Anticipating Guntersville Action

 

When the Bassmaster Elite Series kicks off the 2026 season at Lake Guntersville later this week I’ll be tuned in — eager to see which patterns and areas produce best and which angles find the most success. The season opener always brings fresh excitement for bass fishing fans, but Guntersville takes that up a few notches for me.

I’ve been fortunate in getting to spend quite a bit of time on Lake Guntersville over the years with longtime guide and tournament pro and good friend Jimmy Mason. We spend a few content days together every year, fishing for bass and shooting photos and video content for YUM, BOOYAH, War Eagle and other brands that are part of PRADCO-Fishing, which is my employer and one of Jimmy’s sponsors.

That’s Jimmy in the photo from one day last winter, and, yes, I realize be Elites can’t use YUMbrella rigs! They are part of Guntersville’s heritage, but that’s probably another story for another time!

Over the years, I’ve been all over Lake Guntersville and have gained a fairly decent understanding of the fishery, controlling factors and key types of areas. That familiarity adds fun to watching live events and tracking patterns. During the MLF Bass Pro Tour event a couple of weeks back, I watched anglers catching bass from specific spots I’ve fished.

Adding to the personal interest, PRADCO has several sponsored anglers fishing the Elites. Additionally, I’ve spent time in the boat with other anglers in the field during my years as a freelance writer. Knowing some of the competitors deepens the interest in every Elite Series event.

Personal interests aside, Guntersville is an iconic fishing destination and one of best bass lakes in the country, so the fish-catching action will be fun to watch. Undoubtedly, some big bags will come to the scales.

The anglers definitely face challenges. This will be the first of several Elite Series tournaments where no live sonar may be used. In addition, the region is coming off the two hardest winter fronts of this winter. Unlike normal season openers in Florida or Texas, this is shaping up to be a genuine winter pattern tournament.

The Elite Series pros will figure out the bass. They always do. I have my guesses on the patterns that will prevail. Lure-wise, I’ll pick a BOOYAH Flash Point Jr Deep and a One Knocker as winning lures. We’ll find out how it all goes down Thursday through Sunday!

A Few More Fish Species Tallied

 

I mentioned over the weekend that I was Alabama bound to do some fishing and photo work from my job. I also mentioned hope that something worth reporting would come from the trip. From my perspective, it did.

Fishing was challenging overall. No doubt. A hard cold front had the water temperature at Lake Guntersville down 5 degrees from a few days prior, and extensive rain from the same weather system muddied up Weiss Lake and pretty much knocked out the crappie fishing. 

At Guntersville we didn’t catch many bass, but the fish we caught were good ones, and we caught just enough to make for a great photo shoot, which was the main objective. In the process I tallied my first largemouth bass of 2026. Weiss was even tougher. We accomplished what we needed to from a content standpoint, but black and white crappie both remain uncaught by me this year.

Along the way to Alabama I bank fished a bit near Chattanooga and discovered some excellent fishing access that I’m eager to explore more. For details on that, check out my latest post at fishingonfoot.com.

I also caught my first spotted bass and smallmouth bass of the year while bank fishing, so the species tally is now at five. It could be considered six, because I snagged two small threadfin shad while bank fishing with a jerkbait at Guntersville. I’m not convinced I want to count those, though!

Alabama Fishing Travel

Lake Guntersville is an iconic bass fishing destination, and the same is true about Weiss Lake for crappie. Fortunate for me, my first fishing travels of 2026 will include time on both lakes, fishing with longtime guides and friends Jimmy Mason and Lee Pitts.

Photos and blog material for Lurenet.com are the primary goal of both outings. Jimmy and I will focus on photos for  YUM, BOOYAH and other bass-heavy brands owned by PRADCO-Fishing and sold on Lurenet. Lee and I will focus on photos for Bobby Garland Crappie Baits.

The lore of both lakes, the lake quality of the fishing and the knowledge that any bite could be a truly memorable catch make them really fun places to fish. Guntersville will also be just ahead of the MLF season opener, so there should be extra buzz with many top pros around the area.

