big G

Heading to Guntersville for the first time ever, we are looking to catch bluegill and shellcrackers. Only way i have ever known to gill fish is casting banks. I know guntersville has weeds and shallow water off the banks as well. I was wondering if you all could give any pointers on where to look for these fish. I have never used artificial bait gill fishing either but reading post it seems to be the ticket down there. Appreciate any help.

Also want to add that people from my neck of the woods are doing what they can to help with the storm damage, donating money and supplies. I hope the ones in need are getting it.

Fish the same as you always do. I find bream beds close to the bank on guntersville too. You can also find them in deeper parts of the lake where there are humps or long points. If the water is clear and it began clearing before todays rain you can see the beds. I found a nice bed of shellcrakers yesterday and there were also blue gill mixed in. We keep 22 of the biggest ones for a mess or two. I find most of my beds while bass fishing, I usually keep a box of crickets in late april and may in the boat and a couple of spin casting rods with corks. Have fun. Oh if you fish a little more away from the banks you will catch bigger ones and less cricket stealer's.

Crickets are your best friend right now for bluegills the shell crackers seem to like red worms better.Right now they are biting great so enjoy your trip.

we are far from experts, I hope they are not to hard to find. Thanks for the advice.

Prestons island is great place to start. Keystone miners and crickets.

Arrived this morning, just got in, only 10 keepers and fisjed hard. We put in at goose pond and fished the creek up through there, I think North Sauty. Struggled to even find a place to fish because of the grass. May try Preston Island tomorrow, any more suggestions.

Try deeper water the cold front will hurt the bite for a few days.Try the rip rap around the causeways the Gills the bass and crappie will be close by. Preston island should be prime but the bite will be slow because of the cooler weather.

you think they moved off the beds?

the ones I have been catching still have eggs is far is gills go but the males may be on the beds waiting on the females.You should try deeper water maybe 5ft to 10 ft around the grass line fishing close to the bottom.Try worms also for the shell crackers you will have some luck but the cool weather will have them slowing down.

done a little better the last couple of days, not setting it on fire but we have keep 30 two days, but we have caught some really nice ones, several shell crackers. Still having some trouble finding them but when we do there are a few there. Thanks for the help fellas, we appreciate it a lot.

Just talked to a friend today and they have been there since sunday. There is four of them and so far the have 300 gills and crackers. Just using hair jigs tipped w/ wax worm. They said they were fishing in between boathouses the one day.

Another thing those guys said is the fishes bellys are all full of Lucusts when they clean them. Said they look like Piranahs when they go after one on the water

Tip. I guided for trash. Ooops, I mean bass Thumbs Up out there full time for 15 years. I did a lot of bream and shellcracker fishing. Newbies can look for the old duck blinds and frames on the humps... most of the duck blinds are built on high spots on points and humps and it's usually easy to find bream in those areas. Three of my favorite areas are South Sauty behind the islands around the stumps / Church House (big slough just below South Sauty) and the points and humps from Little Mountain Lakes RV Park and down. Again, look for a duck blind and fish around it. Pretty easy pattern for visitors. If the water has cleared up you can see the beds in the grass pretty easy. Good luck.

I agree with Troy. And the islands outside of South Sauty have been great for a very long time, especially the ones going up river and like he says, go back in behind them, be careful, but that's a really good place. That's where I got schooled.

Just returned from South Sauty. Arrived Sunday afternoon and fished about 4 hours. Bite was good, weather bad and got worse as the week went forward. Monday was best day with 75 nice fish. Wind and cold temps apparently moved the fish off the beds. By Wed afternoon, we could not find a fish on a bed. I suspect that 41 degree low on Tuesday night cooled the water to an uncomfortable temp for the bream. The fish we caught were all males. Not a fish with eggs was cleaned.