Terry Butcher, first place, 42-9
Fishing: In the morning I'm throwing a Booyah spinner bait, ¾ ounce, and a Booyah Boogie Bait also. In the afternoon, I'm flipping docks with a Yum Wooly in green pumpkin.
Where: I'm fishing a mid-lake area in the morning.
Keys: I need the shad bite in the morning.
Jason Quinn, second place, 41-14
Fishing: I'm catching on a Strike King Red Hot Shad and I'm catching them on a Terminator spinner bait.
Where: I'm fishing main river channel ledges from Seabold to North Sauty.
Keys: The water got a little muddy and I was catching small fish. So I went in and I've got some sight fish that nobody's found and I went in and caught everything that I brought in at 19½ pounds today. And I left a lot of them there. That's a back-up deal, but I feel I can catch a big bag on the river channel tomorrow. You can't be one-dimensional. You can catch them in a lot of different ways right now.
Terry Scroggins, third place, 41-3
Fishing: I'm on different deals. It's a shad spawn in the morning until about 9 o'clock then I have one cranking hole that I'm hitting. On the cranking hole I'm throwing a Big Fat Free Shad.
Where: Anywhere from 10-20 feet in South Sauty Creek for the deep bite.
Keys: The wind would help the shad spawn, but you don't necessarily have to have it. But if it was cloudy and windy, it definitely would help.
Kevin VanDam, fourth place, 40-14
Fishing: I've been throwing a Strike King ¾-ounce Kevin VanDam Pro Model spinner bait and a Strike King Series 5 crank bait in a shad color.
Where: I'm kind of fishing the main lake, mid-lake areas. I'm just running some different ledges and points, things like that.
Keys: I'd like to see some wind and clouds and it doesn't look like we're going to get any. But it's just going to be executing; capitalizing on my opportunities. The fish are out there.
Yusuke Miyazaki, fifth place, 39-2
Fishing: Crank baits.
Where: Mainly the main channel in four to seven foot.
Keys: If it's windy, I struggle. I need post-spawn fish.
Mark Tucker, sixth place, 37-12
Fishing: A Picasso spinner bait, following spawning shad, some reaction baits.
Where: Grassy areas with contours.
Keys: Having good electronics to find underwater contours and using a 7-foot medium-heavy rod . You don't want too stiff of a rod.
Kelly Jordon, seventh place, 37-0
Fishing: Throwing a War Eagle Double Willow spinner bait.
Where: Pockets, creeks and sheltered areas.
Keys: Finding active shad.
Shaw Grigsby, eighth place, 35-12
Fishing: I'm fishing primarily with a Strike King ½-ounce Premier Plus spinner bait and slow rolling it in the grass.
Where: Grass beds throughout the fishery. Some sight fishing this week, but doesn't plan on doing that today.
Keys: Presentation and spot. You've got to get on the right place.
Kotaro Kiriyama, ninth place, 35-9
Fishing: Variety of spinners.
Where: North Sauty Creek in grass areas. In the morning, it?s maybe 4-6 feet. In the evenings, maybe 12-15 feet.
Keys: The early morning bite.
Ben Matsubu, 10th place, 35-1
Fishing: Mainly a square-billed crank bait, a Rick Clunn RC 2.5.
Where: I'm on the main river grass beds and river channel banks.
Keys: I've been catching big fish early on a Rat-L-Trap. Practice was phenomenal. You could catch 15 pounds in 20 minutes. There were no boats on the water and the water was fairly clear. The storm we had and all the boat traffic has dirtied that area up. So if I can get a couple kickers, put together 16-17 pounds, I'll be OK.
Timmy Horton, 11th place, 34-11
Fishing: I've caught all my fish this week on a Booyah spinner bait.
Where: I'm fishing the upriver portion of Lake Guntersville. I'm catching them anywhere from four to 10 foot.
Keys: A little cloud cover would help, but the biggest thing is to get a couple of big bites.
Alton Jones, 12th place, 34-6
Fishing: Variety of spinners.
Where: I'm in the North Sauty area. My main spot is a ledge about 10 feet deep.
Keys: Getting a couple of key bites early on a spinner bait. That and being patient.