C&B GUIDE SERVICE AT LAKE GUNTERSVILLE - OFTEN CALLED
AMERICA'S BEST BIG BASS LAKE
Spinner Bait Secrets
 EDITOR'S
NOTE: Bobby Bright and Charley Slaten of Boaz, Alabama,
own C&B Guide Service and specialize in fishing
Alabama's Lake Guntersville, Lake Logan Martin and Lake
Neely Henry. These two fishing guides make their living
helping their customers catch fish, and they depend
on their equipment every day they're on the water. This
week Bright and Slaten will tell us how they fish and
how they consistently catch more fish than other anglers
do.
Question: When and where are you fishing spinner baits
on Neely Henry?
Bright: We fish the spinner baits in weeds and laydowns.
Question: What size and what color spinner baits are
you using?
Bright: We fish 1/2- or 3/8-ounce Falcon spinner baits
with double willowleaf blades. We like the double willowleaf
blades because they throw off more flash than the Colorado
blades do. We'll be fishing our spinner baits on 15-pound-test
line. We believe that the 15-pound test is easier to
control than either the lighter or the heavier line.
The 15-pound test falls faster than 18- or 20-pound
test does, which is a big advantage when you're fishing
underwater trees. Most of the time, we prefer white-and-chartreuse-colored
spinner baits in the early summer, and we'll usually
use a white-plastic trailer on our spinner baits because
we believe the white trailer better imitates the shad.
 Question:
How are you fishing the spinner bait?
Bright: We'll cast the spinner baits into the grass
and drag them out with our rod tips. When the spinner
bait gets to the edge of the grass, I'll let it fall
halfway to the bottom. As the spinner bait falls, I
begin to take up line and slow-roll the bait. I use
a steady retrieve as I reel the bait back to the boat.
But, if the bass aren't biting that type of retrieve,
I'll start twitching the bait and see if I can't trigger
more strikes. At Neely Henry Lake, we're primarily catching
spotted bass on the spinner bait.
Question: Why are the bass hitting your spinner bait
more often than they do what the other fishermen are
fishing on that same bed?
Bright: I'm probably using a much-slower retrieve than
most spinner bait fishermen do. If the bass aren't hitting
the slow retrieve, I'll speed up my retrieve. Most people
start with a fast retrieve, and then if the bass aren't
biting it, they'll go to a slower retrieve. However,
I fish just the opposite way.
Question: Why do you like to fish Lake Neely Henry
so much?
 Bright:
This lake is a river-run lake and is much smaller than
the other two lakes where we guide - Lake Guntersville
and Lake Logan Martin. Neely Henry doesn't get as much
fishing pressure as the other lakes do. You won't catch
as many big bass on Neely Henry as you will on Guntersville
or Logan Martin, but you'll catch more bass. At this
time of the year, we'll generally catch 15 to 20 bass
in a day of fishing, with the fish weighing from 1/2-
to 5-pounds each. Also, 80 percent of the bass we catch
will be spotted bass at Lake Neely Henry with 20 percent
largemouths.
Most bass fishermen are trophy hunting and are looking
for that one big bass about which they can brag. However,
we like to catch fish all day long. We try to provide
an enjoyable day for our customers and have found that
most fishermen prefer to catch fish all day long rather
than fish all day for one bite that may or may not come.
Also, we've learned that we can't sing, dance and tell
stories all day long and keep our fishermen happy. They
need to catch fish. Our fishermen don't buy the idea
of "You should have been here yesterday,"
and "You should wait until tomorrow." They
want to catch fish. I like to take a fisherman out and
have him catch 20 bass that will weigh from 1-1/2- to
five-pounds each, than bass fish all day and maybe catch
one bass that weighs 6 or 7 pounds.
 For
more information about fishing with C&B Guide Service,
you can call (256) 593-7830, (256) 738-4293 (Bobby Bright)
and/or (256) 572-6217 (Charley).
To learn more about Mossy Oak Fishing Line's top-quality
lines, go to www.mossyoakfishing.com.
TOMORROW: THE TROPHY BASS LAKE
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