If you happened to get on social media yesterday (Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026), you may have seen a post or 50 from Elite Series pros starting their practice off at Lake Guntersville and saying it was cold. Well, it was in fact very cold with air temperatures in the mid-teens and water temperatures in the upper 30s. You may have also noticed that a decent amount of the backwaters and shallow creeks were frozen over. It’s safe to say the conditions were far from ideal and much different compared to what it typically looks like in Florida where the Elite Series regularly kicks off.
The conditions may have been brutal, but the Elite Series anglers braved the elements, even if they know the lake as well as Elite Series sophomore Tucker Smith.
“The water temperature is in the 30s right now,” said Smith. “That’s some of the coldest water I’ve ever seen on this lake. The bite seems to be really tough, but guys are still going to catch them like they always do.”
While things were looking grim after Day 1 of practice, Smith sees plenty of reasons to be optimistic of things to come.
“I think with the weather warming up throughout the week, the fishing should get better and better,” he said. “This place seems to produce giants even when the weather is cold.”
Another factor to consider for the FXR Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville is the fact that there will be no forward-facing sonar in this event. Giant bags have been the norm on Lake Guntersville during the winter months, but a lot of those bags have come with the usage of live sonar.
“The no LiveScope is definitely going to throw a twist into this tournament,” said Smith. “I don’t think I’ve fished out here when it’s this cold without LiveScope since I was probably in high school or college, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s going to be tough to find places where you can catch a bunch of fish so for most guys it will probably be a deal where you catch one here and catch one there.”
Knowing the first day of practice was going to be the worst from a conditions standpoint, how do you go about judging your success from the number bites you get? That’s exactly what Elite Series rookie Tristan McCormick kept in mind during the frigid day of practice.
“With it being Day 1 and the conditions being so cold, you could easily fish through an area and not get a bite and it could end up being the winning stretch,” said McCormick. “I’m really trying to avoid getting down because of the lack of bites and really focusing on finding the right types of areas that could produce when it warms up. A guy that doesn’t have a great practice can put his head down on Day 1 of the tournament and have a really good day.”
Another rookie with Tennessee River knowledge is Tennessee’s Sam Hanggi who also keyed in on trying to find a general pattern to get his week started at Guntersville.
“On the first day of practice I really wanted to try to find a general pattern or a general way to fish in the tournament,” he said. “I spent a lot of my time looking for good grass lines and shallow places that might hold schools of fish, but it was really tough. I caught a few small ones, but nothing great so far.”
It’s fair to assume that a lot of anglers will view the cold conditions as a negative, but Elite Series veteran Brandon Palaniuk is choosing a totally different mindset.
“I love the weather,” said the eight-time Bassmaster winner. “I think the fishing is good right now if you get around the right ones, but there seems to be a lot of dead water. The way it looks right now is that it would be easy to hero or zero if you get on the right stretch.
“For me, today was all about taking inventory on places to figure out what grass looks healthy and what contours and depth that they’re around.”
As for the type of fishing we will see at Lake Guntersville, it sounds like we’re in for a very entertaining event even despite the cold weather.
“I think you’re going to see a ton of moving baits,” he said. “Tons of crankbaits, vibrating jigs and lipless crankbaits. You may see some guys slow down a little, but it should be a lot of moving baits.”
