SCOTTSBORO, Ala.— The Choo Choo Division of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine will get things started on Feb 14 on Lake Guntersville. Originally, this was the second event on the schedule, but a rescheduled event from Jan 24 makes it the season debut. Despite the recent winter storm that postponed that event, the famed lake is ready and should produce excellent fishing.
What to expect
The Bass Pro Tour kicked off the year on Guntersville in mid-January, and well-known guide and tournament pro Alex Davis says the results and coverage from that event should be a great preview of what’s to come for the BFL competitors.
“I think the fishing will be very similar to that event and the same things are going to work,” he said. “In that one, we saw guys catch them really well with forward-facing sonar, and then guys did great in the grass. You can do both and catch fish on Guntersville this time of year.”
A new wrinkle this year is that BFL anglers can use forward-facing sonar for only three consecutive hours during the event. Davis says this will be a critical choice for those who want to use the technology.
“Some guys won’t ‘Scope at all, and my hat’s off to those guys, but I think it’s going to dominate this event,” he said. “Choosing when to do it is going to be very crucial because what you can catch in three hours of doing it can be better than what you do all day without it, because the class of fish is that much bigger. If it were me, I’d use my forward-facing sonar the first three hours, because that’s when the really good bite is, and then go shallow to grass after that.”
Davis says the lower end of the lake and all the bridges will be popular choices for the forward-facing sonar bite, and the upper lake and river around shallow grass will be the place to be after that.
“We had a real big cold snap recently, but the fishing is still going to be very good, and the fish are going to bite,” he said. “For a wintertime event, Guntersville still makes it a pretty diverse venue, and you’ll see a lot of different tactics and areas produce in this event.”
Baits to bring
Keeping it simple is how Davis rolls this time of year, and he said that a jighead minnow for forward-facing sonar is a given. When fishing shallow grass, he sticks with two more staples: a ChatterBait and a lipless crankbait. He believes that these three tools will cover all of your bases this time of year.
What will it take?
Last year’s opener, held just one day later on the calendar, was won by Austin Shields with 29 pounds, 3 ounces. Davis says this year’s results in local events have been slightly lower, and his guess to win is in the neighborhood of 26 to 28 pounds. The sheer number of quality bass in the lake has him predicting it’ll take close to 20 pounds to cash a check.