Local guides know where to find the fish

By Scott Wright

WEISS LAKE — About the only equipment that's absolutely required to seek out the namesake fish floating in the body of water known as the “Crappie Capital of the World” is a fishing pole, a few feet of line, a hook and some bait.

Hundreds of people wile away their days sitting on the banks of Weiss Lake “wetting a hook,” and plenty of them don't really care if they catch any fish or not. They're just happy to be on the water, or at least near it, taking part in a sport they love. Often, entire families line up along the bank, enjoying the activity together.

But seeking fish and finding them can sometimes be two entirely different activities.
Most local fishermen, whether sitting in a $2 lawn chair or fishing out of a $20,000 bass boat, have their “secret” spots. They know what works, most of the time; they know which bait or lure to use and what time of day is best for trying their luck. Whether they want to catch three keepers (10 inches is the minimum length) or the daily limit, locals can usually tell you how long the job will take and where they'll likely need to cast to catch them.

Who better, then, to act as guide for out-of-town fishermen on one of their first excursions to Weiss Lake?

There are several guides currently working on Weiss, although none is listed in the Yellow Pages. Most local guide services have websites and can be located with a simple Google search or a phone call to area marinas and bait shops.

J.R.'s Marina in Cedar Bluff has a full-time guide. Another local guide, Kelly Matthews, recently decided to take his business full-time. A few others work on a part-time basis.
 

Fishing full-time

Jason Tucker, 32, grew up in Cedar Bluff and has been guiding for 17 years. He told The Post he spends about 200 days a year leading fishermen to hot spots from one end of the lake to the other.

“I get $250 a day for an all-day crappie trip for two, and $200 for two on a stripe trip,” Tucker said. “We're in the middle of stripe season right now.”

Tucker said most of his stripe trips are comprised of anglers from Atlanta. He said crappie fishermen come from across the Southeast. They usually find him thanks to his website (www.jrsmarina.com).

“Folks in Indiana, South Dakota, Illinois and particularly Kentucky make up most of my business,” he said. “They just don't have the size of crappie there that we do here.”

Darrell Baker, a Centre native and son of the owner of the local AM radio station, has been fishing with his father, Jerry, since he was 7 years old. Baker operates Weiss Lake Crappie Guides when he's not dispatching police officers and ambulances from the county's 9-1-1 headquarters.

Given his lifelong love of fishing, running a part-time crappie guide service for a few months out of the year was an easy career choice, Baker said.

“It can be a lot of work, but the money's pretty good and I love fishing.”

Baker's price -- $250 for an eight-hour trip for two fishermen -- is pretty much what everyone else on Weiss Lake charges for a full day of fishing. Or a full live-well, whichever comes first.

“Between about mid-January and April, the spring crappie season, I make about 50 trips,” Baker said during a recent outing. “Then we have another season from mid-September to about mid-November.”

Like Tucker, Baker doesn't get too many local calls. Usually, his clients are visiting fishermen unfamiliar with the ins and outs of Weiss and the most productive fishing methods for the mostly shallow, 30,200-acre reservoir.

“I get a lot of people from Tennessee and Kentucky, “Baker said. “Probably the closest to home anyone has traveled to fish with me was Trion, Ga.”

Matthews, another Cherokee County native, has been fishing Weiss Lake for a quarter-century. He said he, too, usually does business with out-of-staters.

“Most of our business comes off the website (www.weisslakeguides.com), and they're usually from Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. They have much smaller crappie there and stricter limits, so they like fishing here.”

Baker understands the lack of local business. He knows most folks who live around Weiss Lake have their own methods for fishing that they've perfected over the years. But for anglers from other parts of the country who don't mind a little creativity, Baker said he and his fellow guides can get as sophisticated as the situation requires.

“We'll take fishermen long-line or flat-line trolling in the spring, pulling jigs through schools of fish,” Baker said. “What's important to keep in mind when you're doing that are things like depth, speed and location.”

Baker said a pair of anglers from Nashville, Tenn., once thought the idea of trolling for crappie was “the most idiotic” idea they'd ever heard, until they each reeled in their 30-fish limit in only a few hours.

“They've been back,” he grinned.

