About Bill Payne

Written by Adam Broughton

Bill Payne has lived in the north Georgia area his entire life, and has been an avid tournament angler for over 40 years. He is well regarded as one of the most successful small circuit tournament anglers in the southeast and has countless tournament wins to his credit on Carters Lake, Lake Allatoona, Lake Chickamauga, and Lake Weiss. Bill has proven to be consistently successful in tournaments, including the Weiss Lake Championship Series and Chattanooga Bass Association (CBA) tournaments.

Bill's success has been well-earned, as he has been a local pioneer in many of the clear water spotted bass fishing techniques that have proven so successful on the water. Some of his techniques he developed on his own, others he adapted from emerging technologies in lures, gear, electronics, tackle, and methods. He was one of the first anglers to make heavy use of sonar imaging technology to locate groups of bass in deep offshore structure and continues to be on the leading edge of marine electronics technology. He was one of the first people to start using the dropshot technique for finesse fishing in deep water (a technique that made its first appearance in California), and in shallow water, Bill perfected the art of flipping/pitching to bring home win after win in area tournaments.

Bill has caught thousands of trophy small mouth and spotted bass over the years, and is a heck of a nice guy too! He is a true asset to the fishing community. His passion for fishing and drive for continuous improvement is infectious. Young or old, novice or expert, if you ever have the chance to fish with him, do it!