE
"OVER 30 YEARS FISHING ALABAMA FOR BASS & STRIPERS"
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA PHONE (205)787-5133
E-MAIL: ALABASSGYD@AOL.COM
WEBSITE: WWW.FISHINGALABAMA.COM