Bprice, Guntersville, Bass (1st Place BAIT Tx), 5/1/10, Hammer

[FishNews]

<br /> We had the 4th stop on the BAIT Division II Trail out of Goose Pond this Saturday. We made a decision to stay out of the shallows, and go after post spawn fish. Our first stop was a shell bed on the edge of a creek channel. In the first 30 minutes we had our limit (including a 4.5 lber on my first cast), and was culling within the next hour. We fished the shell bed with Strike King Crankbaits, Carolina Rigged Strike King Iguana Lizards, and Texas Rigged Pacacraws. I'm pretty sure we could've thrown a corndog down there and they'd of eaten it. The morning bite shut off, and we decided to work other areas until they started pulling water around 1030. We headed upriver near Chisnal Springs and fished a ditch mouth which allowed us to cull twice more. By noon we headed back to the shell bed, to only find a boat firmly planted on the sweet spot. We worked a few other beds along the channel but fish were only active on that one. We watched that boat catch 3 4 lbers in a row, what a sick feeling! We worked main river shell beds, but did not produce as it seems like the fish are only to the creek channels, they should be on the main river soon. We had around 18 lbs by 2:00 and made a run back down river to try and cull up. In the last 30 minutes we upgraded twice to push us to 20.64 lbs. Those fish were on long secondary points on carolina rigged Iguana Lizards. The River was ROLLING, but we had a short ride back to Goose Pond for a 3:30 weigh in. Our 20.64 lb sack held up, and we finished 1st. Felt very fortunate, as 1st and 5th place were only seperated by 1 lb. <br /> BAIT puts on a great tournament, and there were zero dead fish. However, that hasn't been the normal on Guntersville lately. People are simply not taking care of their fish, and taking the water temps for granted. Ice, Rock Salt, and Rejuvenate are a must! I counted 10 dead fish in the Reeling For A Cure Weigh In that was at the same time as ours. I know these post spawn fish are sensitive, but proper care will allow them to survive.