Baker said he uses a GPS system to maintain constant speed during trolling sessions and to help make sure he's giving his customers a good shot at bringing home a basket full of fish. He'll also monitor wind direction and speed to help make sure his trolling passes remain consistent.

Come summertime, Baker converts his boat to accommodate a fishing method anglers call “spider-rigging.” From the front of the boat, Baker baits out four to eight BNM poles (ranging in length from 8 ft. to 14 ft.) with minnows and releases enough line to keep the bait near the bottom of the river channel, about 15 feet below the surface on this day.

“The crappie move to the brush piles and the river bed when the water gets warmer,” Baker explains. “This is the best way to get down there to them.”

Baker is a member of the pro staff for Southern Pro jigs, Ego nets and Costa del Mar sunglasses, and like other guides counts on sponsors to help keep him supplied with the latest equipment.

“I know we're talking about fishing, but a lot of times I put in 14-15 hours days by the time I gas up and get my equipment ready in the mornings and then clean out the boat and go home at night and update the website (www.weisslakecrappieguides.com). It's fun but it's also a lot of work. The sponsors' assistance helps a lot.”

Better than a good day at work

The Pitts Stop, a convenience store and bait shop in Gaylesville, is a shrine to all things fishing. Photos of the largest of large-mouth bass line the walls above row after row of fishing lures and equipment. A 12-lb. catfish and a half-dozen largemouth bass swim lazy circles in an 800-gallon tank in the back of the store.

Owner Lee Pitts has reeled in these monsters and many others, some bigger than 10 lbs. He fishes tournaments from Florida to New York since he hit the professional bass fishing circuit six years ago.

“I hope to be able to bass fish full-time someday,” Pitts said. “That's why I got into the bait-and-tackle business. It gives me the freedom to practice on the nearby lakes.”
Pitts said he fishes in about 50 tournaments every year in three different pro tours, including BassMasters opens and pro-am events and two divisions of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League. Somehow, he still finds time to guide occasionally on Weiss, Guntersville and Neely Henry lakes.

“I really enjoy the guide service, and I've met a lot of great fishermen and great people,” he said. “We always have a good time, even if the fishing is slow. The problem is, when the bass are really biting, sometimes it's hard for me to lay my gear down and let them fish. I really love it. It's a great life.”

Pitts said as much as he enjoys the guide service and tackling the pro tours, he is most proud of the family ties his fishing lifestyle has helped him maintain.

“My son, Logan Pearson, who is 16, fishes in the junior federation, and my daughter Carson, who is 9, fishes with me in the 'Take a Kid Fishing' tournaments that the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce holds here on Weiss Lake.”

Pitts said he and his daughter have worked out a compromise between fishing and fun during the half-day tournaments.

“I tell her if she'll give me 10 good minutes of fishing at every spot we try, we'll jump in and cool off before we move on,” Pitts said. “So she's excited enough about jumping off the boat to fish hard for the whole time. Then we jump in, climb back into the boat and we're off to the next spot.”

Pitts, who grew up fishing with his dad in Fort Payne, knows how to attract corporate sponsors. He gets Ranger boats at a discount, fishing rods from All-Pro, and spinner bait from Talon.

Pitts knows how to reel in the big bass, too, whether he's “finesse fishing” -- using light lines and lures in deep water -- in lakes up north, or “power fishing” -- with big flipping sticks and heavier, braided line -- in the shallow, stained waters of the Coosa or similar river systems.

But for all the top-dollar equipment and high-tech methods they employ, Pitts and Baker both admit that some of the best fishing is the kind they remember from their childhood -- the kind any family can do on a shoestring on a Saturday afternoon.

“All you really have to do is buy a pole and a bucket of minnows,” Baker said. “Just keep it basic. Take the kids to the bank somewhere and toss minnows into shallow water. They'll catch some fish and they'll have a ball.”

“A lot of people can't afford big boats and $250-a-day guides, and they don't have to have all of that,” Pitts said. “When people come into the store and ask about a good spot to fish, I send them to the (Highway 35) bridge down the road. They can take the whole family, sit underneath in the shade, and have a picnic and a great time just spending the day with each other, even if they don't catch anything at all.”