The Inside Line

My record on Lake Guntersville is solid. I’ve had a number of high finishes there that included some 25-plus pound stringers, and I’ve caught them in a variety of ways.

The one thing that factored into nearly all those catches was vegetation.

At Dobyns Rods, we build models for every technique bass anglers need to employ. Sometimes, they’re making short, precise casts, flips, pitches or skips to specific targets; other times, they’re launching baits long distances. It’s important to develop your skills at all presentations, but I think the long cast is something that doesn’t always get enough attention.

When B.A.S.S. announced Lake Fork as site of this year’s Texas Fest, every angler in the field immediately thought of big bass. Because of good management and strict catch-and-release regulations, trophy bass are abundant on Lake Fork, and this year’s event certainly proved it.

Of all the events slated on this year’s Bassmaster Elite Series schedule, none was more concerning than Winyah Bay. Serving as the confluence to numerous rivers, this South Carolina tidal system can be unpredictable and stingy … even when the conditions seem right.

Of all the events listed on this year’s Bassmaster Elite Series schedule, I was most optimistic about this one.

That may come as a shock to some of you since my favorite fishery — the St. Lawrence River — is also on the schedule. And you know how much I like that place.

The reason I wanted Hartwell was the timing. It fell dead on the spawn, and I love to sight fish. And with more than 56,000 surface acres, I knew I’d find somewhere to fish by myself.

Gary Dobyns loves the spring season; but not only for the warming weather — he’s more enamored with the seasonal bass movement that increases the levels of both quality and quantity. No doubt, the prespawn is the time to punch your ticket on a whopper and the renowned rod maker is all about maximizing his opportunities.

At nearly 40,000 surface acres, Lake Lanier is spacious and welcoming. Its beautifully sculpted shorelines feature countless points, pockets and coves — all comprised of rock, sand or clay.

The main body of the lake is deep and clear but to the north, the rivers feeding Lanier flow with a chalky stain.

Fishing in February on the St. Johns River can mean feast or famine, rarely anything in between. It’s all dependent on the weather. If a severe cold front moves in, forget about it. But if temperatures are on the rise, you better make sure your tackle is up to the task.

I’ve been to many but not most of the top tournament bass fisheries in the United States – from Okeechobee to Guntersville to Rayburn/Fork/Toledo/Falcon to the Cal Delta to Table Rock and on and on and on. Nevertheless, there are several that I’ve inexplicably missed. For at least a decade I’ve wanted to fish both Clear Lake and Champlain, and nothing has really prevented me from going except too many other options. Champlain has been on the list so long that its spot at the top of the eastern “want list” has been usurped by the Thousand Islands.

Georgia pro Micah Frazier claimed his first tour-level win this past weekend on New York’s St. Lawrence River, coming back from 10th after Saturday to claim the crown. Fish fans might’ve been surprised by the location of his first big victory, but anyone who’s been following his career for a while probably knew it was coming. He’s fished three of the last four Bassmaster Classics and barring an epic collapse will fish another one at Guntersville in March.

I’m not a big sightseeing guy. Take me to one of the many wonders of the world, and I’ll give it the Full Griswold, taking it in briefly, nodding my head and moving on. It’s not that I don’t appreciate them – indeed, I do – but I’m an impatient tourist.

The thing about an overnight fishing charter that should be abundantly obvious, but sometimes isn’t, is that it lasts all night and into the next day.

I owe an apology to the women of Alaska. Heading into my recent trip, I figured that in the most distant and different state, gender roles would be remarkably separated and antiquated. In fact, my experience turned out to be exactly the opposite of that – the women up there are not only every bit as capable as the men, but they have the same frontier spirit and can-do-it (must-do-it?) attitude.

In the Bristol Bay Borough where I fished last week, float planes are a way of life. As you drive down the road along the Naknek River, you see a bunch of them, and as you’re fishing a bunch of them pass by. Because the road system is highly limited, many schoolchildren actually fly to school each day (except when the winter weather prevents them from going home, in which case they stay overnight with host families).

During my last trip to Alaska, in the summer of 1995, my halibut charter captain used small chunks of cut bait and we caught small fish. Apparently it is common practice among many of the day-trippers to head out to a known “chicken hole,” load the boat with small fish and head back as soon as possible.

With a few hours between our arrival at the King Salmon, Alaska airport, and dinner at the Bear Trail Lodge, our hosts took me and Keith Combs on a tour of that portion of the Bristol Bay Borough. In other words, we headed 13 miles to the end of the area’s longest road, down to the borough seat of Naknek, which as of the 2010 census had a year-round population of 544, down from 678 in 2000.

After allowing a gap of 24 years to pass between my first visit to Alaska and my subsequent return, the most compelling lesson that I’ve learned is that it’s really dumb to wait even close to that long.