Pointer 78, Guntersville, Bass, 4-17-10

[FishNews]

<br /> Fished the Cleveland Bassmasters Club Tournament today. Thought I'd use it as a warmup for next week's BFL. We launched out of Jackson County Park. My partner and I started in a shallow slough just above Goosepond. He landed the first keeper of the day on a red lipless crankbait within the first 10 minutes. I didn't catch my first keeper until 30 minutes later pitching a watermalon/red Beaver to emerging lilly pads. We both landed a keeper shortly thereafter, both on a red lipless crankbait. Ran to the area where I caught a limit in a BFL 4 weeks ago. Nothing. Ran to the creek channel in South Sauty where I managed to catch 2 limits (including two 15" spots) dragging a watermelon seed Zoom Magnum Lizard with a 1/4 oz weight along the channel edge (15-17 ft). Trouble was....all of my keepers were 18" or less. We did spend time in the back of South Sauty but we only found buck bass in the shallows. Ended up in 3rd place with a little over 14 lbs. 17 1/2 lbs won it. Talked to a lot of guys on the water who said they were really struggling to eke out a limit. I know there were a few zeros in a tournament that weighed in before us. Most of the water we fished was really clear with 4-5 feet of visability. Wind was nonexistant until 1:00 or so when it clouded up with the approaching front. I'll be happy to weigh in 14 lbs next week. A big thanks to my partner, Jose Rivera, who kept things lively all day. He weighed in 3 fish for a shade over 9 lbs.