The 5 Best Places To Catch A GIANT Bass In Alabama

The 5 Best Places To Go Bass Fishing In Alabama

Alabama is considered one of the best states in America for bass fishing and could have a legitimate claim as the best in the nation. It's home to many quality fisheries, is the birthplace of B.A.S.S., and has many diehard bass anglers living in the state. With plenty of great fisheries in the state, it is hard to pick just five deserving of a spot on this list.

1) Lake Guntersville

Andrew Nordbye with a solid Lake Guntersville largemouth

For years, Lake Guntersville has been a bass fishing mecca and hosts many tournaments, from local weeknight events to the Bassmaster Classic. It's also the home of many professional anglers who have chosen to make it their home lake. Bass fishing is front and center here and it has the fishing quality to back it up.

There are many ways to catch bass here, from fishing shallow vegetation to getting out on the ledges during the summer months. It's a riverine fishery that stretches 75 miles long and is a phenomenal fishery that produces giant bags of fish.

2) Pickwick Lake

Like Guntersville, Pickwick is a Tennessee River lake and heavily influenced by current. They fish similar to each other but are also very different. Pickwick has the quality largemouth and big smallmouth as well.

One tried and true way to catch fish on Pickwick is plying the offshore ledges during the warmer months, but there is also a strong bite shallow throughout the year in the grass.

3) Coosa River Chain of Lakes

Instead of just picking one or two, why not include all six lakes on the Coosa River. Created by seven Alabama Power dams on the river, the six lakes include Weiss, Neely Henry, Logan Martin, Lay, Mitchell, and Jordan. Each of them varies significantly in their sizes and fishing quality, with cycles switching the hottest lake from year to year, but they all have a few things in common, namely great spotted bass fishing.

Several of the lakes in the chain are frequent stops for both regional and national fishing tournaments and each routinely kick out big spotted bass as well as largemouth bass. The spotted bass swimming through the different lakes is a subspecies of the spotted bass, one of twelve in the black bass family, called the Alabama bass. They are aggressive and grow to large sizes in these lakes and the river itself.

4) Lake Eufaula

Located in southern Alabama on the Georgia border on the Chattahoochee River, Eufaula has a long history as a bass fisherman's paradise. Eufaula, Alabama, is also home to legendary fishing brands like Humminbird and Mann's Lures and the whole town is bass crazy.

It's also an excellent fishery with a solid offshore bite for much of the year on the thousands of brushpiles that have been sunk in the lake. It's also heavily influenced by current and there are countless ways to catch a bass on the lake.

5) Lewis Smith Lake

Smith Lake, as it's better known, is a spotted bass paradise located outside of Cullman, Alabama. It is home to largemouth as well, but spotted bass are the main attraction at the lake.

It is relatively clear and finesse tactics dominate the many tournaments held on this body of water. Smith Lake is a gem in Alabama and there are plenty of willing bass for anglers who visit the fishery.

*Feature image credit: Chad Smith Fishing