For updates on fishing conditions or to book a guide, call Charles Slaton at (256) 593-7249 or (256) 572-6217.

Other Hotspots: During the pre-spawn on Weiss Lake, anglers who work a jig-and-pig next to visible cover catch 5- to 6-pound largemouths. Out from Gulf Shores saltwater anglers are catching some of the biggest grouper of the year.

APRIL
Cobia
Orange Beach
Clearly the paramount saltwater species for April, cobia offer the most excitement that anglers can experience in our state. The dark-brown bruisers are massive at 45, 70 or even exceeding 100 pounds; plus, they put up a fight of a magnitude not equaled by other coastal fish. But it's the element of anticipation while waiting to sight-cast to one of these heavyweight contenders that causes the adrenaline to flow.

Depending on the weather, migrating cobia begin to arrive just off our beaches in mid-March. Fishing is unpredictable early on, making April the best time to plan a trip.

Sight-fish for cobia by using live bait rigged on 30- to 80-pound-test monofilament. Crabs, eels, shrimp or small baitfish retrieved in front of a cruising fish will start a good fight.

To book a fishing trip, or for more information, call Captain Erik Manthei at (251) 980-1919, or visit his Web site at www.fishnfool.com.

Other Hotspots: Guntersville Lake offers world-class largemouth bass fishing throughout spring, April being no exception to the tendency. And in the lower part of our state, Gantt Lake's shallow flats provide perfect habitat to attract huge concentrations of spawning shellcrackers.

MAY
Bream
Guntersville Lake
The predominant species of bream at Guntersville are a good mix of bluegills and redear sunfish. Shellcrackers spawn a little earlier and have made their beds by late April, but bluegills always spawn during the full moon in May -- usually the third or fourth week -- provided the water temperature is in the high 70s to low 80s.

Anglers say that it's not unusual to catch 50 to 100 in a day. Typically, the bluegills weigh between 1/2 to 3/4 pound, and the shellcrackers average 12 ounces, with some big fish weighing 1 1/2 pounds.

To find these delicious fish, look for fresh green patches of milfoil growing about 6 inches off the bottom in water 2 to 5 feet deep on the flats located in the coves of Browns, Short and Town creeks.

To book a bream trip, call guide Charles Slaton at (256) 593-7249 or (256) 572-6217.

Other Hotspots: For trophy striped bass action on Lewis Smith Lake, use your depthfinder to locate large schools of shad with big fish swimming under the school. This is also an excellent month to catch largemouths on Lake Jordan by means of buzzbaits.

JUNE
Striped Bass
Lake Martin
"Not only is Martin an awesome lake for producing numbers of fish in June," said striper guide Jim Parramore, "it also produces unbelievable numbers of trophy fish. Last year, we caught 18 stripers weighing more than 30 pounds, with the biggest weighing 36 pounds."

According to Parramore, the secret to finding nomadic summer stripers lies in knowing where in the water column they swim. In June, he recommends, look for fish 35 to 40 feet deep on the upper lake above U.S. Highway 280, especially in Mad and Wind creeks and around Woods and Youngs islands. Use a high-resolution depthfinder to find fish in this narrow band of water, being always mindful that a school of baitfish may have stripers lurking nearby.