Winter Draw Down on Lake Guntersville

Winter Draw Down on Lake Guntersville

Now that we have moved into winter one thing that is always obvious on Guntersville is that they drop the water level this time of year, not a great amount but enough to be effective. Some view this as a problem, but I see it as an opportunity to gain experience and knowledge about Lake Guntersville. The lake drawing down allows you to see the change in the lake structure which many times occur yearly as current and wind can move the bottom structure around the lake.

In the days before some of newest and greatest electronics, I would go to Guntersville and take notice of the structure change and take pictures of the structure, that now appears. I actually would take those pictures, put them in an album type book divided by areas, and use them as a resource the next time I fished that particular area of water. There is an enormous amount of things you can learn by moving around the lake during these lake drawdowns.

As we all know, bass like subtle drops, corners, depth change and more, when your taking your joy ride to discover the structure during these drawdowns all the key elements are right there in front of you. Making mental notes or even taking pictures can help you when you go back to that same spot; the key pieces of structure in the lake along with the bends and change is in your memory bank. Many times, as I have stated before, angles of presentation can be everything, boat alignment on a structure means the difference in catching or just fishing. When you have visualized a rock pile for example and understand how it lays on the bottom and the depth, points and current are considered you can now make an informed decision as to how fish this particular rock pile.

These informed decisions are there because you did this work to understand the lake structure, giving you a heads up and an advantage over others. Mental notes, written notes, pictures, and today’s electronics can be a difference maker. When you are informed it does not matter if your fishing or doing your job at your work location, information helps you make better decisions and better decisions lead impressive results; or as some call it “luck.” To me “luck is when “preparation meets opportunity.”