Smallmouths are sometimes also picked up in the bluff areas immediately below Guntersville Dam in the upper end of Wheeler Lake.

"It's more of a spinnerbait pattern that they're caught on there," Jens said. "You work the spinnerbait along the bluff walls."

His biggest fish in that area has been a 6 1/2-pounder. He also uses the spinnerbait when he fishes Wilson and Wheeler lakes farther downstream.

WILSON LAKE
There's a 15-inch minimum size limit on all black bass on Wilson Lake, biologist Keith Floyd said.

"As a result, anglers can expect to catch a lot of smallmouth bass in the 13- to 15-inch size range," he pointed out. "The limit protects those smaller fish. But a lot of larger fish also show up on Wilson."

Many of the fish are picked up on submerged islands in the Wilson Dam tailrace in early spring.

"They sort of hold in those areas," the biologist said. "People also catch smallmouth in some of the pockets and creeks."

Live shad minnows caught in the vicinity of the dam are good baits. You can drift the shad with the current below the dam or sink them close to the bottom with a split shot in other parts of the reservoir, according to Floyd.

He separates the bait and the weight with about 18 inches of line.

"You want to reel it back real slow, like you're fishing a Carolina rig," Floyd explained. "You want that bait to swim around. The bass will hit it hard. It's a fun way to fish."

Guide Troy Jens isn't fishing Wilson as much as he once did, because of a drop in the number of fish being caught there, he said.

"It used to be easy to catch 40 or 50 fish a day over there," he noted. "Now you're lucky if you catch four."

When he does hit Wilson, he likes to fish artificial baits rather than the live bait that is so prevalently used in the tailrace there.

"I like to fish a 3 1/2-inch tube bait," he offered. "Watermelon is a good color. I also use a 1/4-ounce jig. I use my depthfinder to look for rockpiles and fish around them."

Jens also throws spinnerbaits when he's looking for big smallmouths.

Jimmy Mason, a BASS Tour pro who lives in Rogersville, said jerkbaits can also be pretty good on Wilson in the spring.

"I focus on the steeper bluffs below the (Wheeler) dam," Mason said. "The more current coming through the dam, the better. I like to fish with a 6A Bomber and I count it down to the depth I want it."

Mason also likes to fish grubs. He starts out with a 1/8-ounce jighead, but moves up to a 1/4-ounce if conditions dictate.

Good colors for grubs include smoke-and-silver, green-and-purple and chartreuse salt-and-pepper. He uses the brighter colors when the water is dirty or off-color.

While Jens thinks the fishing has really dropped off on Wilson, Mason still likes the smallmouth action there.

"I think Wilson might actually be the best of the three lakes right now," he said. "But Wheeler is not bad either."