Tim Chandler's Lake Guntersville Guide Service

Tim Chandler draws a line between a guide service and a charter, and it changes what happens to the fish. All bass trips here are fished on artificial baits only, every bass is released in condition to be caught again, and an angler who wants a trophy on the wall has measurements taken on the water for a replica mount instead of keeping the fish.

Chandler is a USCG licensed captain who states 38 years of fishing experience and 24 years guiding full time on Lake Guntersville, running trips seven days a week. What a trip contains is instructional as much as it is catching: seasonal grass fishing patterns, how conditions change bass behavior, how tournaments are won on the lake, navigation, and how to read Humminbird and Lowrance sonar and GPS units. Separate electronics training trips can be run in the client's boat or his. Anglers pre fishing for tournaments are accepted.

The boat is a 2022 Phoenix bass boat of 21.5 feet with a Mercury 250 ProXs, Humminbird electronics and a Minn Kota Ultrex. Rods, Daiwa reels spooled with Sunline, tackle, life vests and drinking water are supplied at no extra charge, and lost or used lures are not billed, although equipment lost overboard and not recovered is. Clients bring their own Alabama fishing license, rain gear and lunch, and may bring their own rods if they prefer familiar gear.

Trips are also available on Wilson Lake, Pickwick Lake and Smith Lake by phone. A 100 dollar deposit holds a date. It is not refunded on a client cancellation but transfers to another day in the same calendar year, and it is refunded outright if weather cancels the trip. Clients receive a discount at several named Guntersville cabin rental operators.