GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – With a few weights in the 20s, the top of the leaderboard may look normal, but there is nothing normal about the way Lake Guntersville is currently fishing. Long considered one of the best bass lakes in the country, Guntersville proved stingy on day of one of the final Walmart FLW Tour Open of 2011.
With a top-heavy leaderboard, it’s clear G-ville still holds the quality bass. It’s just that most of the pros haven’t figured out how to make them bite. Consider that in 2009 there were 15 stringers in excess of 20 pounds weighed on the tournament’s first day. And last year, 24 stringers over 20 pounds made it to the day-one scale. Today that number was precisely two.
Fall is always tougher as the fish scatter and roam with bait. Sometimes a steady wind can help position the bait, which in turn helps position the bass.
Day-one leader Paul Elias capitalized on that wind to catch a 26-pound stringer. Elias’ boat broke down this morning, and he wasn’t able to start fishing until almost 9 a.m. From there, his day completely turned around.
“I was real worried for a while – on pins and needles,” said the veteran pro from Laurel, Miss. “Once I got out there I was pretty confident I was going to catch them, and then everything started going right and the Lord blessed me and made up for the bad morning, I guess.”
Elias said he experienced a fairly productive practice and that he figured he’d be happy with 13 to 15 pounds per day. His biggest two bass in three days were a 5-pounder and 4-pounder.
“I never repeated any water during practice, so I really didn’t know what I was on. I definitely thought I’d catch some because I had a pattern going, but I never expected to catch that.”
Elias said he caught a lot of keepers, and he continued to cull even if he was only gaining ounces at a time.
“I may have hurt myself in the long run, but I really think today was a big-fish day, so I tried to take advantage of it. In my mind, if the wind dies down tomorrow like it’s supposed to, the fish won’t be there.”
The day-one leader was unwilling to divulge pattern details, but said the wind created current in his best area. In terms of presentation, Elias reported that fishing slower led to most of his bigger bites. Overall, he said he has seven or eight places, and he only sampled three of them today.
“I had no one around me at all today, and that was great. I just love this lake. I’ve never won a tournament here, but I’ve come close a lot of times. Everybody knows how I like to fish, and when I can catch them that way, I can usually catch them pretty good. If I don’t run out of fish, I’ll feel really good.
“I’m on a good, strong pattern, and I don’t think anybody is fishing the way I’m fishing. But a crowd could ruin all of that.” Complete Story
Paul, Wanted to drop you a line and again thank you for the great time Lance and I had. The time spent with you on the electronics was amazing,but the real deal was when we put that knowledge and applied it out on the water on Friday.We guessed our best 5 would of been in the 42 lb range, with both of us catching our personal best fish of our lifes.We had 2 over 10 and 1 around 9 from your lake. We are getting ready to start into the Everstart series this year and your class will definitely help us out.
Just a quick email to let you know how much I enjoyed my trip to Pachuta. As an avid angler I found In-Depth Fishing to be a master's level course in the sport of bass fishing. I learned a great deal and it was fun to apply the lessons while catching lunker bass (see photos). Lake Eddins is an extraordinary fishery!