“In March,” he said, “I hold the heaviest stringer ever weighed in at a Weiss Lake Championship tournament. I had five fish within an hour that weighed 29.87 pounds. Last March, I came in second with 22 pounds and had two fish that weighed 7 pounds apiece.”

Most of the creek mouths Tucker fishes are places where he has sunk brushpiles to attract fish. He prefers hardwood and places the piles on high spots on the ledges with the brush extending over deepwater.

“Out of 30 brush piles,” he admitted, “only two may produce fish.”

To fish ledges, Tucker relies on a 1/2-ounce spinnerbait with double willow-leaf blades, a jig-and-pig and a 1/2-ounce Rat-L-Trap.

“During the first part of March when the water is cold,” Tucker explained, “the fish are not aggressive and will not chase your lures.

“Don’;t throw and wind the Rat-L-Trap. Pump the lure by letting it fall to the bottom, rip and repeat. Often, fish inhale it on the way down, or they will suck it off the bottom.”

To fish the spinnerbait, Tucker casts to the top of the ledge and allows the lure to sink to the bottom. His retrieve is slow; just fast enough to keep the blades turning.

When the water warms, Tucker said the fish change locations quickly.

“If the water temperature on the surface is 58 to 60 degrees,” he pointed out, “the fish move shallow. When it cools off at night, they pull out and suspend. Then when it heats back up during the day, they move back up to feed and find places to spawn.”

Since not all fish move shallow at the same time, Tucker looks for a bite at the creek mouths first and then works along the migration route to the shallows. He uses a Rat-L-Trap on the secondary points and at the mouth of the coves leading to the shallows. On the flats, Tucker uses the same spinnerbait to work wood cover.

According to Dan Catchings, District II fisheries supervisor for the DWFF, two good spawning areas to fish are Cowan Creek near Pruett’;s Fish Camp and the lower end of Little River near JR’;s Marina.

For current fishing conditions or to book a guide trip with Jason Tucker, visit J.R.’;s Marina on Little River or call (256) 779-6461. Also check out their Web site at www.jrsmarina.com

LAKE MARTIN SPOTTED BASS
According to the B.A.I.T. report, Lake Martin’;s catch rate of bass per angler-day has skyrocketed during the past three years, and mirrors that the lake provides excellent fishing.

The spotted bass are abundant, but not big. A large spotted bass here weighs 4 pounds. In this case, it’;s the numbers that matter. Fishing on Martin is fast and furious when the spots turn on in March.

“Martin is a lot of fun to fish when the spotted bass start spawning,” reported successful tournament angler Mike Keel of Auburn. “Cast after cast, you can catch 20 to 30 fish from just one little gravel bar.”