I’ll most likely do some “Fishing on Foot” along the way. There are docks and causeways I really like to fish at Guntersville, but there are also potentially productive stops along the way in Georgia and in Tennessee. I probably won’t settle on my first stop until I’m on my way, and then I’ll continue to play it by ear.

I don’t know what the days will bring but it’s hard to imagine me not tallying a fish species or two for 2026 and having stories to share. Stay tuned!

2025 Fishing Adventures

 

Angling adventures during 2025 generally kept me closer to home than normal, with no fishing trips outside the Southeast. Typically I find my way to some other region a time or two, at least, but this year, the farthest I traveled was to Arkansas for a fall bass trip on Lake Ouachita.

Pursuit of the Georgia Bass Slam gave me reason to explore a bunch of Georgia areas, including some spots not too far from home that I had never fished before. The slam was central to several outings this year and turned out to be a lot of fun. 

I achieved the Slam and ended up catching seven different black bass species from Georgia waters this year. Meeting an added challenge I’d set for myself, I caught them all “Fishing on Foot,” either bank fishing or wading.

The below video explains more about the Georgia Bass Slam and my pursuit of it this year.

As always, I also spent time in trout streams in North Georgia and Western North Carolina and did my share of pond hopping for bluegill, bass or whatever bit. 

I also made a few trips to Lake Guntersville to fish for bass and get photos for work with guide Jimmy Mason. Jimmy is a great friend, and we spend a few days fishing together every year.

One of my favorite fishing days this year was spent with Daniel Griffee of On Deck Fishing Charters, casting topwater lures for aggressive, hard-fighting bluefish over the shoals at Cape Lookout in Eastern North Carolina. Except a bit of casting from a pier near Charleston, SC during a mostly non-fishing trip early in the year, that was it for saltwater pursuits for me in 2025.

I don’t know what kind of fishing opportunities the new year will bring (although I certainly have some ideas), but I look forward every adventure!

 

First Fish of 2019

I'm not sure which is worse: that I didn't catch my first fish of 2019 until the about the third week of January or that it took a two more weeks to finally mention it in a blog post. Both are true, so I suppose it doesn't matter.

Fish No. 1 for me this year was the redfish pictured above, caught on a Bozka Salt Runner from Florida's Nassau River while I was fishing with Chris Holleman. It was in a high marsh area along the edge of the main river that you have to get into (and back out of) while the tide is pretty high or you'll be there till the next high tide! We managed to catch a couple of reds from that area and got out while we could. The same trip, which included time in the boat with Chris and with Nathan Johnson and Tim Mann, produced some more redfish, quite a few speckled trout and a few largemouth bass, although I didn't catch any of the bass, thus leaving my 2019 species list tally at two.

Next on the agenda is Santee Cooper, followed by Lake Guntersville, so it would seem I should start to get some freshwater species on this year's list. I would say, "reports to follow," but based on my recent blogging history and how it has compared to my intentions, I probably shouldn't state that as a fact quite yet.

Favorite Fishing Destinations Countdown: No. 10 - Tennessee River, Alabama

Jimmy Mason with a couple of Guntersville chunks during my most recent Tennessee River outing.

I'm not going to narrow it that much, though, because that would exclude some crazily good bass action on Guntersville, watching Nathaniel wrestle a 60-pound blue catfish from Wheeler when he was about 12, hammering schooling bass on Wilson, side-pulling for Pickwick crappie and much more. I've simply had too many great experiences on all four of these impoundments to not include the entire Alabama run of the river on my favorites list.

I suppose I might be cheating a bit with this one. The Tennessee River is a vast and diverse fishery that truly encompasses many destinations. I am at least narrowing it to the Alabama impoundments. That says nothing against classic waters like Kentucky Lake or Chickamauga, which are themselves among the nation's elite fishing destinations. I just have far more time logged on Guntersville, Wheeler, Wilson and Pickwick, and that time includes dozens of legitimately outstanding fishing days.

