Pro fishing tips on Logan Martin Lake and Neely Henry Lake with Zeke Gossett
Logan Martin
Finally, cooler weather has dropped the water temps on Logan Martin, and the fish are beginning to fatten up for the winter. The months of November and December can be some of the best times to fish and are two of my favorite months to fish on Logan Martin.
There are a few things happening during these months on Logan Martin. First, the lake should be at winter pool. Winter pool for Logan Martin now is three feet lower than summer pool, unlike previous years when it used to be five feet lower.
The new winter pool has changed a little on how I now fish Logan Martin from previous years. Some places are not as shallow now with the extra two feet of water, and the fish have adapted quickly.
Another thing that happens during these months is the fish are feeding up for the winter months. What that means is that they are heavily feeding on shad most of the time.
Finding suspended fish in the creeks is one my favorite ways to catch them. It’s an easy equation. Go find the baitfish, and the bass will not be far behind. A small damiki rig and deep diving jerkbait are some of my favorite ways to find them.
Also a square-bill and spinnerbait are a couple of great choices when wanting to cover some shallow points or channel swing banks. I will mainly focus on the main river with these two baits and typically look for the banks with deeper water nearby.
Now, one of my favorite ways to get a bigger bite is with a big pig and jig. This is especially true in the latter part of December when the water temp is below 55. It also helps a lot if the lake has one foot of visibility or less.
During these two months on Logan Martin, anglers have a lot of options to catch fish with a ton of techniques available. The fish are getting fat and there is less boat traffic, so go enjoy some fish-catching action.
Neely Henry
Neely Henry is a great late fall/early wintertime of year lake. I mainly focus on the bottom end of the lake during these two months.
There are a lot of bluffs, docks and rip rap in this region of the lake. Where I spend most of my time during these two months fishing is relative to how much rain we receive. If there has been a lot of rain, Alabama Power will run more current in the system. This is when I will focus on main river points and docks.
A couple of baits I always start out with is either a bladed jig or square-bill crankbait. The current should have the fish set up and ready to bite whatever eases past them.
Now, once the water temp gets below 50 degrees, that’s when I will ease my way into the creeks. Typically, I want to be in the region of the creek where I feel like most of action is. What I mean by that is either I’m seeing bait fish on my electronics or maybe a slight degree or two difference in water temp.
Once I find these scenarios, I will be heavily dependent on my forward-facing sonar and pick off bass that are maybe chasing bait in channel bends of the creek or just off the banks.
I’ll use either a damiki rig or jerkbait depending on where the fish are in the water column. Keep your lure choices simple and keep moving during these two months. The fish can change by the hour or even every few minutes!
Zeke Gossett of Zeke Gossett Fishing grew up on the Coosa River and Logan Martin Lake. He is a former collegiate champion and is now a professional angler on the B.A.S.S. tour circuit and is a fishing guide. Learn more about Zeke at: zekegossettfishing.com.
