Sweet Home Alabama! And if you’re a bass fisherman, the best place in the state to live is Guntersville.
I had mixed emotions when I found out Lake Guntersville would be the third stop on the Women’s Bassmaster Tour. I’ve lived in Guntersville a little over 6 years and most my fishing experience here has involved a pontoon boat with five grandkids hanging off the sides. They all love to fish, so we rig up Carolina or Texas Rigs, find the nearest hump and drag a lizard or Chopstick over it. Not exactly good practice for a tournament situation. I have fished a few tournaments here but have never caught over 15 lbs. and knew it would take more than that to win on this lake.
I also knew we would be following the BASS Elite Tour, would be fishing for spawning and post spawn fish and would be in the full moon phase. I felt these issues would make for tough fishing conditions, so I solicited the help of a friend, Frelon Moore, who is a local expert on this lake. Because we had dead water two and a half weeks before the tournament, we had to plan on what the fish should be doing at the time of the tournament, instead of what they were doing in pre-practice.
I met Frelon at the ramp on a cold, windy morning in early April. He traveled light, bringing only two rods, one with a jig and one with a crankbait. I soon found out why. He only needed one, the jig. After only a few hours of fishing, I began calling him “The Jig Master.” Apparently, no one ever told Frelon the old adage, ‘You don’t get as many bites on a jig.’ I kept switching between a Carolina Rig, Texas Rig and Chopstick (stick bait) and Frelon kept whacking them on the jig. Shallow water, deep water, grass or stumps, it didn’t seem to matter. I started watching him to see if I could pickup on the subtleties of what he was doing and how he was working the bait. I couldn’t discern anything distinct so I figured it was a confidence thing.
Since the weather was so bad we decided to work the area close to where we launched. We fished humps, road beds, creek channels and ledges. I learned more about offshore fishing in two days from Frelon than I learned in a life time on my own. I have a Lowrance X-25c GPS unit on my boat and I use a Navionics Hot Maps Premium chip.
Frelon was sitting in the passenger’s seat and I knew he couldn’t see the screen. He’d direct me on where to go and describe exactly what we were going to fish. He knew the underwater points on a hump and where a roadbed bisected them or which side came closest to a narrow ditch or depression. He knew where a small stump field was on the edge of a roadbed and could pinpoint them accurately. He’d tell me at the precise moment when to drop an icon on the spot. I was looking at my screen and he was dead on accurate with the Navionics chart each time. I was amazed at how he knew this without looking at it on the screen. He showed me how he lines up objects on the bank with objects on a far mountain and when it all comes together and lines up, you’re on the proper spot.
I’ve triangulated spots many times before. After choosing three objects in different directions, I was able to get in the general vicinity and narrowed it down by idling around, finding the sweet spot on my electronics and throwing a buoy to have something to relate to. With Frelon’s method I found in most cases I didn’t need a buoy.
He has spent many hours finding these spots and remembering the points to line up on. It didn’t seem fair they were all right there on my GPS with my Navionics chip. Of course finding the sweet spots is still the objective and the hardest thing to do.
Frelon spent two days of his valuable time sharing his profound knowledge of Guntersville with me and I appreciated it immensely.
The weather for the rest of the week before dead water was too bad to get much practice in. The high winds made the river treacherous to run so I’d have to be content with the three days of official practice I’d get ahead of the tournament.
Because of our dead water/off limits period I missed not being able to get on the water and watch the Elite guys fish. You can learn so much just by observing them. The Bassmaster Elite week was a lot of fun anyway. Tuesday evening I went out to the State Park campground to visit with Pete Ponds and his wife. He very generously shared one of his Ardent Reels with me. I had never used one. I came home, put it on a rod, spooled it with line, tied on a weight and took it out in the driveway to see how it cast. With very little effort I zinged it out about 115 feet. “Sweeeeeet! I’ve got to get me some more of these.”
Wednesday evening was fun at the Angler Alley, where you can go and take a look at the wrapped rigs and meet the Pro’s. I met and talked with Lee Bailey and his wife Carol. Lee has an awesome new boat wrap that he designed with his motto, “Eyes on Jesus.”

I had practiced for a tournament on Toledo Bend a few years back with Ben Matsubu and it was nice getting to visit with him again.
I thought it was interesting that the Elite guys take the time at Angler Alley to get their rods and equipment ready for the next day’s competition. When I asked one of them about it, he said, “When else do we have time to do it?” There’s no wasted time when you’re fishing at this level.

Thursday morning I took a trip to Waterfront Tackle to get a few items I would need for the tournament. Since the road to Waterfront goes by several popular creeks and coves I figured I’d see quite a few of the Elite guys fishing. There wasn’t one wrapped boat on the lake in these areas. Maybe they all ran up river. When I got to Waterfront the parking lot was full of wrapped boats and I found out the first day of competition was canceled due to foul weather that never materialized. And so, there a bunch of them sat. Guess they get to waste a bit of time after all, occasionally.

The rest of the week I attended the weigh-ins and paid close attention to any information they shared publicly. I learned the shad spawn was in full swing. I learned you needed to be out early because they did their thing in low light conditions and once the sun got up the bite ended. I learned you needed to be on the main river grass beds and if you could get a wad of shad to follow your spinnerbait, you’d be in business. I learned the best place’s to fish was where two different grasses (milfoil and hydrilla) grew together.