Pressed to pick an actual top spot, it would have to be the tailwater of either Wheeler or Wilson Dam. I love the diversity and dynamic nature of the waters below the big dams, and I can quickly think of at least 10 species I've caught below both dams. Catches in those tailwaters have included 5-pound-plus smallies, double-digit hybrids, jumbo blue cats and stripers (salts, as they call them locally) up to 20 pounds.


Big-fish potential is certainly part of the Tennessee River's draw. When I'm throwing a swimbait for smallmouths in one of the tailwaters, I have an ongoing awareness the next fish to hit legitimately could be the smallmouth of a lifetime, and any bass that hits on Guntersville could turn out to be a 10-pounder. Of course, the same idea applies anytime catfish baits are down on any of these lakes.

My fondness for the Tennessee River begins with the fishing itself, but it certainly doesn't end there. I've also gotten to spend many days in the boat with great anglers like Jimmy Mason, Tim Horton, Brad Whitehead and Jerry Crook and have first met many longtime friends at media events held on these lakes. I also love the settings, from Guntersville's grass flats to Pickwick's bluffs to the tailwaters themselves, which are always alive with diving birds and baitfish busting on top.

Another excellent thing about the Tennessee river, from my standpoint, is that its story continues to be written. I'll be back at Guntersville to fish with Jimmy Mason in a little more than a week!

Want to Go?

Visit North Alabama
Fish Pickwick & Wilson Lakes
Jimmy Mason, 256-762-0014

Red Hot Guntersville

I just realized I never reported back about this week's fishing at Lake Guntersville. I posted a few photos on Instagram (jeffsamsel) and on my Jeff Samsel Fishing Facebook page, but not here, where I promised a report.

In short, Guntersville is rocking right now. Jimmy Mason and I spent two days working out of the Waterfront Bay area of Guntersville. I say "working two days" because Day 2 was mostly spent shooting photos. Even on the first day, when I'd guess we landed 35 or 40 bass and could have weighed and easy 20 pounds, we probably spent a combined three hours doing photo work. My job is to shoot photos and gather content, and Jimmy is a guide and a pro staffer for the company I work for, so we really were working. It was just fun work!

Yumbrella rigs were the main deal. Specifically we were throwing Flash Mob Juniors rigged with YUM Pulse and Money Minnow swimbaits, focusing on ditches and sunken islands and other structures along the main Tennessee River channels, usually over eelgrass.

As a plus, we also caught a few big, pot-bellied spotted bass, which are a major bonus at Guntersville. Largemouths were the main attraction, though, and we caught a bunch of them, including a few 5-pound-plus fish. Big, big fun!

Guntersville Calling

When Jimmy Mason sends word that the bass are biting at Guntersville and suggests we get together to do some story and photo work, I don't need any convincing. Not long ago, Jimmy sent such a report, and plans are now set for us to fish together next Monday and Tuesday.

A 69,100-acre impoundment of the Tennessee River, Lake Guntersville is one of the nation's most renowned fishing destinations and somewhere most bass fishermen like to visit anytime they get the opportunity. Bluff lined and famous for expansive grass flats, Guntersville is a fish factory, and one of those places that holds and extra charm because as you fish there, you know that any bass that takes your lure could turn out to be a genuine giant.

Early winter tends to be a good time at Guntersville because the fish get congregated, and you can catch them quite a few different ways. I suspect we'll spend some time slinging YUMbrella Rigs, which means it's possible that I'll get to catch more than one bass in a cast, which is always fun. Jimmy also mentioned that the jerkbait bite has been good. By my way of thinking, few things in bass fishing that are more exciting than pausing a Rogue presentation and having a bass suddenly knock the slack from the line and nearly take away the rod.

The forecast calls for stable weather early next week, and we should be fishing just ahead of a winter system. There's not saying for certain what will really happen, but those definitely are promising conditions. I'll find out in a little less than 100 hours (not that I'm counting it down, or anything like that!)

Bass Tours Back

Although my current writing priorities don't include much coverage of tour-level professional bass fishing, I'm still a fan of the sport and miss it during the offseason. Adding to that, I have quite a few friends who fish the Bassmaster Elite Series or FLW Tour, and I enjoy tracking their travels and following their seasons.

