LAKE GUNTERSVILLE STORY
September 20, 2009
Bo Crawford
On September 17-20, 2009 TMTanglers Fishing Club held their 2009 Fall Tournament on Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro, AL. The group practiced on Thursday and Friday and held the competition on Saturday and Sunday. After several cancelations (as is usually the case in the fall), only two boats participated in this tournament. Reigning AOY Jason Mitchell paired with Bo Crawford to form Team Triton and fish against the regular team of Bill Greene and Russell Fackler (Team Ranger). Having two boats was fitting for this tournament since Bo, Bill, and Russell were in a three-way tie for much coveted Angler of the Year (AOY) title. The 2009 AOY race would be decided at Lake Guntersville.
An unusual stationary cold front to the west dropped an incredible amount of rain on the region during our stay. As a result the lake’s water level seemed to rise for the duration of the trip. The air temp stayed in the 70s for the bulk of the time and maybe occasionally reached the 80s. The rain is much easier to deal with in these mild temperatures compared to previous tournaments we have had that are either freezing cold or steamy hot. Lake Guntersville fish don’t seem to mind the rain a bit it seems as both teams found the fish in cooperative mood. Each team found multiple patterns that worked during practice including techniques that involved fishing shallow and deep, fast and slow, using big lures and small. After practice, over a shrimp and grits dinner at The Docks, TMTangler gamesmanship was at its best. Team Ranger claimed that they couldn’t catch a fish on a plastic lure. Meanwhile Team Triton claimed that finding a limit of keepers would be difficult.
At the Day One weigh-in Team Ranger weighed in a nice 13-03 limit (caught on plastics of course). Team Triton surprised Mr. Greene by following with a 13-15 stringer, giving them a small 12 ounce lead. Both teams must have caught 60 fish and claim to have culled regularly throughout the day.
On Day Two tensions were high. All AOY contenders were aware that an entire years worth of fishing would come down to his performance on this single day. In order to make sure his partner was properly motivated, Bo Crawford gave his partner a rousing motivational speech; “…Jason—Bill is disrespecting your lures…making fun of your Spro frog and swimbait. And that Auburn man was talking bad about your boat--about how much better Rangers are than Tritons—He’s disrespecting you and your boat’s fishing skills all the time. ” Bill had not really said one word about Jason’s boat of course. But the motivational level needed to be raised as the team headed out before daylight, with back aches, in the rain for the fourth day in a row. The motivational speech seemed to work. Note to fellow TMTanglers: Beware of Jason when he gets that football player competitive fire look in his eye. Fired up, Jason commenced to whop up on some fish and had four buzzbait keepers in the boat by 6:30 am giving his team an excellent start to the day. Only after Bo tired of watching Jason catch all the fish did he confess to the whole Bill story being a figment of his imagination. Meanwhile on the Team Ranger boat, one can only assume that the conversation turned to strategy. Russell had landed a nice 4-05 on a spinnerbait early in the morning. This kicker fish is exactly what they needed to improve their weight from a day earlier. Assuming Team Triton weighed-in 13-15 again, they would need 14-12 to overcome their 12 oz deficit and win the tournament.
At the end of the 2nd day, Team Ranger ended up bringing exactly 14-12 to the scales. This is the largest stringer this team has weighed-in in the eight year history of our club. The night before Bo had expressed doubts that their fish would hold up after being worked so hard for two full days. If Team Triton did indeed falter, then Team Ranger just might have a chance to win with their two day weight of 27-15…
…But unfortunately for Team Ranger, and fortunately for Team Triton, the rising water replenished Team Triton’s shallow water pattern with new fish. Larger fish. Hungry fish. Their second day weight was 18-12 bringing their two day total to 32-11. Big fish was a 4-15 caught by Bo on a spinnerbait in super-shallow water. Team Triton also caught a 3 oz yellow perch giving them the complete Grand Slam: 1st Place, Big Fish, and Trash Fish prizes. This also gave Bo his third AOY title.
Thus ends a successful 2009 season for the club.