Lake Guntersville: How They Did It

The Lake Guntersville Southern Open was all about finding the right grass and then making the bass bite. Here's how the best finishers did that.

The Lake Guntersville Southern Open was all about finding the right grass and then making the bass bite. Here's how the best finishers did that.

 

1st place:
 

 

Randall Tharp
(66 pounds, 12 ounces)

 

"On the first day and the last day I mostly rat fished with a black Spro Dean Rojas Signature Series Bronzeye Frog 65," said the Gardendale, Ala., professional angler after his win. "I found a group of really thick mats — mixed hydrilla and milfoil — over 3 to 5 feet of water in the middle section of the lake.

 

"All I really did was toss the frog up on top of the mat and move it along slow and easy, one inch at a time. Some of my casts lasted three minutes. I mean that — a full three minutes. It was intense.

 

"Almost every fish I caught hit the bait while it was sitting still. The bass would hit it as hard as I've ever seen, but not if it was moving fast."

 

On the second day, when his topwater bite slacked off, Tharp pitched and flipped a Zoom Super Hog (watermelon candy) with a 1-ounce Penetrater weight and a 4/0 Owner Extra Wide Gap Hook into the same areas.

 

"I was trying to imitate bluegill with both baits. The key was to find heavy mats in medium depth water where the bream were feeding under the mats. Despite the heavy shad population, the bigger bass feed on bluegill except during the shad spawn. Obviously, that's not in October.

 

"I committed to my pattern early in practice and never looked back. I knew I could catch fish on the Rojas frog and the Super Hog. I hoped they would be enough to win or place high. It all boils down to confidence."

 

Tharp fished his Bronzeye Frog on a 7-foot, 6-inch G. Loomis IMX Flipping Stick with a Shimano Calcutta 200 (5:1 gear ratio) reel and 65-pound-test Power Pro braid. His Zoom Super Hog was thrown with the same rod and line but with a Shimano Core Flipping Version Reel (7:1 gear ratio).

 

2nd place: