Big ‘G’ fishing surprisingly small
Crowding could lighten stringers on famed Tennessee River impoundment
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – Perhaps no lake in the entire United States receives more fishing pressure than Alabama’s Lake Guntersville. Yet tournament after tournament, year after year, the Big “G” continues to produce stunning sacks of largemouth bass. No matter if it’s a local derby or a national tournament like the FLW Tour – if you’re not over 20 pounds, you’re not even in the discussion.
But as the pressure mounts, the information cat is slowly let out of the bag. While Guntersville is still red-hot, the days of sitting on one spot for four consecutive days are pretty much gone. Essentially, there are no secrets on Guntersville anymore. The new buzzwords in northern Alabama are adaptability and versatility. That’s what it will take to succeed this week at the Tour’s final qualifier.
“I’ve got six or seven offshore places that I really like,” said TVA expert Mark Rose. “The problem is that I’ve seen a boat on just about every one of them during practice. But that doesn’t necessarily bother me. I’ll see what’s taken and rotate from there.”
Rose said Guntersville is currently experiencing a typical summertime bite.
“It’s like any other TVA lake – there’s a morning bite, there’s an afternoon bite and if they’re pulling current then there’s a midday bite. The guys that can catch them during the midday when they’re not pulling current are the ones that will separate themselves.”
The consensus among the anglers is that the event will likely be won offshore, but that doesn’t mean other patterns won’t come into play.
“The offshore bite is the bite that has the most pressure,” explained Rose. “I tend to think it will be won offshore but I would not be surprised if it was won in the grass. The grass is just starting to top out in some places and those are the most virgin fish, so to speak.”
As always, catching a five-bass limit shouldn’t be a problem. But a 12-pound limit on Guntersville is roughly the equivalent of catching 4 or 5 pounds on a normal lake. The key is finding the 5-pound fish. But that’s much easier said than done.
“Before the off-limits cutoff, it was just unbelievable. But they are no longer as grouped up as they had been. That’s why we need some current. Without it, those offshore fish suspend. And with the recent mayfly hatch, there’s food all over the system.”
And to add yet another curveball into the picture, Mother Nature is throwing some extreme heat at the field. The predicted high temperature for day one is 97 degrees. It’s possible that the record high temperature, 99 degrees, set back in 1988, will be broken. Not only will catching them be important, but keeping them alive will be too. 
“I’ve taken all the measures I can. I’ve brought extra ice, a separate cooler even, and plenty of Rejuvenade.”
AOY title, Forrest Wood Cup berths at stake
The Lake Guntersville event is the final regular season tournament of the 2010 FLW Tour season. That means the anglers near the top of the standings are battling it out for the coveted Angler of the Year award. Currently leading with 775 points is Damiki pro Bryan Thrift. Behind him with 754 points is National Guard pro Brent Ehrler, who has already won twice on Tour this season. Ish Monroe is third with 741 and Andy Morgan is fourth with 721. While AOY currently looks like a two-man race, stay tuned as the last two years delivered improbable outcomes.
This is also the last chance for the pros to accumulate the necessary points to qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup, the richest championship in professional bass fishing. Only the top 30 in the year-long standings from the FLW Tour make the no-entry-fee event, slated for Aug. 5-8 on Lake Lanier in Atlanta, Ga.
Logistics
Anglers will take off from Lake Guntersville Resort State Park located at 7966 Alabama Hwy. 227 in Guntersville, Ala., at 6 each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at Lake Guntersville Resort State Park. The first flight checks in at 1:30 p.m., but because of the hot weather, anglers can weigh their fish as early as noon. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Von Braun Center located at 700 Monroe St. in Huntsville beginning at 4 p.m.
Fans will be treated to the FLW Outdoors Expo at the Von Braun Center on Friday from 5-9 p.m. and Saturday prior to the final weigh-in from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The final weigh-in will be held at the Von Braun Center. There will be a drawing for a Can-Am ATV compliments of the Huntsville Times and rod and reel combos will be given to the first 300 kids under 14 in attendance on Saturday compliments of WDRM.
The FLW Outdoors Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.
In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field competes in the three-day opening round for one of five slots in Saturday’s competition based on their accumulated weight. The co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in and the top five pros continue competition Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
On the Web
For those who can’t catch the weigh-in action in person, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, an online application that brings fans real-time weigh-in results, streaming video and audio.
In addition to FLW Live, FLWOutdoors.com is offering real-time updates from the water throughout each day of the Lake Guntersville event. Simply click on the “On the Water Coverage” banner from any of the FLW Outdoors, Bass and FLW Tour home pages.
Wednesday’s conditions
Sunrise: 5:34 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 77 degrees
Expected high temperature: 97 degrees
Water temperature: 86-91 degrees
Wind: SSW at 6 mph
Maximum humidity: 58 percent
Day’s outlook: sunny