The Northern Alabama Connection: Wiggins, Lee Brothers Representing this Week on Smith Lake

CULLMAN, Ala. – It doesn’t take much time when you roll through Northern Alabama to realize that bass fishing is a way of life here. Boat dealerships and tackle stores abound, and three-hour Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday-nighters or “wildcats” are the norm for teens to senior citizens.

But the area around Cullman – the host of Favorite Fishing Stage Three Presented by Mercury – is an especially high-percentage producer of tour-level fish catchers: Bass Pro Tour pros Matt Lee and Jordan Lee grew up in Cullman and fellow BPT pro Jesse Wiggins grew up in the small town of Addison, just 25 minutes away from Cullman.

The three are all friends, but the Lees and Wiggins grew up in parallel worlds as they made their ascent to the sport’s top: the Lees spent most of their free time on Guntersville and Wiggins almost exclusively fished Smith Lake.

A Chance Draw

Even though Matt Lee and Wiggins lived just 20 minutes apart their whole lives and were both ate up with bass fishing, they didn’t meet until being paired in a Bassmaster Weekend Series tournament on Wheeler Lake when both were in their early 20s. Lee was the boater and Wiggins was his co-angler.

“I remember telling my buddies that I drew a guy named Jesse Wiggins – they knew him and told me ‘Oh, you get to fish with ‘Crankbait’ you’re gonna have fun,'” Lee recalls. “I thought that nickname was the most redneck thing I’d ever heard, but I was just happy it was someone around my age that I could relate to.”

Wiggins’ nickname has stuck with him since he was 5 years old, the result of a game of hide-and-seek gone wrong.

“Me and my brother (also named Jordan) used to play with tackle on the porch and we didn’t put it all away before switching to play hide-and-seek,” Wiggins said. “I ran and stepped right on a treble hook on a crankbait and had to go to the ER to get it removed because it was past the barb. I was screaming like crazy and my dad couldn’t get it out. He said he would call me ‘Crank’ from then on and that’s what people still call me. I don’t even know if some people know my real name.”

Matt Lee finished third in that tournament on Wheeler and Wiggins had a strong showing on the co-angler side.

“I put Wiggins on those fish,” Lee says with a laugh.

Lee and Wiggins became good friends after that tournament and eventually traveled together on the Bassmaster Elite Series – the Addison High School (1A) Bulldog rooming with the Cullman High School  (6A) Bearcat

“His school was so small the team had to play offense and defense for football,” Lee jokes, referring to a frequent source of their joking rivalry.

“We never thought it was like that,” Wiggins counters. “They all said we were rednecks, but I drove a normal truck. We’re just country. The Cullman High School kids all had jacked up trucks and tried to look like rednecks.”

North Alabama Training Grounds

Northern Alabama is home to some legendary fisheries, perhaps none more renowned than Lake Guntersville (roughly 45 minutes from Cullman), which has attracted multiple pros who relocated there in the past 15 years.

Both of the Lees credit their Northern Alabama upbringing with their career success, pointing out the wealth of popular tournament fisheries within a short drive of Cullman County.

“Learning to fish on the lakes where the big tournaments come is a major benefit,” Jordan Lee said. “It challenges you to learn them well and that’s why so many guys have relocated to Guntersville. Most of our tournaments are in the Southeast and (Northern Alabama) is centrally located. Living here helps you learn how fish in this region act.”

Matt Lee agrees, believing the diversity of the fisheries is another significant benefit to the region.

“You have clear water and spinning rods on Smith and grass and lipless crankbaits on Guntersville,” Matt Lee said. “You’re an hour to the Coosa River lakes and about two hours from Chickamauga. We have every type of fishing you’ll encounter on tour within a couple of hours from here.”

Smith Lake Transformation

The Lee brothers spent most of their free time on Guntersville since the family kept the bass boat at Lake Guntersville Yacht Club.

“Guntersville was all we thought about and we’d also fish Lake Catoma right in Cullman, but we never even really thought of fishing Smith,” Matt Lee said. “Smith Lake was always a 12-pound lake to win, but Jesse spent so much time there and knows it better than anyone.”

Jordan says that Smith Lake’s growth as a national-level tournament venue is due to the proliferation of blueback herring growing over the past decade.

“I fell in love with Guntersville right away, but then Smith got better and the fish got bigger,” he said. “All of the big tournaments started coming here, and I figured that I needed to start learning it. Now, I fish it as much as I can and even jump in the weeknight wildcat tournaments when I’m home.”

Wiggins flatly admits that he owes his career to Smith Lake: he won Bassmaster Opens here in 2016 and 2017 to kickstart his journey to becoming a professional angler. Those wins were after years of local team wins with his brother.

“We did pretty well here and worked our way up by fishing with other people and borrowing boats,” Wiggins said. “My grandpa used to let us use his Bumble Bee with a Johnson outboard and we wore it slap out. It wouldn’t start when it was cold out and we fished several events with just the trolling motor. We won $4,500 in one event without a big motor because it wouldn’t crank over all day.”

The Wiggins brothers fished out of borrowed boats until Jesse purchased his first boat in 2012, which allowed them to expand to other events. They found success, claiming a Team of the Year title in the ultra completive Alabama Bass Trail North Division.

Wiggins says that his brother may make a run at pro fishing, and has has the skills to compete at the top level. Jordan Lee wholeheartedly agrees.

“Jesse taught me how to topwater fish for spotted bass on Smith Lake when I was just out of college, and we fished a few wildcats together,” Jordan Lee said. “His brother is even better here and Jesse’s a close second. Smith Lake is the Wiggins brothers’ bread and butter.”