It’s getting close to the time of year when your electronics becomes your best friend; you’re running down the lake and notice a big school of fish light up your Lowrance HDS unit in 30 ft. of water. You stop quickly and mark the school then drop your trolling motor; your next step is to figure out what do I do to get this massive school of fish to bite. Time is critical and presentation is everything; well here are my suggestions. 

There is probably no bait that has been more prolific in fish catching for big schools in the last ten years than a big jigging spoon; its big flashy profile and the ability of the bait to get down to deep drops quickly and catch fish is unchallenged by any bait developed in many years. Spoons are designed to work horizontally with weights up to 1.5 oz. that offer a long profile that matches the size of the shad the bass are feeding on. A note of thought on using one of these spoons is to take notice of the bottom, flutter spoons have extremely big and sharp hooks that will hook up on the bottom structure real easy so be aware of the bottom and use it more over shell beds and hard bottom areas or you could lose them very easily. 

Big spoons can be fished over many depth changing areas of your lake; they offer some of the best presentation for off shore points, ledges and humps especially on big bodies of water along the Tennessee River. Big schools of fish are most likely very competitive and a big flashy spoon fluttering down along their head and body turns on their competitive spirit allowing you to many times hook up on doubles. Make long cast, stay off being on top of the fish allow your bait to flutter down and jerk it up ward when it hits the bottom; the fluttering drop movement is just about impossible for the bass to ignore. The hook-ups generally come during the drop so let it flutter with a tight line so you feel the hit. 

Big schools of bass like flashy baits and nothing drives them into the competitive mode better than a big flashy jigging spoon!

To Fish with Captain Mike Gerry on Lake Guntersville visit; fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com