Alabama is blessed with good year-round fishing from border to border. No matter where you live in the state, you are less than two hours from good fishing.

Anglers in the Shoals area—up in the northwest corner of the state—are particularly fortunate to have Pickwick, Wilson and Wheeler lakes along the Tennessee River. According to Brian Barton, a catfish and striper guide in the area, Pickwick is a great place to fish during June. The bass spawn is winding down, boat traffic is less, and the catfish spawn is heating up. Like crappie and bass, they look for shallow water for spawning. This starts when the water temperature reaches the mid 70s and continues until late June.

Pickwick is a diverse 30,000-acre lake on the Alabama-Tennessee border. Water flow is a function of power generation at the TVA dams. Creek mouths, islands, boulders, shell...