GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – The Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Central Division event on Lake Guntersville was about as good as you’d expect for the lake, and the rules forced a very diverse event. Some pros caught a lot of their weight on sonar, but a lot of bass came in the grass, or on time-honored techniques other than a jig and minnow.
The event, which was presented by Suzuki Marine and hosted by Marshall County Tourism & Sports, showed off a bevy of 20-pound bags. On the final day, the top three finishers all weighed more than 25 pounds, making the weigh-in very exciting viewing.
1. Weekley mixes minnows and grass
Kane Weekley caught the bulk of his weight with LiveScope on, but certainly wouldn’t have won without key contributions from the grass.
For his ‘Scope fish, Weekley used a 5-inch Big Bag Outdoors Gyotaku Shad on 3/32- and 1/8-ounce heads with a 7-foot, 1-inch U-Call Midnight Series rod. In the grass, his primary bait was a 1/2-ounce BOOYAH One Knocker in ghost, and he added in a red one on Day 3. He also used a 3/8- and 1/2-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait JackHammer. He used a fire craw with a green pumpkin Gambler Komodo trailer in the 1/2-ounce size, and his 3/8 model was Hite’s hot craw, which he matched with the same trailer.
2. Travis comes within an ounce of the win
Mixing grass fish and ‘Scope fish, Benjamin Travis blasted a big bag on the final day to push Weekley to the brink.
In the grass, Travis used a Berkley Jack 6 in wakasagi, tricking it out with No. 6 Hayabusa TBL930 trebles. For his ‘Scope fish, Travis went with a 4.5-inch Deps Sakamata Shad on a 1/8-ounce head.
“The only two real good ones I had the first day I caught on ‘Scope, but three of the ones I weighed I caught on the Jack – the grass fish saved my rear end,” he said. “The second day, pretty much everything I had I caught on ‘Scope. The third day, I pulled in and had 20 pounds pretty quick, but I culled four of them out when I ran up the river to the grass. It was fishin’ good for both, it was just whether or not you landed on them on ‘Scope, or landed on them in the grass later.”
3. Neece blasts a big bag on Day 3
Jimmy Neece Jr. can catch a bass pretty much any way a bass can be caught, and he showed it off this week, with big fish caught in the grass and on LiveScope.
His best bait was a Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow, which he fished on 3/32- and 1/8-ounce heads, and he also used a Rapala CrushCity Freeloader. In the grass, he used a 1/2-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait JackHammer in green pumpkin, which he trailered with a matching Rapala CrushCity Freeloader.
He found his best spot early in practice, but the wind kept him from fully exploiting the area until the final day.
“On Wednesday and Thursday, I couldn’t fish them. When that wind laid down, I got over there Friday, and man, it was on. I caught a 7-pounder on my third cast. When I turned my ‘Scope on at 10:45, I already had almost 24 pounds. I probably left a 31-pound bag on the table on Day 3, and I lost two biggins on Thursday. If I could have fished what I found the first two days, it would have been a whole different story.”
4. Grass fish carry Lane
Cal Lane put together a great week on Guntersville, cashing checks in both the BFL and the Toyota Series. On the week, Lane almost exclusively fished in the grass.
“I feel like I could have had a better tournament if I had something else to rely on besides the grass,” he said. “But, I never caught a fish utilizing my forward-facing sonar. I really tried to, but I only caught 2-pounders.”
An XCalibur XR50 and a Jackall TN 60 got the call for Lane, and he used 7-foot, 3-inch, medium-heavy TigeRodz TRZ Pro rods.
5. Turano stays in the mix
Always good for a check on the Tennessee River, Matteo Turano finished fifth and cashed for more than $11,000 in the first Central Division event of the year.
For his minnow, a 5- and 6-inch Yamamoto Hinge Minnow got the call, fished on a 1/8-ounce head. He also threw a 1/2-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait JackHammer in green pumpkin with a watermelon with copper and orange with red laminate Yamamoto Zako trailer.
