Take me for a ride; take me far away. No cooling my engines, I am on my way to Lake Guntersville for a fishing trip of a lifetime. It seems like all the other vehicles I am passing are in slow motion. Isn’t anyone in a hurry to get to work around here? Hey, the right lane is for driving slow, the left lane is for passing. I guess they don’t know how long, I have waited for this opportunity to fish the premiere southern bass fishing reservoir.
As I swerve like a snake through grass in traffic it’s quickly becoming obvious that Lake Guntersville is close. Fog can be seen drifting out of the valley and pockets; I pass over a number of bridges with small creeks that feed into Lake Guntersville. After a series of sharp turns, I see Lake Guntersville. Fog is rising from the surface like steam drifting from a coffee cup. The sun’s rays cut through patches of the fog showing miles of aquatic vegetation Lake Guntersville is renowned for.
Floating Crooked Creek is the ultimate smallmouth fishing trip. I know the word ultimate is overused today; however in this situation, I am not exaggerating. The smallmouths seem to thrive in the crystal clear flowing water. For any angler who has fished Crooked Creek, the description as “blue-ribbon smallmouth bass stream” comes as no surprise.
From source to the mouth, Crooked Creek flows a distance of around 80 miles while passing through high bluffs, pasture land, past gravel bars, and chunk rock banks. Similar to other Ozark streams, the banks of Crooked Creek is blessed with an abundance of wildlife; however it’s the smallmouth that compel anglers to this stream.
The White River below Bull Shoals Dam runs clear and cold year round. If not for the stocking of trout only a few native Arkansas fish could survive in this frigid water. Nathan Lackey and Ron Armagost are two experienced trout fishing guides who know all about the White River and its plentiful trout population. Both are licensed fishing guides working out of Gaston’s Resort and are experts at navigating the White River. They excel at finding schools of trout willing to bite, but can also put an angler on a fish of a lifetime.
The view is breathtaking; the Sunshine Skyway Bridge spans 5.5 miles long over Tampa Bay in Florida from St. Petersburg to Terra Ceia. It was constructed from nub steel and concrete and cost $244 million to build. The bridge was opened up to traffic on February 7, 1987. While the massive bridge towers overhead, it’s only a back drop to the real breathtaking giant that lives in the emerald-green Gulf waters below.
A long line of anglers were lining up and boarding the 85-foot “Two Georges” party boat that was getting ready to depart. The group of anglers was a collective mix of young, old, couples, and groups of friends. Anticipation was running high among the anglers hoping to catch and keep a grouper since the season was closing the following day.
The captain and owner of Dolphin Deep Sea Fishing, Jesse Zuban, was taking Two Georges offshore to some deep water reefs that were loaded up with grouper. Before leaving the dock, a bait man came around selling live pinfish; a tasty treat grouper love to eat. With everyone on board, we were going offshore deep sea fishing.
It’s been a dream of a lifetime ever since you caught your first bass to go somewhere and catch a gigantic bass. After years of checking out different lakes online and in magazines you have finally decided that you are going to Lake Fork in Texas. It makes sense since 18 of the top 25 largemouth bass have been caught on Lake Fork; in addition to the Texas state record at 18.18-pounds. Even if you do not catch a new Texas state record with a slot limit of 16 to 24-inches, you are bound to catch at least one bass worthy of getting your photo with.
So you plan on bringing your bass boat and family to stay with you. Kind of like a mini-vacation for them, but where are you going to stay? Of course you can stay at a hotel near the lake or in town at a chain hotel, but it’s always a hassle to find parking and plug your boat in at night. Plus security is non-existent at these hotels and don’t even start thinking about customer service, where you are going to rig your fishing poles between outings, or shuttling to and from town.
"Hey, what are we stopping for?” I asked our fishing guide. “Shore lunch,” he replied. I thought to myself, this had better be the best Bull Shoals Dam shore lunch on the planet. I mean, we were going to stop fishing on the White River below the Bull Shoals Dam well-known for its reputation as one of the best trout streams anywhere. I had already had a delicious breakfast buffet at the award winning Gaston’s Restaurant this morning. Not to mention that the trout were biting like crazy. I had even caught one on my first cast of the day. Why stop now?
By the time we stopped a number of other boats in my party also started showing up. The fishing guides were all pulling up on shore and started cleaning the main course for our shore lunch. Our party had all chartered fishing guides out of Gaston’s Resort and had made arrangements with Gaston’s Resort to have the shore lunch. Walking up to the large outdoor shelter I spotted three round fire pits with glowing red hot embers. Hot grease was bubbling inside a cast iron skillet and would crackle when the fresh fillet trout were placed in it. Beside it in another fire pit was two Dutch ovens. The cook informed me that they had peach cobbler in them for our dessert. The aroma drifted my way, I was in heaven. My mouth was watering. It was like Christmas morning waiting to open presents. How much longer I kept thinking. Finally, first call for food. The race was on to get in line and get your plate filled.
