"The creeks have silted in on Holt, so we're 50 years too late to fish them," he said. "But Bankhead is a really nice stretch of river."

According to the biologist, Bankhead has a lot of varied habitat, and that's what makes it such a good lake. There are bluffs, rocky points and ledges to fish for the spotted bass. But there are also creeks, standing timber, shallow flats and weeds to fish for largemouths.

Light spinning tackle is a good choice on Inland Lake because of the clarity of the water.

"It is excellent largemouth bass habitat," Haffner emphasized.

Another strong selling point is its proximity to Birmingham. Haffner said it's a great place to fish if you don't want to fight the crowds on the Coosa River or make the long drive to Guntersville.

"You can fish close to home and the fishing can be terrific," Haffner said.

The timber laydowns and other woody cover are good places to find fish. Haffner said the backwaters are better places to find largemouths.

"The main river is a lot like the Coosa in that there are bluffs, ledges, chunk rock and points that are good habit for spotted bass," Haffner said.

Chris Stephenson said Bankhead and Holt are relatively easy to fish because you can turn off your electronics and just target the visible structure and catch lots of fish.

In fact, he still sees people "jiggerpoling" with long poles and bait on the lake.

"It's an excellent way to catch bass here," he noted.

Whenever he's on Holt or Bankhead, Stephenson keeps one rod in the floor of his boat with a Rat-L-Trap or Li'l George tied on.

"You see some spots that school up on this lake," he explained. "You might hear them breaking the water as they chase baitfish. You turn around and there they are. If you've got that rod right there, you can just pick it up and throw to them and usually you catch a fish real quick."

Stephenson calls the structure fishing on these lakes "fisherman friendly," since you just troll down the lake and throw at anything that looks fishy.

In addition to the jig-and-pigs, either spinnerbaits or topwater lures also work well here. Soft-plastic worms and lizards are other good baits.

The DWFF characterizes the largemouth population on these lakes as above average.