2020 FLW Tour Lake San Rayburn Day 1: John Cox Grabs Lead with 21-07lbs!

Both Canadian get rough start to season

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

John Cox starts of his 2 Tour season with a bang!
(Photo: FLW)

John Cox was already one of the top anglers on the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit and arguably the best shallow-water angler in the sport before day one at Sam Rayburn. Still, he’s always had a hole in his game in the form of fishing crankbaits. That is until today, anyway.

In what had to be an ironic sight, while Cox watched others around him beat Sam Rayburn’s shallow brush, the DeBary, Fla., pro sacked up 21 pounds, 7 ounces and take the day one lead by focusing out deeper with a crankbait to kick off the new Pro Circuit season.

“I was really struggling today fishing brush to start and didn’t know what to do around noon,” says Cox. “I only had 10 to 11 pounds and was really getting down. I was thinking the fish had to be out or something. So, I just started chunking that [crankbait] out in open water; out from where I had some bites in the bushes, and they were just smoking it.”

Now, before we anoint Cox a crankbait master, it’s worth noting that he’s executing his new crankbait prowess in classic John Cox fashion. That is, in total disarray. 

Cox has only one crankbait rod – a 7-foot, 6-inch Abu Garcia Veritas Winch – which happens to be the first true crankbait rod he’s owned. He only has two crankbaits in his boat – a pair of No. 5 Berkley Frittsides – as he has lost five others this week and doesn’t have a lure retriever. And he has no pliers. 

“I’m just so used to only having that one big hook to pop out,” he quips.

Yet, to say he’s managing to get dialed in on a true crankbait bite a la David Fritts is quite accurate.

“You can feel [the crankbait] come over the fish,” says Cox. “You’d reel it and it felt like a log was out there. Then one would get it.

“I think there’s some grass and maybe rock mixed in, but you know when you’re going to get bit. You feel it. You’ll make a lot of casts and feel nothing. Then you’d make a cast and feel the fish and you’d have one.”

2017 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Guntersville Day 2: Mark Rose Leads with 42-08lbs

Cory Johnston #18, Gussy #22, Chris Johnston #42 & Richardson #114
by Rob Newell 

FLW PRESS RELESE
Over the last few years Lake Guntersville’s fishing trends have included a lot of bridges and the burgeoning crop of eelgrass that has taken root throughout the lake. Bass behavior in the lake determines these trends, but sometimes the old tried-and-true patterns are hard to beat.
Just ask Mark Rose, who has been the only pro in the field to compile two 20-pound-plus limits through two days of the FLW Tour event presented by Lowrance at Lake Guntersville. Rose took the lead on Friday with a total of 42 pounds, 8 ounces.
Day-one leader Jay Kendrick lit off some fireworks with a big bridge catch of more than 25 pounds on Thursday, but he caught just one bass today, leaving the lead spot wide open. Kendrick’s bridges fell flat as he noticed that the bait was not stacked up as much as he would have liked to see it. He finished 26th.

Mark Rose's consistency key to lead. (Photo: FLW)

Rose is well aware of the bridge phenomenon on Guntersville. He has several top-10 finishes in previous FLW competition at Guntersville where he got beat on bridges. Also, the Tennessee River is near and dear to Rose’s heart, so he knows about the new influx of eelgrass, which is what Buddy Gross fished when he won the 2016 Tour event just downstream at Pickwick.
 

2015 Bassmaster Elite Lake Guntersville Day 2: Ike Takes 5 Pound Lead Going into Weekend!

Consistency a difficult feat as bass move shallow.

By Bryan Brasher

bass press release

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – After rocketing into the lead with 28 pounds, 2 ounces on the first day of the Diet Mtn Dew Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville, Michael Iaconelli went back out during Friday’s second round with intentions of fishing the same way.

Ike lands a shallow brute!
(Photo: Steve Bowman BASS)

But after a while, things just didn’t feel right. So he followed his instincts, made a quick adjustment and put together another fantastic catch of 24-15 to widen his lead in the event with a two-day total of 53-1.