The first day of official practice I was up early and on the water at daybreak. Guntersville Lake is an awesome place that time of day, the sun just starting to brighten things up a bit while the moon still loomed large in the sky, the loons calling to each other, all kinds of waterfowl leaving their nightly roosts, and the best sound of all, my Mercury Pro XS jumping to life. It just doesn’t get any better than this.

I head straight to the river to see what this shad spawn was all about and make my first stop. Low light conditions – check. Shad everywhere – check. Wad of shad following my spinnerbait – check. Two types of grass growing together – check, check. So where’s all the fish? I stuck with it for a couple of hours in different locations but all I caught was a catfish. I then proceeded to head up river to my furthest destination. When I got there a boat was sitting on the spot so I went to the next one close by, a creek ledge. I fished up and down, concentrating on the subtle turns and cuts. I fished from shallow to deep and then got up on the flat and threw out deep bringing my bait up the ledge. I fished a Carolina Rig, Texas Rig and Deep Diving Crankbait. I got a few bites but nothing aggressive so moved on to other ledges and deeper water post spawn spots. I hit the first points of places where I knew that the fish had been spawning. I was able to get a bite here and a bite there but never a concentration or school. I didn’t look for beds because I thought if there were many left on, the Elite guys would have picked them clean plus I knew that there had already been several big spawns and most were in the post spawn phase. I fished till almost dark and wasn’t happy with my first days effort.

Day two started just like day 1 except I concentrated on the mid lake area. I was getting bit, but again, one here and one there. I gave up on the shad spawn pattern, I couldn’t get it to work for me. The bite’s I was getting was coming from deeper places but I wanted to find a shallow bite where I could start each morning. I found that place the last day of practice. I pulled up on a spot and in 10 minutes had two quality fish. I didn’t want to set the hook but the fish had other ideas. I threw my V&M Chopstick out, let it settle in the grass, felt the familiar tic and tried to pull the bait away. I felt the fish let go but as I was reeling in he nailed it again. It was a solid 4 pounds. The next fish did the same thing, so I knew these fish were aggressive and wanted to eat. I made up my mind this is where I would start the tournament the following day.

I had a good early draw so was able to get on the spot with no problem. I had read the Fishing Reports on BFHP the night before and a few guides said they were getting an early bite on topwaters, spooks and Pop R’s. I tied on a Sammy and started off throwing that. I had a good blow up after about 5 minutes but the fish hit just behind the lure and didn’t connect. If I had of been using my head I would have picked up my Chopstick and threw at the boil but this was tournament day on Guntersville and my brain went dead. I knew better but I just kept throwing the topwater. The same thing happened again, but this time I threw my Chopstick at it and felt the fish pick it up. I set the hook and it felt heavy. I played it for a brief time, my partner got the net but it pulled off in the grass. By this time a boat with two anglers sees the action and eases over to my right. Another one sets down on a small point just to my left. A few minutes go by and it becomes obvious that the boat on my right wants to be the boat in the middle and proceeds to troll over and sit on top of the fish. So much for my prime, number 1 spot. Time to leave.

My second spot had a boat sitting on it so I proceeded to another. On this spot I put two small, but keeper fish in the boat and my co-angler catches two better fish. It was a small stump field with scattered grass. After 30 minutes and no more bites I went to a deep ledge where I had caught an 8 in pre-practice. I worked this place for an hour, back and forth trying to force feed them. They would have none of it so I left and went to a deep ledge. I had several bites on this spot during practice and caught a couple of nice keepers in pre-practice but again couldn’t get bit. I ran to another deep spot and wasted another hour. I finally went back to a shallow hump with grass and had a few pick ups but they wouldn’t hang on long enough to get a hook in them. Since I had an early out, I had an early weigh in time and I was broken hearted having to come in with two little fish.

Looking back, I should have stayed with the shallow grass pattern and not spent so much time trying to make the deep ledge bite work. It was hard since I had caught some good quality fish there in pre-practice.

On Day 2, I started the same place as the day before. This time I had even more company. I was forced to stay in one small spot because again, other boats were close on both sides. I think the pressure may have shut the bite down and after a brief while with out a fish I went to the small stump field I had limited success on the day before. And limited it was, to the four fish we got off of it previously. I picked up my trolling motor and headed down river stopping at numerous spots without so much as a nibble. Finally I decided to go to the community holes (humps). There’s a reason their always covered up with boats and that’s because at times their covered up with fish. As luck would have it, the one I wanted to be on was vacant, so I threw a buoy, and started fishing. It wasn’t long before I hooked a nice keeper fish, followed by two more. I went around and around this hump for over an hour and never got another bite. I backed off and threw deeper and moved in on it and fished shallower. I changed from a Carolina Rigged Lizard to a Chopstick to a Texas Rigged Worm. I slow rolled a spinnerbait through the grass and burnt a Rattletrap over the top.

With two hours left to fish I knew I needed a couple of good bites to make the cut and figured my best chances was on the ledges so I finished my day there but never did get another bite.

At the weigh in, Lurch, the WBT emcee tried to console me by saying the local Elite guys (sorry Lee) didn’t do very well either. Home lake jinks? I usually don’t believe in that sort of thing but just maybe there’s something to it after all.

The Thursday following tournament week I hit the lake again. I visited all the same spots, just to see if I could do it without the pressure. My best five went over 17 lbs.
Go figure!
I’d like to thank my sponsors, Izorline, Navionics, V&M Baits, and Cyclone Lures.

I want to especially thank the Good Lord above who has blessed me with the opportunity to pursue a sport that I dearly love.

And I want to thank you for taking the time to read my journal. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.