FLW got things started last week on Lake Guntersville, and the Elites are currently practicing on Tennessee's Cherokee Lake. The competition starts tomorrow. Both tours had unusual season openers simply based on the fact that they did not start in Florida. It's also a bit of a departure from the norm for the Elites to begin before the Bassmaster Classic.

Cherokee in February could have been brutal, weather wise, but it doesn't appear that will be the case. Tomorrow is supposed to be cold, with a fairly strong northwest wind that will make it feel even colder, but highs are supposed to hit the 60s on Saturday and Sunday. It also has been mild enough overall that it shouldn't be a total winter event, pattern wise. Word has it the bite has been tough, but the pros often say that, and someone (sometimes, a bunch of someones) almost invariably figures out something really good.

Firing Up Autumn Fishing

I haven't fished an enormous amount over the past few weeks, but that's about to change in a large way. Plans for the next month or so include quite a bit of time on the water in various places and fishing for a nice mix of species. The leaves are also changing, and that change usually correlates with cooler temperatures and hotter fishing action.

First in line is the Tennessee River, where I'll spend a couple of days at Lake Guntersville and a few at Pickwick. Autumn is when the grass mats typically come alive and the best frog bite of the year often develops, so I'm hopeful for some explosive fun. Stop one may actually involve more interviewing, filming and photographing than fishing because TH-Marine has a great group of pros assembled, and it will be a fabulous time to learn and gather videos and story material. Pickwick will likely involve a lot more fishing.

Soon after the Tennessee River run, I'll be going back in the same direction, but farther, on an Ozarks adventure with two of my boys and another friend. We'll focus on rivers and target smallmouth bass and trout, including big tailwater brown trout. Other autumn plans include visits to Oklahoma's Fort Gibson and Tenkiller lakes for bass, crappie and white bass and South Carolina's Santee Cooper lakes for big cats, crappie and more. Much to look forward to, for sure!

My hope is that I'll post regular reports, tips and product information from the travels ahead. I won't promise, though, because I've learned too many times how days can disappear and how a lack of wifi or decent phone service can make such things nearly impossible. I'll only say that I'll try and that I'll try and that I hope you'll check in to see how the fall fishing is going!

Autumn Creeping Our Way

The first official days of autumn typically don't seem much different from the final days of summer in North Georgia. September normally ends hot, and while w all try to pretend we're turning a corner, it doesn't normally feel that way and we really know better. This year has been different. Several damp, dark cool days have made it really feel like autumn has arrived, and we're even getting hints of color change in our dogwoods and a few other trees and bushes.

It makes me antsy to do some fall fishing. Asher and I did slip out to the pond yesterday afternoon, and we caught 10 bluegills and bass, but I'm eager to do stuff that's really driven by the season -- frog fishing on a grass lake, fall run brown trout, fall flathead fishing...

The fish that have been most on my mind of late have been the salmon, brown trout and steelhead that run up out of Great Lakes into rivers throughout that region this time of year. I've been watching a few reports and doing a bit of vicarious fishing. Looking at deadlines and other travel plans, that's probably as close as I'll get to that stuff this year, but you never know. I always keep an eye on bites and watch for windows of opportunity on the calendar.

Existing fall plans do include a trip to Alabama to fish Lake Guntersville and possibly Pickwick, so I might get to tap into at least a little frog fishing fun. I'm also going to Santee Cooper in November, so if the flathead bite happens to be happening...

Of course, I always look forward to do at least a little October and November fishing in the trout streams of North Georgia and western North Carolina. The fishing tends to be good at that time, the river are beautiful, creating outstanding photo opportunities.

Guntersville: A Fishing Town, A Fishing Lake

Apparently, Guntersville schools took an in-service day yesterday. Administrators knew that everyone (including themselves) would want to be at the Bassmaster Classic launch and then to follow the action through the day, so they called it a day off. They also used the local high school for remote parking and the school buses as shuttles. And the crowd that showed up to watch the launch at first light, which included the mayor of Guntersville, may have been a Day 1 record, from what I heard. I didn't make it out there this morning, but I'll be the crowd was even bigger!

