The southern districts boast classic tailwater fisheries during spring below Coffeeville on the Tombigbee River, Claiborne and Millers Ferry on the Alabama, and below lakes Eufaula and Andrews on the Chattahoochee. All are stocked annually.

Though not known as a striper lake, Eufaula seems to be trending up: Last June, Buddy McKeller of Fort Gaines, Georgia caught a striper weighing 39 pounds, 8 ounces from Pataula Creek on a spinnerbait.

STRIPED BASS FISHING IN THE WINTERTIME
Beginning in mid-to-late December and ending in late February, savvy anglers brave the occasional frigid temperatures, icy ramps and frozen rod guides to experience some of the best striper fishing of the year.

“I don’t fish Inland Lake except in cold weather,” Williams said. “The colder it gets, the better the fishing.”

Guides Bill Vines -- Smith Lake -- and Jim Parramore -- Lake Martin -- agree that cold temperatures energize Gulf Coast stripers, but add that it’s not necessary to get an early start in the morning, as these fish bite all day.

“It is cold in the morning,” Parramore remarked, “but usually by 10:00 o’clock it starts to warm and most days are in the 50s. If it happens to be a cold day, I promise you anglers will start shedding clothes, because the striper bite is unbelievable.”

Parramore’s best winter trip produced 54 stripers. (They could have caught more -- but he ran out of bait.)

As you might expect, all three anglers fish with live shad, which they collect from the Coosa River. Their respective lakes’ infertile waters make it difficult to catch enough bait for a day’s fishing. But fishing in winter offers anglers who don’t have the time or equipment to collect bait a benefit.

“At times during the winter months,” Vines explained, “artificial lures produce as well as or better than live bait. The stripers are feeding on 2- to 3-inch baitfish, which bucktail jigs and jigging spoons match. Normally, the smallest shad you will catch measures 4 or 5 inches.”

When fishing with shad, the guides always use downlines and then add free lines and planer boards as needed to cover the water column. If you don’t know where or how deep the stripers are holding, rig all three. This is especially effective when fishing in the upper reaches of creeks whose water is relatively shallow.

In deeper water, watch your sonar until you see the telltale arches of big fish; then, kill the motor and immediately set your downlines.

If needed, fish two free lines 50 to 75 feet behind the boat, and use a slip cork or balloon to keep the shad from tangling with bottom cover.

Inline side-planer boards allow anglers to free-line shad on either side of the boat. Vines runs his boards 25 to 30 feet off the side of the boat and fishes the shad at a specific depth. For example, if the stripes are 25 feet deep, he will feed out 25 feet of line before attaching the board’s release clip. He uses a 1/4-ounce sinker to keep the small shad down.

Parramore, Vines and Williams are enthusiastic about using circle hooks for all their lines. For small baits during winter, they recommend either a 1/0 or 2/0 hook.

When searching for fish in winter, the guides troll their baits at reduced speed -- about a half-mile per hour. If the sonar’s painting fish, they don’t move unless the fish do.

According to Parramore and Vines, the go-to artificial lure for winter is a white 1/2- to 1-ounce bucktail jig. “If you see fish 25 to 30 feet deep,” the latter advised, “cast the lure and count down to 30 for a half-ounce jig; with a 1-ounce jig, you might only count to 20. Make a long cast, keep your rod tip down, and don’t think of moving the jig until the lure has reached the correct depth. Then use a slow retrieve -- the slower the better.”

An alternate lure for cold days is a 1/2- to 3/4-ounce Hopkins spoon. Jig it vertically over the top of the striped bass.

For catching stripers busting the surface, the same half-ounce bucktail jig is the ticket to success. Parramore and Vines recommend casting the lure into the school, letting it sink as you count to five, and then reeling slowly for a straight-line retrieve.

Whether fishing live bait or artificial, the guides recommend a 7- or 7 1/2-foot medium-heavy action rod with a fast tip. Rod length is essential for casting distance with bucktail jigs, especially if you are fishing deep.

Lewis Smith Lake
According to Bill Vines, the best winter haunts for stripers on this 21,200-acre lake are in the upper reaches of creeks -- and it doesn’t matter which, as he reported that nearly every arm off the lake holds a school of fish.

“They might move down the creek four or five miles,” he explained, “but they stay in the upper third. It’s one of the things that make fishing good in January and February. The stripers don’t move around as much, so you can often catch them in the same place for a week or more.

“Look for the bait and you’ll find the fish. In January and early February, shad hold at depths of 25 to 30 feet. As the water warms in late February, the bait may only be 12 to 15 feet deep.”