If Randy Howell was more like other modern-day professional sports stars, he might tell you that returning to Guntersville, Ala., this week is really no big deal.
He might insist that the Diet Mtn Dew Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville – site of his emotional victory in the 2014 GEICO Bassmaster Classic – is just the next tournament on the schedule, and the past is in the past.
But a genuine guy like Howell won’t play that game.
He admits Guntersville is special to him – and always will be.
“I’ve been back four or five times since the Classic to do some sponsor videos and various things like that,” said Howell, who lives just an hour away from the lake in Springville, Ala. “But this will be the first time I’ve actually fished a tournament and fished really hard there. I imagine that first take-off is going to be real exciting because that last-day take-off in the Classic was when all of the miracles started happening for me. So it’ll be cool.”
Howell’s victory was one worth reliving again and again.
In 11th place and trailing by 9 pounds going into the final round, Howell had what he called the “day of a lifetime” in Guntersville’s Spring Creek. While fishing the rip-rap along Spring Creek Bridge, he culled through an endless line of 4-pounders to put together a final-day catch of five bass that weighed 29 pounds, 2 ounces.
With a three-day weight of 67-8, Howell bested Paul Mueller by a pound – and since much of Guntersville watched his miracle day from the bridge and from a nearby flotilla of spectator boats, he instantly became one of the town’s favorite sons.
It’s been more than a year, and that hasn’t waned.
“After winning there, everywhere I go, everybody there knows who we are,” Howell said. “We ate at Wintzell’s Oyster House in Guntersville just the other night, and it was like 9 o’clock before we left because people were stopping and talking and taking pictures.”
The strong show of support continued in the parking lot.
“I was walking to my truck, and all of a sudden I hear, ‘Hey, Mr. Randy. Congratulations,’” Howell said. “It was two young guys catfishing on the bank. You wouldn’t think these two guys would know who I was as a bass fisherman. But they came up there, and they were real nice and I signed them a card and took a picture with them.”
Howell feels just as much love in return for Guntersville – so much so that he and his wife, Robin, and their two sons, Laker and Oakley, have considered moving there.
“You drive across Spring Creek Bridge, look out at the lake and it’s full of boats during the middle of the week,” Howell said. “The whole area’s got such an exciting energy about it, because everybody there is there for the same purpose – to catch a big bass.
“Everything there is all about what we do. I think it’s probably the only place on earth that’s like that. It’s just a cool place.”
Since Howell's Classic triumph took place during a particularly harsh February, he expects a vastly different landscape when the Elite Series pros attack the fishery under warm springtime conditions this week. He said the tournament could be won with a variety of tactics, including sight-fishing for bedding fish, and he wouldn't be surprised if the top four or five anglers top the 100-pound mark.
But whatever the outcome, he's expecting one of the more enjoyable weeks of the Elite season.
"We've got a lot of good friends there, and my whole family loves going back," Howell said. "The town and the lake have such a great history, and it's certainly meant a lot to me. It'll be a fun week all the way around."