Southern Collegiate Stop #2 : Lake Wheeler

I really had high expectations for last weekend on Wheeler.  We launched out of Ditto Marina outside of Huntsville and were able to fish between the I-65 bridge and Guntersville Dam.  We only had one day of practice on Thursday and I spent the majority of my time up on the north end just below the dam thinking I could really win the tournament there.  The water was only being generated at around 45,000 cfs which is typically a smaller current than those fish are used to.  The lake came down almost 6ft in the last two weeks which I thought also could have thrown the bite off.

Day 1 was spent up at the dam for the majority of the dam and the only time anyone got a bite was when the locks opened up and a rush of water came by.  A boat from UAB fished right beside us and had basically the same amount of bites but ended up with 17lbs and we had a mere 9.50.

A few good buddies of mine(War Eagle) with some nice fish

Day 2 wasn't much better.  I made the bonehead decision to return to the dam since several of the bigger bags on day 1 came from there and the weather was constantly changing.  The temperature had dropped over night and the lock doors didn't open up a single time.  No one caught them near as well as they did on day 1.  We left the dam and tried to scramble around to catch fish, but only caught some small keepers.  We finished up with 10.96 and 20.46 for the two day tournament.  Maybe I will be able to pull together a better pattern for the next southern collegiate out of Ingall's Harbor on the southern part of Lake Wheeler.



On another note, a really good friend of mine was involved in a boating accident Friday night on Lake Pickwick.  He and two other people were in the boat and somehow they survived with only broken bones and are in stable condition.  They were out riding around at dark and probably relying on a GPS too much.  Be safe on the water and keep Tyler and his friends in your prayers!!