April 2026 — Art on the Lake Festival & Peak Bass Spawn

65th Annual Art on the Lake — April 18-19

Art on the Lake is the signature spring event in Guntersville, Alabama. Held at the Guntersville Recreation Center at 1500 Sunset Drive, this juried fine arts festival features more than 100 artists working in painting, pottery, woodworking, jewelry, photography, and mixed media. Vendors set up inside the rec center and across the surrounding grounds with views of Lake Guntersville.

Food vendors line the walkways with Southern staples including smoked barbecue, fried catfish, funnel cakes, and fresh-squeezed lemonade. Live music plays throughout both days. Admission is $3 for ages 13 and older. Children 12 and under enter free. The festival runs Saturday and Sunday and draws visitors from across North Alabama and southern Tennessee.

Guntersville Getaway is a 12-minute drive from the Rec Center, making it an ideal base for a festival weekend paired with time on the lake. See our full list of Lake Guntersville attractions for more things to do during your stay.

More April Events Near the Lake

• Panoply Arts Festival — April 24-26 at Big Spring International Park in Huntsville (35-minute drive). Three days of visual arts, live performances, hands-on activities, and food from 50+ vendors in downtown Huntsville.
• MVAC Free Thursday Concerts — Mountain Valley Arts Council kicks off the spring concert series at Errol Allan Park on the Guntersville Town Square. Free admission with food trucks and local musicians every Thursday evening.
• Guntersville Farmers Market — Opens for the season with local produce, honey, baked goods, and handmade crafts at the Guntersville Pavilion.

Peak Bass Spawn on Lake Guntersville

April is when Lake Guntersville's legendary largemouth bass fishery reaches its peak spawning phase. As surface water temperatures push through the 60 to 70 degree range, male bass fan circular beds on hard-bottom flats, shell bars, and protected pockets throughout the 69,000-acre Tennessee River reservoir. Females move onto beds to deposit eggs when conditions stabilize, typically during warm, stable weather fronts.

The shallow backwaters of Brown Creek, North Sauty Creek, and Short Creek warm first and produce the earliest spawning activity. Main-lake spawning flats near Siebold Creek and along the Highway 69 bridge produce larger fish later in the month as offshore temperatures catch up.

What's Working in April

• Chatterbaits (white or green pumpkin) over spawning flats in 2 to 5 feet for reaction strikes
• Lipless crankbaits (1/2 oz, Red Craw or Rayburn Red) ripped through emerging hydrilla
• Squarebill crankbaits (chartreuse/black back) deflected off stumps and laydowns in creek arms
• Soft plastic stick baits (watermelon red) pitched to visible beds for sight-fishing
• Spinnerbaits (3/8 oz, white/chartreuse) slow-rolled over grass edges on cloudy days

Spring Wildlife at the Lake

April transforms the Lake Guntersville shoreline. Osprey return from their winter range and begin building nests on channel markers and dock structures across the lake. Bald eagle fledglings born in January and February are visible in nests at Lake Guntersville State Park, stretching their wings in preparation for first flights. Wildflowers carpet the bluffs above the lake, and dogwoods and redbuds bloom along the shoreline trails at the state park. The Short Creek and Cathedral Caverns areas are especially scenic during peak bloom.