It’s too hot to go fishing in July, and the bass are sluggish and don’t bite anyway, right? Wrong! If you sit home under an air conditioner rather than going bass fishing, you will miss out on some good catches, especially if you go to Weiss Lake.
Weiss is a very pretty 30,200-acre Alabama Power Co. lake on the Coosa, Chattooga and Little rivers that has an average depth of only 10 feet. The shallow depths surprised me when I first went to Weiss years ago. Low mountains surround the lake, and I thought it would be deep and clear like most mountain lakes. Instead, Weiss is shallow, stained most of the year, and it is full of grassbeds and shallow wood cover.
Since Weiss is on the Coosa River, it has a good population of those hard-fighting Coosa spotted bass, also known as Alabama spotted bass. Weiss also has a good population of largemouth bass, and the lake is known as “The Crappie Capital” of the world. The lake’s fertility makes all species grow to bragging sizes.
The upper Coosa River is in Georgia, where you need a Georgia fishing license. Anglers need an Alabama fishing license to fish on almost all of the main lake. And this month, the fishing will be good on the main lake.
Wayne Boyd lived on Weiss just downstream of the big bridge and causeway for seven years, and he learned it well. He now lives in Rome, Ga.
Wayne took me to Weiss to show me 10 locations for this article. Wayne caught two nice 5-lb. bass in the two hours we fished. That’s testament to how well he knows the lake and to the quality of bass Weiss produces.
“Bass don’t go real deep on Weiss in the summer,” Wayne said.
He said anglers could catch bass from very shallow water, as long as there is 4 to 5 feet of water nearby. There is no need to dredge 20-plus feet of water like on many lakes during the hot summer months.
Wayne doesn’t have many baits rigged for July fishing. He keeps it simple. A crankbait that will run 10 feet deep, a big worm rigged on a Texas or Carolina rig, and a beaver-type bait rigged for flipping, are all he needs this time of year. However, you can also catch bass on your favorite baits by fishing in the same places.
No. 1: N 34º 12.307 – W 85º 34.167:The first five locations are up the river not far from Riverside Marina, and you might put in there.
If you put in on the main lake, be careful running up the river. You must follow the channel markers, and even then there are logs in the channel, and floating wood is always a danger.
Go to red channel marker 81, which is on a post not far off the left bank as you are going upstream. The river channel runs right along the left bank, and there are huge flats across the channel with lots of wood on them. Stop at the channel marker, and idle around. You will see a flat that comes off the bank to the marker, and it drops off on both sides into the river channel. There are stumps on it, and logs are stuck on this flat on the bottom, too.
The flat is 5 to 6 feet deep on top near the marker, but it drops to more than 15 feet. Wayne keeps his boat in the channel and casts up on top of the flat, working around the marker. Make fairly long casts with a crankbait that runs about 10 feet deep, like a Strike King 5 or 6 XD, and keep it on the bottom as it comes off the flat.
Wayne likes any color as long as it has chartreuse in it.
The chartreuse plug with either a blue or black back is good.
The water is always stained here, and there is some current, a critical factor.
No. 2: N 34º 12.576 – W 85º 34.175: Across the channel, a creek runs back and splits into three fingers. Be careful going in – there are wood-filled shallows in the mouth of it. When you get into the creek, you will see an orange roofed dock and house on the point between the left arm and the middle one. Way off the point there is a white “Fish Attractor” buoy. This buoy sits on the end of the point where it drops into the channel, and there are stumps and state brushpiles around it. The buoy is in about 6 feet of water, and it drops off around it quickly.
Keep your boat out from the buoy in deep water and cast a crankbait or Carolina rig all around it. Wayne rigs a big worm like a Zoom Ol’ Monster in red shad or green pumpkin behind a 1/2- to 1-oz. sinker, depending on wind and current, with a 3-foot leader. Fish hold on this point and cover all summer, so fish it carefully, probing for the brush and stumps. Fish around it in one direction with a crankbait, and then go back around it with your Carolina rig.
No. 3: N 34º 12.664 – W 85º 34.025: In the same creek, on the right bank of the right arm, there is a light pole out in the water in front of a wooden boathouse. The pole sits on a point that runs out and drops off into deeper water. There is wood cover on this point to hold bass, too.
Fish all around the end of the point, keeping your boat out in the deeper water and casting up on top of it near the light pole. Fish crankbaits and Carolina rigs here, too. Fish it thoroughly before leaving.
For seven more locations, see the full article at www.gon.com.