Many lakes offer good bass fishing -- even great bass fishing -- but many are what I would consider recreational lakes that offer great fishing. I like Guntersville because it is a fishing lake first that also offers opportunities for other recreation. When folks think of Lake Guntersville, they think about fishing, and fishing also forms the center of the culture in the town of Guntersville.

Right now, there are signs on business all over town, saying, "Welcome Fishermen," "Welcome BASS," "Welcome to the Bassmaster Classic" and such. You'd think with an event of such magnitude, you'd always see that, but you don't. Guntersville folks are fishermen, and they appreciate the fishermen who visit their town and their lake, whether for the Bassmaster Classic or for a regular weekend fishing trip. I've sensed the same welcome from the folks around town and heard the same story from the anglers and other media.

Of course, when you look at the fish coming across the stage, you can see why Guntersville has developed as such a great fishing town. And most pros seem to think the best weights are yet to come. I'm eager to see that, and for the moment, I'm just glad the Classic is being held at Lake Guntersville and that I'm here to enjoy it.

Storms of Change?

Rick Morris thinks this year's Classic will be all about making
good adjustments to the changing weather and covering water.

With the 2014 Bassmaster Classic Day 1 blast-off less than 8 hours away, big, bad storms are rockin' Lake Guntersville, delivering powerful wind and heavy rain. How will that affect fishing? We'll find out tomorrow (or at least we will learn some of that tomorrow and more as the weekend progresses).

Change has been the only constant in the weather of late, so this year's Classic contenders have had to do a lot of mental adjusting. Most changes to this point have had to do with water temperature, which rose several degrees this week. However, the storms threaten to add a big dose of mud to some angler's key areas, and it'll probably invigorate the bite in some others.

At least the thunderstorms are all supposed to pass through overnight. Changed conditions are way better than a wet blast off or, worse yet, a delayed start because of lightning.

See You in Birmingham?

Bassmaster Classic competition begins Friday morning. Final practice day for the pros begins about now. If you're even sort of semi-close to Birmingham, Ala. and a fishing fan and have any room in your travel plans, it's not too late to plan a road trip. The Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo and the weigh-ins are free, and no tickets are involved, so you really can make a last-minute decision to make the trip. I don't know what the hotel situation is like at this point, but B'ham's a big enough metro area that I'm pretty sure you could still find something.

The Classic as a whole is a mighty cool event to attend, and this year's Guntersville venue promises some big bags and exciting weigh-ins. The Outdoors Expo, which goes on all three days (beginning mid-day on Friday) fills the conventions center with trucks, boats and booths filled with lures, rods, reels and more and all sorts of cool interactive stuff to do. Several companies always release new products for the first time at the Bassmaster Classic, and many of the expo booths offer special hands-on opportunities for young fishing fans.

Of course, if you can handle the super early wake-up and the hour and a half ride to the lake, morning take-offs are loaded with excitement and really fun to watch. Be sure to arrive really early. Parking is off-site, so you need time to catch a shuttle -- and it will get pretty crowded out there.

If you do plan to attend or are thinking hard about it, check out the attend page on bassmaster.com. Loads of valuable information about hours, locations, access, parking, opportunities and more.

If you can't make it in person, the bassmaster.com Classic Live Blog provides a really good flow of information from various venues and perspectives. Of course, if I don't see you in B'ham, I hope you'll also stay tuned right here and on my facebook fishing page and Twitter feed. I'm Alabama bound early tomorrow morning and will get to spend a few hours with the competitors, talking about expectations, strategies and more.

Anticipating Classic Adjustments

How will Guntersville bass adjust to major changes
in the weather? That question certainly weighs heavily
on the minds of Georgia's Patrick Bone and 54 other
Bassmaster Classic competitors.

Bassmaster Classic competitors are off the water today and tomorrow, but you can bet their minds are on the lake and its famous bass. Specifically, most are probably trying to anticipate adjustments they'll need to make based on the big warming trend that's occurring right now and the slight moderation that will take place around game time.

