Guntersville's best Fantasy picks

Caleb Kuphall is the first Elite Series pro from Wisconsin to win an Elite Series event.

Written by

Kyle Jessie

The Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville was dominated by Wisconsin’s Caleb Kuphall. The second-year Elite pro flipped his way to a 17 pound, 14 ounce victory over his closest pursuer, Wes Logan. Yes, you read that right.

Lake Guntersville presented different conditions than we expected this time around. Some fish were caught out deep on main river ledges as expected, but there was a great population of fish up shallow still spawning or lingering around bream beds. Ultimately, fishing around thick milfoil ended up being the pattern of choice for many of anglers in the Top 10.

Choosing a successful Rapala Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing team was no easy task at Lake Guntersville. The winner of the Guntersville event had the lowest point total of any winner of the season. To give you an idea of just how difficult Fantasy Fishing was this event, the winner had an angler finish in 71st place and one in 21st. It is extremely unusual to have a winner of an event with any angler outside of the Top 50.

Haven’t created a Fantasy Fishing account yet? No problem! Sign up and play for free at BassmasterFantasy.com. Players win prizes at each specific event and there are prizes for overall winners at the end of the season as well. You can still play the remainder of the season even if you missed out on the first two events.

The overall winner at Lake Guntersville was “GrampsWU” who selected two of the five picks that would have made up the perfect roster. Overall Rank: No. 1, Total Points 1,291.

BUCKET A: Jason Christie

BUCKET B: John Crews

BUCKET C: Caleb Kuphall

BUCKET D: Chris Zaldain

BUCKET E: Garrett Paquette

The perfect Fantasy Fishing team at Lake Guntersville would have been:

BUCKET A: Wes Logan

BUCKET B: Luke Palmer

BUCKET C: Caleb Kuphall

BUCKET D: Chris Zaldain

BUCKET E: Shane Lineberger

Total: 1,475

BUCKET A: LOGAN

Alabama’s Wes Logan has been on quite a tear in his home state in the month of May. After winning his first Elite Series event on Neely Henry, Logan backed that up with a second-place finish on Lake Guntersville. In back-to-back events, the Springville, Ala., native has been the best choice in his bucket. Logan scored 295 points and was selected by 2.2% of players. Half of the Top 10 anglers that fished on Sunday can be found in Bucket A.

Second best selection: Greg Hackney was able to find water that he had all to himself that like he has done so many times in the past to finish up in third place. The surplus of vegetation played right into the hands of the Louisiana pro. Hackney scored 290 points for the 4.2% of players that selected him.

Lowest scoring angler: After an incredible run of Top 10s, Brock Mosley had a tough event at Lake Guntersville. The Mississippi pro only scored 93 points for the 7.1% of players who selected him.

BUCKET B: PALMER

Although Luke Palmer was the one of the lowest selected anglers in Bucket B, he was the only angler in Bucket B to finish inside the Top 10. The Oklahoma native relied on a jerkbait to catch suspended bass on Lake Guntersville. Palmer scored 268 points and was only selected by 1.1% of Fantasy Fishing players.

Second best selection: After a poor Day 1, Scott Martin bounced back with two consecutive great days and fell just short of making the Top 10 on Lake Guntersville. The Clewiston, Fla., native scored 254 points for the 10.3% of players who selected him.

Lowest scoring angler: Elite Series veteran Koby Kreiger wasn’t able to get it going at Lake Guntersville. Kreiger only scored 107 points for the 0.3% of players who selected him.

BUCKET C: KUPHALL

No surprise here. Caleb Kuphall dominated at Lake Guntersville. The Wisconsin native lead wire-to-wire to win his first Bassmaster Elite Series which lead to plenty of Fantasy Fishing bonus points as well. Kuphall scored 360 points was only selected by 0.7% of players.

Second best selection: Tyler River was able to bounce back after a less than ideal start on Day 1 to jump into the Top 10. The Louisiana pro scored 276 points for the 3.2% of players who selected him.

Lowest scoring anlger: Despite being the second highest selected angler in Bucket C, Clark Wendlandt struggled at Lake Guntersville. The 2020 Angler of the Year only scored 90 points for the 13.6% who selected him.

BUCKET D: ZALDAIN

Were you a part of the 23.8% that selected Chris Zaldain in Bucket D? If not, you should have been. The Texan did exactly what we expected at Lake Guntersville and landed in fifth place. Zaldian scored 280 points and should have some positive momentum rolling into the Bassmaster Classic in his hometown.

Second best selection: Carl Jocumsen continued his success on Lake Guntersville with a 13th-place finish. The Tennessee native scored 251 points for the 5.9% that selected him.

Lowest scoring angler: Kenta Kimura struggled on Lake Guntersville. The Elite Series rookie only scored 91 points and was selected by 0.2% of players.

BUCKET E: LINEBERGER

Shane Lineberger made his first Top 10 in Elite Series competition at Lake Guntersville. The North Carolina native was in his comfort zone skipping a jig around docks, something he does quite often in his home state. Lineberger scored 272 points despite only being selected by 0.6% of Fantasy Fishing players.

Second best selection: Production fell off pretty drastically in Bucket E past Shane Lineberger. Harvey Horne was the only other angler in Bucket E to make the Day 3 cut. The Arkansan finished the event in 47th place and scored 181 Fantasy Fishing points. Horne was selected by 1.6% of players.

Lowest scoring angler: Kyle Monti was the lowest scoring angler in Bucket E. The Floridian only scored 79 points and was selected by 2.6% of players.