Lonely around here

Nine pros head for Guntersville as lone pro sticks to Wheeler

DECATUR, Ala. – When the final 10 anglers took off on day three of the fifth Wal-Mart FLW Tour event of the season, nine of them aimed their boats squarely toward Guntersville Lake, where the vast majority of fish have been caught this week. Only one boat, that of No. 3 pro Mike Hawkes, turned the other way.

Pretournament speculation indicated that most of the field would head to Guntersville rather than stay close and fish Wheeler or even nearby Wilson, and so it was. The lake did not disappoint, either, giving up lots of heavy limits and several big lunkers to wow the crowd on day one. Some big ones were still brought in yesterday, but there was no denying the numbers were down, and more than one angler commented that they’d run their hot spots dry.

Undeterred, nine boats took off toward Guntersville again today, more than an hour’s drive by boat, to try once more to catch the fish that could earn them $100,000 tomorrow. Said No. 7 pro Chad Grigsby, “It’s Guntersville. It’s hard to predict what to expect.”

Grigsby is among those employing a sight-fishing pattern, and as such he admits he is not capable of bringing in a 30-pound stringer.

“I’ve picked them pretty clean, so I’m going to be looking for new ones,” he said.

No. 9 Greg Hackney said that though he’s been getting the good bites in Guntersville all week, those bites have been few and far between, and he expects more of the same today.

“I definitely don’t think it’s been picked clean,” he said. “It’s the best lake in the United States, and it’s full of fish. They’re not easy to catch, but they’re there.”

Hackney said he has been doing some sight-fishing, but he’s been casting, too, though he reported that all his fish have been located on or near beds.

The pros will fish again tomorrow, but co-angler competition concludes today. Derek Jones led the opening round in the Co-angler Division, but weights were cleared for today’s competition.

Anglers will weigh in their catches today at the Wal-Mart store located at 2800 Spring Ave. S.W. in Decatur beginning at 5 p.m.

For bass-fishing fans unable to attend the festivities in person, you can catch all the weigh-in action live at FLWOutdoors.com with FLW Live. Show time starts at 5 p.m. Central.

Friday’s conditions:



Sunrise: 5:47 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 66 degrees

Expected high temperature: 88 degrees

Wind: from the south at 12 mph

Maximum humidity: 47 percent

Day’s outlook: sunny to partly cloudy