Friday, the first day of practice, was seriously cold, and the general word I heard suggested that while some big bass were caught, the bite was somewhat tough. Saturday was a bit warmer. Yesterday warmed way up, and the fish got more active. The next few days will bring some of the warmest temperatures of this year, with a peak high of 68 on Wednesday. Tournament highs are forecast to be in the low 60s and high 50s with a slight cooling trend through the weekend.

All that amounts to a pretty major shift from one of the coldest winters on record, and consequently fish positioning and behavior are likely to change substantially from what the pros have found already. Wednesday's short practice day will be critical for making adjustments, gauging the effectiveness of those adjustments and creating a tournament plan. Fish found over the weekend might still win the Classic, but they most likely won't be in the same places or eating the same lures next weekend they were a week earlier.

For now, all the pros can do is ponder all this stuff, and all we can do as fans is wait to see who makes the right adjustments.

Guntersville Classic Warm-Up?

You can trust that 2008 Bassmaster Classic Champion Alton
 Jones is prepared for whatever the weather delivers for this year's
Classic, which begins one week from today.

32 Degrees.

That's the current temperature at Guntersville, Ala., with the first day of Bassmaster Classic pre-practice only hours away. It's supposed to rain later today, adding snow-melt to already cold water, and then drop into the mid-20s overnight.

The immediate forecast and the conditions the pros will find today and tomorrow line up well with this winter, which has been among the coldest most folks in the South can remember and has brought a couple of major snow and ice storms. Looking at the rest of the week, though, a substantial warm-up is supposedly on the way. Forecast highs Saturday, Sunday and Monday are 41, 54 and 63 respectively, with a peak high of 70 and a low of 53 on Thursday, the day before the Bassmaster Classic begins. The current forecast calls for highs in the 60s all three competition days.

So is that good because a warm-up opens more option for patterns and should trigger a better bite, or is it bad because what the pros find today may have little in common with what is happening a week from now, when the competition begins? I suppose the answer would vary considerably from one pro to the next. And I don't suppose good or bad really matters. The pros simply have to figure out what to do with the conditions they are served.

Of course, the week's forecast and the weather that actually occurs aren't always one in the same. Neither big snowfall was in most local forecasts more than a couple of days out and outlooks change in a hurry this time of year. We'll just have to keep watching!

Driving in the Rain

Seems I'll be driving in the rain tomorrow morning. Forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of rain here and a 70 percent chance of rain where I'm headed, five hours away. Hard to imagine I won't hit some good rain showers along the way.

The good news is that I'll be traveling opposite the direction the rain normally moves, and that it's supposed to be pushed through by Monday morning, when fishing plans officially start. Whether we'll end up sneaking out for a while tomorrow afternoon upon arrival, I'm not sure. If not, I'll be good and ready, come Monday.

Plan is to fish a day on Lake Wheeler or Wilson and two on Guntersville, where the 2014 Bassmaster Classic will be held in February. I'm looking forward to a few days of good winter bass fishing on the Tennessee River.

I have my camera batteries charged and plenty of memory cleared, so watch for reports here, on my facebook fishing page and on Twitter (@jeffsamsel).

Bama Bass, Come Monday

All the big bass pictures I've been seeing and sometimes sharing on my facebook fishing page have me really looking forward to a few days of fishing the Tennessee River next week. Plans include a day on Wheeler and/or Wilson and a couple of days on Guntersville.

Word is that the bite has been very good of late, with YUMbrella Rigs, Boo Rigs, jerkbaits and jigs all producing good action. Along with fishing a couple of different lakes, I'll be fishing with five different pros in three days, and I suspect that each will fish a little differently, so I'm guessing I'll get to try several different things.

I actually might sneak out to the Wheeler tailwater on Sunday, after driving to Alabama, and do a little fishing on my own from the rocks, just to mix it up a little and get a headstart on things. That depends a bit on weather. As of now, the forecast is calling for significant rain on Sunday, and if it's coming down hard, I might just settle in and wait to fish from a boat on Monday morning. On Monday, I get to fish with Jimmy Mason. Jimmy guides full time on the Tennessee River, so he's out there every day and pretty well always has the fish dialed in.

