There is one bass tournament that I absolutely look forward
to more than any other event of the year. It is the TOC Coaches Kickn Bass
Tournament held on Lake Guntersville. This charity event brings coaches,
doctors, athletes, and fishermen together. This was my eighth year fishing this
event and once again, had a blast. I got two and a half days of practice in
before the Friday night big bass tournament that is held from 3 to 6 pm. In
those two and a half days I only caught one short fish. All the rest of the
fish I caught were between 3 and 6
pounds which is incredible. I fished out deep locating several shell beds on
ledges that were holding quality fish. I used a Denny Brauer Structure Jig and
a Strike King 10 inch Thumper worm. Although I love fishing offshore structure
at home, I have become obsessed with Guntersville’s grass. After locating
enough deep water spots I went searching for grass. This year the grass is way
behind in terms of matting up along the river ledge but I did manage to locate
some that was about one foot under the surface and proceeded to catch good fish
out of it. I threw a Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover Swim Jig and a Rage
Tail Anaconda worm. I threw those baits on Vicious 17 pound fluorocarbon. It
amazes me how you can catch such quality of fish in two feet of water when the
water temp is pushing 90 degrees. Another thing about these fish is their
strength. Once I would hook up with one,
I would have to turn his head and get him coming to me or he would bury up in
the grass. I used a Denny Brauer Flipping stick and an Ardent Apex reel with a
6.5:1 gear ratio. I have never had fish strike a bait as hard as they do. As
for the big bass event Friday evening, I caught a 6.53 but that might as well
have been a two pounder due to all of the sevens that were caught and the 8.45
that took big bass honors. In 95% of the lakes I fish, a six pounder is big but
here it is just a “good” fish. The next morning we took off at daylight. I made
it to my first spot and within five casts I got “the bite” I was looking for.
As the fish surged, I pulled, and pulled, and pulled. But I could not get this
giant coming my way. I am talking about a fish in the eight to nine pound
range. A true giant. After a ten second battle, I lost him. With a disgusted
look on my face, I fired back out and caught a four pounder. After that I
struggled. I lost another good fish on a football jig but was finally able to
catch my three fish limit. As I drove back to the weigh in I looked at the time
and had twenty minutes left to fish. I pulled up on a spot that I had caught
them in the past and fired my swim jig out. After two cranks on my Apex, he
hit! My partner got the net and after what seemed like an eternity of a battle,
we got him in the boat. The fish was pushing seven pounds which was a nice four
pound upgrade. My three fish weighed fourteen pounds which is pretty good but
the winner had nineteen pounds, with three!
My good friend Chris Brown, from Rigid Industries and his partner, Coach
Morris weighed three for seventeen and a half pounds. They got third. Tim
Pierson from Strike King fished with Guntersville ace, Rodney Evans. They
caught sixteen pounds and got tenth. Like every year, we all caught good fish
and had a great time. I look forward to going back down there again and fishing
such a wonderful event. Lake
Guntersville, in my opinion, is the best lake in the country.
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