Only a handful of Classic competitors made the long run towards Tellico, and most of them are on “Gussy’s spot”. Jeff Gustafson won his first Elite Series event here in 2021. He did so off one magical stretch in the canal that connects Fort Loudon and Tellico. This stretch has now become known as Gussy’s spot.
So far it’s produced a few quality smallmouth for the other competitors in the area, but Gussy is still sitting on zero. With a smallmouth needing to be longer than 18- inches to make it into the well, it will take a near 3-pound fish to pass that mark. Gussy has had a rough start. He first boated a 17- and 3/4-inch smallmouth that he reluctantly had to toss back. And then tried to boat flip a 4- to 5- pound smallmouth, only to have the fish come off within inches of his boat.
A month earlier in 2021, Gussy was able to catch 20 smallmouth over 18- inches off this spot for a total of 63- pounds. If he could match that pace here this year across the three days of Classic competition, he’d have a little over the 45-pound mark that many have predicted to win this week.
