River fishing requires a strong trolling motor. The current is not so strong that it is unfishable, but plan to have your trolling motor running for the entire time. Specifically, both of these anglers use a powerful trolling motor to control and maintain their boat's position relative to blow-downs coming off the riverbank.

While many anglers concentrate on isolated blow-downs, Zellers spends his time hitting high percentage areas with more structure.

"Isolated blow-downs produce fish," he said, "but it's not the best pattern on the river. Look for fish at the end of a bank covered in blow-downs. For example, if you find a bank with a 200-yard stretch of blow-downs, usually the fish hold on the first group of five trees or the last group. This is not to say that you will not catch a fish in the middle, but most of your bites are going to come from either end. So that's where you should concentrate your efforts. If you find fish at either end, the pattern will hold the remainder of the day.

"The fish in this situation hold anywhere along the log there is a current break," he added. "However, early in the day fish hold close to the bank, and then they move deeper as the sun rises."

Another tip from Zellers concerns old logs resting on a firm bank.

"Do not fish mud bars; you will not catch a fish. But if you find an old log on a hard bottom, the current and barge traffic will have eroded a bowl under the log. These washouts are excellent ambush spots for bass.

"It's not uncommon to catch a 6-pounder, but it's tough landing a big fish in the current around a blow-down."

Zellers fishes blow-downs with a 7-inch plastic lizard on a 5/16-ounce sinker, while Grandquest prefers a 3/8-ounce jig-and-pig.

Although tournament fishermen target largemouths because of their size, anglers who enjoy fast action and a hard fight spend their day fishing for spotted bass. Catching a 2-pound spot -- which is a better fighter than Old Bucketmouth but without the aerobatics -- is like hanging a largemouth twice its size.

"During tournaments, I fish for largemouth and catch spots by accident," Zellers admitted. "Often it's a mixed bag fishing the river. I have won tournaments because my big fish was a spot that weighed more than 4 pounds. An average spot weighs 2 pounds, and if you target only spots, you can catch 50 fish a day in May."

Zellers said the best fishing for spots is between Dixie Landing and Gainestown on the Alabama River, and the best structure is wing dams.

"The best fishing occurs on the ends of the jetties," he said. "It's possible to catch as many as 15 fish from each one. When the fish stop biting, move upstream to the next jetty.

"To fish jetties, work your lure on the edge of the current where it breaks. The spots hold just out of the current, waiting for baitfish. Usually, logjams form in the same area, so it's easy to get hung."

For that reason, Zellers prefers a Texas-rigged worm or lizard, but he also uses small crankbaits or even a Rat-L-Trap.

"The Rattle-L-Trap is difficult to fish," he admitted, "because it gets hung so often. Even so, I caught my biggest spot on the lure; it weighed 4.3 pounds."