DAY 1: I started on a stretch of Hydrilla on the main lake where I never caught a fish in practice but I saw a few big ones chasing big Gizzard shad there. I started down the grass line with a white Strike King Tour Grade Swimming jig with a pearl Rage Tail Menace trailer. On about my 5th cast one smoked it and my rod loaded up! The fish wasn't putting up much of a fight and when it neared the boat I saw why, it was a 16" Crappie! I spent a few more minutes there without a bite and headed to my first creek spot. I've caught fish on this particular place in the past and I'm not sure what holds them there but they are always within a few yards either way of my waypoint. I slowly worked my way around the grass dropping my Power Poles every few feet and picking the area apart. I caught several really small fish and then I heard my co anglers drag slip and he let out a grunt! I turned around and he had a 5lber doing summersaults behind the boat. We spent another 45 minutes in the area and all I could come up with were a few short fish. I headed to my next creek spot and immediately caught a couple short fish. A few casts later I reeled my jig in and a 3lber was right on its trail! The fish went under the boat and I dropped my jig and felt a tick! I hooked the bass and it shot straight up and came unbuttoned! I left there and hit some flipping stretches and after not getting a bite on my first stretch I caught a 5lber on my 3rd flip on my next stop! A few flips later another one popped my Rodent but came off before I could pull it through the mat. The next few hours were brutally slow and the next thing I knew I had about an hour left to fish and only had the one 5lber. I decided to head back down lake to my deep fish and hopefully fill out my limit. I had two bites on each of my two deep schools and only hooked one of them which was a small 15 keeper. I weighed in two fish for 6lbs 12oz.
DAY 2: I knew I needed at least a low 20lb bag to make the cut and I figured the best way to accomplish that was to flip for five bites all day. During a two hour fog delay I was talking with my co angler and he was a limit of fish away from making the cut so I decided to hit my two deep schools right off the bat in order to give him a shot at catching that limit. As soon as I got lined up on my waypoint, I caught a 4lber on a football jig. My next cast I caught a 3lber, my next cast I had a keeper jump off and my next cast I set the hook and came back with no trailer but then it was over. I headed to my next deep spot and never got a bite and then pulled out my All Pro Flippin stick and headed to the mats. I caught a keeper on my first stop and my co angler caught 2 keepers. I made several passes down the grass line and had a couple more bites but didnt hook up. The next few hours were slow and the few bites I got pulled off before I could pull them through the mat. With time running out I headed back down lake and gave my two deep holes one last shot. I caught a solid keeper off the first one and lost a 5lb class fish on the other one but those were the only two bites I had. I had four fish that would've weighed around 12lbs and pitched them back since they would've put me nowhere near the check cut.
SUMMARY: I think my past experience on Guntersville killed me in this one. Historically early fall tournaments arent won in the most obvious grass mats on the lake but this one was dominated that way. Looking at the standings none of the locals did very well and while I dont live on Gville, I have put my time in there. I did have the bites to make a run at the top 12 cut but when your fishing that thick Hydrilla your going to lose some fish and I wasn't around near enough fish to make up for the mishaps I had during the tournament.
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