Where do I start? It’s all good at Gaston’s Resort. Maybe I should start with the first class lodging, award winning restaurant, private landing strip for fly-in guests, gift shop, conference lodge, and private club. The resort also has three nature trails, a swimming pool, game room, tennis courts, and a playground for the kids. For some resorts that would be enough, but Gaston’s location on the world famous White River is what brings countless anglers to its resort.
The White River is well-known for its reputation as one of the best trout streams anywhere. The resort has over 300 acres and 79 cottages for guests to stay in right alongside the White River. The view is breathtaking. It’s all good at Gaston’s.
Anglers fishing for Big Bass can catch them in a number of ways from artificial to live bait. If you wanted to catch a giant bass on a big trout imitating swimbait you would go to Lake Castaic in California; if you wanted to catch a monster bass on a live wild golden shiner you would go to Florida. There are a number of lakes where monster bass get caught every year on live wild golden shiners in Florida. Lake Okeechobee or the St. Johns come to mind, but these lakes are inundated with anglers, even during the week.
One lake consistently overlooked is Lake Tarpon located next to Tarpon Springs, Florida, just north of the St. Petersburg and Clearwater area. The 2,500 acre reservoir holds the unofficial state largemouth record at 19.6-pounds. Lake Tarpon is always ranked in the top ten best fishing reservoirs in Florida. If an angler is not catching giant bass, they are probably catching fish in the 14-inch to 22-inch slot limit. On Lake Tarpon an angler is only allow to keep one bass over the 22-inch slot limit.
It’s been said that catching fish on topwater lures is the ultimate way of catching fish. If so, then fishing on the flats is the ultimate extreme, the X-Games of topwater fishing. Flats like the thousand of acres located around Tampa Bay in Florida has an abundance of redfish, snook, tarpon, and sea trout all willing to smash a topwater lure with vengeance. In fact, it’s not that unusual for an angler to catch an inshore slam, which is a sea trout, redfish, and snook all in one day.
It becomes an addiction to catching fish this way. Jason Stock, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, is a professional angler, fishing guide, and expert at backwater fishing for any species of fish swimming in Tampa Bay or coastal waters. Stock owns and operates Jm Snooky Kayak Charters out of the Tampa Bay area.
Take me for a ride; take me far away. No cooling my engines, I am on my way to Lake Guntersville for a fishing trip of a lifetime. It seems like all the other vehicles I am passing are in slow motion. Isn’t anyone in a hurry to get to work around here? Hey, the right lane is for driving slow, the left lane is for passing. I guess they don’t know how long, I have waited for this opportunity to fish the premiere southern bass fishing reservoir.
Floating Crooked Creek is the ultimate smallmouth fishing trip. I know the word ultimate is overused today; however in this situation, I am not exaggerating. The smallmouths seem to thrive in the crystal clear flowing water. For any angler who has fished Crooked Creek, the description as “blue-ribbon smallmouth bass stream” comes as no surprise. 
The White River below Bull Shoals Dam runs clear and cold year round. If not for the stocking of trout only a few native Arkansas fish could survive in this frigid water. Nathan Lackey and Ron Armagost are two experienced trout fishing guides who know all about the White River and its plentiful trout population. Both are licensed fishing guides working out of Gaston’s Resort and are experts at navigating the White River. They excel at finding schools of trout willing to bite, but can also put an angler on a fish of a lifetime.
It’s been a dream of a lifetime ever since you caught your first bass to go somewhere and catch a gigantic bass. After years of checking out different lakes online and in magazines you have finally decided that you are going to Lake Fork in Texas. It makes sense since 18 of the top 25 largemouth bass have been caught on Lake Fork; in addition to the Texas state record at 18.18-pounds. Even if you do not catch a new Texas state record with a slot limit of 16 to 24-inches, you are bound to catch at least one bass worthy of getting your photo with. 
Where do I start? It’s all good at Gaston’s Resort. Maybe I should start with the first class lodging, award winning restaurant, private landing strip for fly-in guests, gift shop, conference lodge, and private club. The resort also has three nature trails, a swimming pool, game room, tennis courts, and a playground for the kids. For some resorts that would be enough, but Gaston’s location on the world famous White River is what brings countless anglers to its resort. 
Anglers fishing for Big Bass can catch them in a number of ways from artificial to live bait. If you wanted to catch a giant bass on a big trout imitating swimbait you would go to Lake Castaic in California; if you wanted to catch a monster bass on a live wild golden shiner you would go to Florida. There are a number of lakes where monster bass get caught every year on live wild golden shiners in Florida. Lake Okeechobee or the St. Johns come to mind, but these lakes are inundated with anglers, even during the week. 
It’s been said that catching fish on topwater lures is the ultimate way of catching fish. If so, then fishing on the flats is the ultimate extreme, the X-Games of topwater fishing. Flats like the thousand of acres located around Tampa Bay in Florida has an abundance of redfish, snook, tarpon, and sea trout all willing to smash a topwater lure with vengeance. In fact, it’s not that unusual for an angler to catch an inshore slam, which is a sea trout, redfish, and snook all in one day.