Any time you get to go to Guntersville is a good time! I pre-practiced for this event a couple of days and it was pretty good then. The grass was starting up pretty good but a lot of fish were still on ledges. The grass grew tremendously from the cut-off time until the tournament.
Practice: The first day was the best day of fishing I have had in a LONG time. By the end of the day 8 fish over 4 pounds had came into the Nitro Z-9. One of these fish was over 5 and two were over 6. They were biting swimbaits, shallow crankbaits and some were on Berkley 10″ Power Worms. The next day was a far cry from the previous day’s slug fest. It would have been a struggle to have 15 pounds other than a couple of schooling fish areas. The last day wasn’t great until the end. I found a creek bend that was loaded. Fish were busting and every cast with a Berkley Swim Shad 5″ was a 3+ fish. It was truly amazing at the number of fish here.
Day 1: I was dead set on the place that I found on the last day of practice. I was sure that I could catch a good bag off of it. I started with a 10″ Power worm in Plum. The first fish I catch is a 4 pounder, then a few casts later I catch a 5 1/2 pounder. These fish were bigger than I really expected to catch here. I finish my limit by 8 with a decent bag. By 10:30 I have over 21 pounds. I wind up stopping fishing and actually checking in at 12:30 so I can stop worry about my coanglers fish dying, (mine were in a Koolwell). I had 21 and end the day in 13th place! WOW!
Day 2: I of course go back to the same place to start. The fish are still here and biting ok. I catch a limit fairly quick but not as big as the day before. I stay here most of the day alternating between the Power worm and the swimbait. I had 17 and end in up dropping to 18th place.
Day 3: I start back on the honey hole but it is dried up today. I move to another spot that is shallower but had a good number of fish on it. The first pass around I catch one decent one. I work around it then circle back and catch another one, both on a swimbait. After a couple of casts with no bites I pick up a shallow crankbait and hook a big one. After a short fight I land a 5 pounder. This is a great help now. I fish here a little longer and switch to a worm to finish my limit. I fish some other areas and upgrade nice one time on a swimbait on a shallow river ledge. I end with 18 and have a top 25 finish.
This was an amazing tournament. Guntersville in June is something to see and experience.
Added edge: The 10″ Berkley Power worm was the key bait for me this week. Plum was my best color as it usually is.