Cory Johnston 20th, Gustafson 25tt & Chris Johnston 37th
BASS PRESS RELEASE
Alabama rookie leads despite bass in transition.
(Photo: BASS)
Alabama pro Kyle Welcher takes the early lead at the NOCO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville with a limit weighing 19-5.
Kyle Welcher is technically an “in-state angler” during this week’s 2020 NOCO Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville.
But since the rookie from Opelika, Ala., lives four hours away from the famed Tennessee River fishery, he had very little experience on Lake Guntersville before the official practice period began Sunday — and he thinks that might have been a good thing.
With no preconceived notions, Welcher took a fresh approach to the 69,000-acre lake and put together a five-bass limit that weighed 19 pounds, 5 ounces to take the opening-round lead.
“I’ve fished here almost none, and the times I had been here I was fishing from the back of the boat,” Welcher said. “It’s probably good I’m not from here, because if I had all the history of catching 25 pounds a day on roadbeds down south, I would have probably been doing that.”
Welcher’s experience lies mostly on Chattahoochee River fisheries like West Point Lake, Lake Eufaula and Bartlett’s Ferry. But for what he did Wednesday, he said a river is river, no matter the location.
He didn’t give specific details of the pattern he’s fishing. But he said it’s basically the same one that worked for him earlier this year on Florida’s St. Johns River — and one that will work most places across the country when conditions are right.
“I’m really just running a certain unique deal that the river does,” he said. “So, every time I see it on the map, I’ll just stop and fish whatever cover is there — whether it’s a dock or grass or whatever.”
