A pre-tournament cold front will likely challenge the 53 anglers talking on Lake Guntersville for the the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by HUK. There’s nothing anyone can do about that, but when weather impacts fiddle with bass temperament and upset the lake’s physical condition — i.e. strong winds, increased current from rainfall — anglers often have to reevaluate their tactics.
Complicating matters, weekend fishing pressure and predictably large spectator flotillas can lessen a competitor’s ability to catch fish when, where and how they want to. All this to say that some anglers may themselves needing to scrap those first, second, or even third-level choices — mostly heavy on the reaction baits — and reaching for that rod rigged with something they really had hoped they wouldn’t need to use.
Here’s a look at how a handful of Classic competitors hope they don’t catch fish this week.
Finesse steps
Western stick Cliff Pirch knows that downsized rigs and subtle presentations certainly are not the norm for spring fishing on Lake Guntersville, but he also knows that they can salvage tough days and keep him in contention.
“If I have to pick up a wacky- or Neko-rigged 6-inch Big Baits finesse worm or a dropshot, it probably hasn’t gone as good as I would have liked with power fishing,” the Arizona Elite said. “But if I have to put number 3, 4 or 5 in (the well) that way, I’ll do it.
“That would happen if the fish are not really active in post-front condition we’re going to get. If I can put a couple of big ones in doing some of the things I want to do, I won’t be afraid to (use finesse baits), but it would be nice to not have to do that.”
Swim team
As much as Florida’s Drew Cook values a Big Bite Baits Tour Swim Work, the 2019 Rookie of the Year, said this week is far from his preferred scenario.
“It’s early March, so it should be a reaction type deal; you should be catching reeling something, or ripping something so throwing a worm would put a damper on everything,” he said. “I may rig one up, but I don’t want to.
“If you can get that one lucky bite while reeling it back to the boat, it pays for itself right there. The great thing about a swimming worm is you can still fish it like a regular worm, but you’re still fishing it while reeling it to the boat.”
Flipping out
Throughout an average Elite season, Tennessee angler Dave Mullins does a lot of work with a 1/2-ounce Nichols Impact flipping jig and a chunk trailer; but he’d greatly prefer to not do so during the Bassmaster Classic.
“I don’t want to slow down because the fish are not grouped up right now and the weather is so unstable, it’s not like they’re going to be coming up,” Mullins said. “For me, it’s going to be a timing bite; I’m not getting a lot of bites, but when I get one, it’s a big one.
“I don’t like slowing down on a place like this, so that would be the absolute worst thing if I had to start pitching a jig around and dragging it really slow. The bites are hard enough to come by and you don’t know when the next one’s going to be so to fish slow would be even worse.”
If Mullins has to pick up a jig, he’d throw it around walls, docks or eddy currents. Canadian Elite Cory Johnston adds pad stems, laydowns and wood to the list of targets where he’d flip and drag his 7/16-ounce black Punisher jig.
“With the weather warming and the sun coming out, I think your best bet (for salvaging a day) would be going shallow),” Johnston said. “I don’t know that you could win the Classic shallow, but you’re definitely going to be able to get some bites.
Feel for the eel
Whitney Stephens, who earned his Classic berth at the 2019 Basspro.com Eastern Open on Florida’s Harris Chain also believes a shallow move may be in the cards, but he has a different take on the targeting strategy.
“Traditionally, Guntersville is such a flat lake, you can still fish shallow, but you’re offshore; but if we get that dirty water, it’s warming and it’s getting high, we may have to go to the bank and probably get the old flipping stick out,” Stephens said. “It’s not something I have a lot of experience doing on Guntersville, but if that’s what it takes to catch them, I’d be willing to do that.”
Stephens said he’d Texas rig a Mud Puppy Trickster stick worm with a 1/2-ounce Reins Tungten weight and flip it around eel grass mats. While this thin-bladed vegetation proves challenging for moving baits, it could play a key role, especially with the bright “bluebird” conditions on tap for Days 1 and 2.
“With all the water we’ve had running this week, there’s a lot of uprooted eel grass and it’s blowing somewhere,” Stephens said. “Maybe a guy can get on some trash mats and punch up a few this week.”
Stay put
Notwithstanding the logic of keeping safety valve baits on standby, Cody Huff’s committed to making his reaction baits work, regardless of where he has to do it. Making his Classic debut, the 2019 Carhartt Bassmaster College Classic Bracket winner said he’ll live or die with his reaction bait lineup of a lipless bait, spinnerbait and a Rapala DT-6.
“This is the Bassmaster Classic, so honestly, if my primary or secondary stuff isn’t working, I’m really just going to relocate and keep doing the same stuff,” Huff said. “This is how you catch big ones, by fishing fast and trying to locate a school. So I’m just going to cover a ton of water because you can fish all day and not have a fish and 10 minutes before leaving for weigh ins, you could run into a school and catch 30 pounds in five casts.
“If fishing’s tough and you’re not on ‘em, this is a good place to be because you can run into them really fast. I’m hunting for schools; I’m hunting for big ones. There are no Angler of the Year points on the line. I feel like I know how it’s going to be won, it’s just as simple as running into the right schools.”