“I was in an area where there were a lot of fish on the bank, so, even when I wasn’t LiveScoping, I was able to cast it up to the bank and let it hit bottom and work it just above the bottom and catch a lot that way,” he said. “And then I was throwing the ChatterBait in the grass, and I caught a big one on that on Day 2.”
6. Nothing fancy for Jeffers
Leading on Day 1, Andrew Jeffers plied the grass for the entire tournament.
“It was a little bay, between 2 and 6 foot of water – I think they were chasing bait into the area, and I was able to sit there and catch them,” Jeffers said. “I had three areas, but I caught most of them in one main area.”
On the week, he only needed one bait to get it done – a 1/2-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait JackHammer with a Z-Man RaZor ShadZ trailer.
7. Lipless carries Pemberton
Knocking out his first Top 10 with MLF, Austin Pemberton did his damage almost entirely on a lipless in the grass, despite having about 80 inches of screen on the bow of his Phoenix.
“I had three bites in practice and didn’t think I was going to catch a fish,” he said. “I went to the stretch I caught two on, and it happened to be the motherlode. I went up and down it for three days and caught 60 bass a day on it, all over 3 pounds, and kept culling all day long – 98% of the bass I weighed-in came on the (lipless), just burning it through the grass.”
Pemberton’s lipless of choice was the 6th Sense Quake 70, and he caught one fish on the week with a 7-inch 6th Sense Shindo Shad. He used a 7-2, Ark Invoker Tour Series stick for the lipless, paired with an Ark Gravity 8 reel.
8. Umbrella and glide play for Dyar
A fixture in the Top 10 in Central Division events, Logan Dyar knocked out another good tournament. Bucking the trend of lipless crankbaits and ChatterBaits, Dyar took a slightly offbeat approach.
“I would use my three-hour ‘Scope period in the morning, I would use about two and a half hours on a minnow, and then go to the stumps with the glide. Then, I would fish grass lines with the Alabama rig. That was pretty much my one-two punch.”
He used a Clutch Baby Boss glide, and trimmed out his umbrella rig with 3-inch Rapala CrushCity The Mayor swimmers and Keitech Swing Impact Fat swimbaits.
9. Cloutier mixes it up
Fishing mostly shallow, Gavin Cloutier mixed a bunch of staple Tennessee River options to make the Top 10.
A 1/2-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait JackHammer in Hite’s hot craw with a green pumpkin Rapala CrushCity Freeloader did work in the grass. He also threw a Torrent Outdoors Stone Roller minnow on a 1/8-ounce Big Daddy Baits Spotlighter head, as well as a Big Daddy Baits umbrella rig with 3.3- and 3.8-inch Keitech Swing Impact Fat swimmers on 1/8-ounce heads.
“It was a big God thing,” Cloutier said. “In practice, it was really horrible. Going into tournament day, I started out ‘Scopin’, fishing some brush piles, and I did catch one big one, but it didn’t really pan out. Then I went to an area mid-lake, and I found some ditches in the grass, and then stumbled on a shell bed near them, and that’s where I caught most of my weight all week.”
10. Strong ‘Scope session keeps Keller on track
Mixing minnow fish and shallow fish, Hunter Keller caught more than 20 pounds each of the first two days and slipped into 10th place with 18-14 on the final day.
“I was targeting a grass line, the fish were setting up on a grass lines, but the bigger ones were on bait, off the edge of the grass line,” he said. “I caught all my Day 1 and Day 2 weight in the first three hours. After I got done ‘Scoping, I would run about 25 miles up the lake to fish a stretch of pad stems. The first two days I never culled, the third day, my ‘Scope period was not good, and I ran up there and caught three over 4 (pounds) in about an hour.”
His minnow of choice was the venerable 5-inch Deps Sakamata Shad on a 1/4-ounce Queen Tackle Ghost jighead. In the pad stems, he used a 1/2-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait JackHammer in California craw, trailered with a Fury Custom Baits Dagger.