The remainder of the top five anglers on the leaderboard saw some drastic changes on a day that was delayed one hour by thunderstorms. David Walker (48-6) moved into second, followed by Carl Jocumsen (46-8), Byron Velvick (45-3) and Brent Ehrler (43-13). With the lake itself undergoing changes, even more shifting could happen atop the leaderboard Saturday.

“On Thursday, I thought I knew exactly what was happening,” Iaconelli said. “After today, I believe there’s a lot more fish moving up to spawn than I thought and a lot more fish coming out for the post-spawn than I thought. There are a lot of fish on the move.”

Iaconelli, who never said which lures he was using Thursday, said he switched to a crankbait when things got slow Friday. That’s when he caught two of his largest fish of the day.

“The first cast on a crankbait, I caught one that weighed almost 8 pounds,” Iaconelli said. “The next one on a crankbait was a 6-pounder. That was a key decision, because without those two fish, I probably would have only weighed in about 16 or 17 pounds.”

2014 Classic Post Game with Kevin Hawk.

Find out how local knowledge helped win this Classic

By Luigi De Rose

Pre-Classic Interview Part 1

Pre-Classic Interview Part 2

Photo: Darren Jacobsen BASS

Well, it has been a week since BASS crowned Randy Howell as its new king. A lot has been penned on Randy’s intuition and the baits he and others used to best the bass at Lake Guntersville. IBASSIN is taking an unique approach to our post-game coverage. We contacted Kevin Hawk, 2010 FLW Cup Champ, Elite angler and Lake Guntersville guide for his perspective on the outcome of the 2014 Classic. We wanted him to reflect on his pre-Classic interviews with the events that occurred throughout the three day event.

We connected with Kevin while he was in Ohio preparing of a future seminar.

IBASSIN:

Thanks for taking the time to do post Classic commentary. One thing I was impressed with was how accurate you were on picking the areas that a majority of anglers fished in the Classic. You stated that Seibold and Alred’s were the place to be. 

Hawk:

The lower end is traditionally a great place to fish for bigger bass. The mentality is to win the Classic. This desire to win makes it so different than other tournaments. Anglers really focus on big bass and Guntersville is full of giants, so Classic anglers need to focus on winning more than just catching bass. It is a winner takes all tournament, so anglers really go for it.

Remember, most of the field has fished Guntersville before so they are aware of the more productive locations.  Many probably did well in practice and knew that big fish lived in the Seibold and Alred’s areas.

IBASSIN:

Tharp, Evers and Mueller didn’t stick to the lower section. They all produced larger bags than most of the field. Are you surprised?

Randall Tharp is the 2013 FLW Cup Champion!

FLW Press Release
(Photos: FLW)

SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CITY, La. – Two years ago, Randall Tharp fished a nearly-flawless Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Ouachita but took second to Scott Martin and a big school of offshore bass. Tharp prepared for the 2013 Cup knowing that deep fish weren't an option on the Red River. Everything was shallow and positioned around dense cover – right in the honey badger's wheelhouse.

Coming in to the tournament, Tharp had located a handful of productive backwater areas in Pool 5. He was convinced that the bigger bites that came from the main river were random, whereas the backwater kickers, while extremely difficult, could be patterned. On day one, he learned several other pros had found those same areas and was forced to regroup and reassess. By Sunday, he was fishing two spots – one a finger off the river located three miles north of Red River South Marina and one a lily pad field adjacent to the marina.

Tharp started each of the last three days on the finger, one of the few areas lined with homes. He'd throw a bluegill-colored 3/8-ounce 4x4 Swim Jig with a Strike King Rage Craw Trailer (green pumpkin with 1/3 of the body trimmed) on the side that featured a mud bank. Once the sun got up around 9 a.m., he'd bounce across and fish the longer riprap stretch with a Lucky Craft 1.5 squarebill crankbait (TO color).