Chase Landers and Chance Landers of Franklin County showoff some Pickwick Lake largemouth bass
THE SHOALS-Local anglers tout Pickwick and Wilson lakes as two of the best places in the country to fish for largemouth and smallmouth bass.
A leading fishing website agrees. In its listing of the top 100 bass lakes in America, Fishhound.com ranked Pickwick 15th and Wilson 45th. California-based Fishound.com is one of the most popular outdoor and travel websites. Noted outdoor writer Mike Pehanic compiled the listing of top lakes after consulting professional anglers, bass tournament organizations, and veteran outdoors journalists.
Tennessee River bass fishing guide Cameron Gautney of Muscle Shoals, was not surprised Pickwick and Wilson were listed among the top bass lakes in America.
“There are some lakes where you can catch big largemouth and others where you can catch big smallmouth. At Pickwick and Wilson you can catch both. You might catch a 7-pound largemouth and then catch a 5-pound smallmouth on the very next cast,” Gautney said.
Pro angler and outdoors television personality Tim Horton, of Muscle Shoals, also sings the praises of Pickwick and Wilson lakes. “They are amazing lakes. Pickwick is right there at the top of the best lakes in the country and Wilson is close behind.”
Tim Horton
Guntersville Lake was ranked atop the Fishhound.com list, with Lake Okeechobee in Florida, Clear Lake in California, Falcon Lake in Texas and Lake Erie/Niagara River in New York and Ontario rounding out the Top 5.
Gautney said Wilson and Pickwick lakes should have been ranked higher in the fishhound.com listing.
“In my opinion, Pickwick should have been one of the top three lakes on the list,” Gautney said. “Wilson and Pickwick are underrated. I have guide trips all the time where the people I take out are blown away by how good the fishing is on Pickwick and on Wilson.”
Brian Barton, a Tennessee River fishing guide from Muscle Shoals, said the Shoals’ reputation as a great place to fish for bass, catfish, and crappie is far-reaching. “I get calls and e-mails from people all over the country who say have heard how good the fishing is here and they want to come fish Wilson and Pickwick.”
In 2013, fishound.com ranked Pickwick Lake 18th in a listing of the Top-50 crappie lakes in the country.
Susann Hamlin, executive director of Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau in Tuscumbia, said the fishhound.com listings bolster Wilson and Pickwick lakes reputation for being great places to go fishing. She said fishing is a major tourist attraction for the county.
“These lists confirm what we have said all along, our lakes are some of the best places on Earth to go fishing,” Hamlin said.
For more details about fishing opportunities on Pickwick and Wilson lakes, call the Colbert County Tourism at 256-383-0783.