The weather appears it will make a cold turn this weekend. High around there today was supposed to hit 72 degrees. Tuesday temps are supposed to top out in the mid-30s. That's part of making fishing plans during the winter, though, and what warm clothes were made for. I'm glad I'll be out on the lake to get cold instead of sitting at my desk.

Another Big Step for Alabama Bass Trail

When you do something well enough, it's hard to NOT take it to the next level.

Just ask Kay Donaldson, program director of the Alabama Bass Trail. She has spent the last year and a half developing and promoting the trail, which was officially launched in spring 2012 and has quickly developed an enormous fan base for the 11 lakes and the trail itself and consequently has drawn major national attention to Alabama bass fishing. As the Alabama Bass Trail has grown in recognition, so has demand for a dedicated tournament series.

Eventually that demand reached a point where Donaldson and others involved with the Alabama Bass Trail had to think seriously about what such a series should look like, the audience it should target, how it could funded and much more. Exactly when those thoughts and accompanying talks started getting serious, I'm not certain; I do know that the end product, which was announced earlier this week and will be put into action early next year, is seriously impressive.

Ten regular-season events (five apiece for a northern and southern division) and a season-end championship collectively will hit each of the lakes on the Alabama Bass Trail once per season. With a guaranteed first prize of $10,000 per tournament and a pay-down 20 places down, these single-day amateur team events promise to have a huge draw from the Southeastern United States, and each one is expected to produce half a million dollars economic impact on its respective host city.

The championship, which is a no entry event with a 125-boat field built from top teams from both divisions and top student teams, will award a Phoenix 619 Pro and Mercury 150, complete with electronics and trolling motor and valued at $37,495.

Appropriately, the tournaments kick off at Lake Guntersville on Feb. 1. Guntersville stands as Alabama's most acclaimed bass lake and has attracted even more attention the normal in recent months as the host site of the next Bassmaster Classic. In fact, the 2014 Classic will visit Guntersville Feb. 21-23, only a few weeks after the inaugural Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series event.

Visit the Alabama Bass Trail website to learn much more about the tournament series and to get outstanding information about the 11 lakes the make up the trail. And when you do fish one of the lakes on the trail, be sure to send in a picture of your big bass for Alabama Bass Trail followers to enjoy.

Gunning for Gunterville Classic Bid

Chris Lane, B.A.S.S. Photo by Seigo Saito

Watching the Bassmaster Classic played out on his adopted home waters of Lake Guntersville would be seriously difficult for Chris Lane, so the 2012 Classic champion is doing everything in his power to keep that from happening.

Going into the final event of the Elite Series, which is going on this weekend, Lane's place in the Angler of the Year standings made his Classic bid iffy at best. A great finish and stumbles by others could get him in based on AOY points, but his only sure way to get a Classic bid would be to win at this weekend's event at Lake St. Clair. Halfway through, Lane has bumped his place in the standings up to 34th place, which puts him right on the edge and could make him the last angler in or the first angler out. Lane doesn't want to count on that, though. He'd much rather notch the win and lock in his place, which is very much within reach halfway though.

After two days, Lane is in fourth place, three pounds behind leader Aaron Martens. He has brought a 5-12 smallmouth to the scales both days, and apparently has one spot that holds some absolute giants. He didn't stick with his big-fish spot terribly long today because he doesn't get nearly as many bites there as he does in other places, but he suggested on stage that he might go for broke and really stick it out there tomorrow, looking for five giant fish.

Although Lane grew up in Lakeland, Florida and learned to fish in the Sunshine State, he moved to Lake Guntersville in 2009 and has really built an identity there, creating an Guntersville App, guiding and establishing Chris Lane Outdoor Adventures Resort at Lake Guntersville.

Lane knows as well as anyone else that February fishing on Lake Guntersville with a field of the nation's top pros will be an absolute largemouth slugfest, but if he wants to be part of the action, he needs to spend two more days slugging it out for Detroit smallmouths!