When I look at the tremendous bags brought to the scales for the past few days during the EverStart Series event on Lake Guntersville, it's tough to not look ahead at least a little to another tournament that will be held on the same trophy bass factory in a little less than a year. The 2014 Bassmaster Classic clearly has the potential to be a Classic for the record books.
The top five finishers in the EverStart (a three-day event) posted bigger weights than the Bassmaster Classic record for the era of five fish limits, and James McMullen's winning weight of 86 pounds, 7 ounces would top the Classic record (69-11) by more than 15 pounds! McMullen's fish averaged 5 3/4 pounds, and his daily catches averaged more than 28 pounds.
I'll acknowledge that umbrella rigs, which won't be permitted in the Classic, were prevalent among top finishers (including McMullen) in the EverStart. Still, the season was almost a perfect match, weather conditions were horrible at Guntersville this weekend, and tournaments like the one that just finished make it pretty obvious that Guntersville is absolutely loaded with monster largemouths. And for me, it's hard to imagine that all those 25- to 30-pound bags that crossed the stage aren't at least a hint of what we can expect at next year's Bassmaster Classic.
Guntersville is also a highly familiar destination for so many bass pros. BASS has been to Guntersville many times over the years, and it seems the Classic field is always heavy with Alabama anglers. Plus, it's safe to assume that top local sticks are going to be gunning extra hard in Opens (like Jason Christie did this year) for the chance to fish a Guntersville Classic.
It's awfully early, I know. Still, I'm excited already.
To find a wealth of great information about Guntersville, plus other top Alabama lakes, visit the Alabama Bass Trail.
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