Patterson Opens Division Season with Guntersville Win
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. – Johnny E. Patterson won the Boater Division in the American Bass Anglers Open Series, Presented by Caymas Boats, Alabama North Division 1 season opener, held on Lake Guntersville.
The anglers had to stand down for 24 hours due to an adverse weather delay, but headed out of Goose Pond Ramp in Scottsboro, Ala. on Jan. 30, 2022, to fish the sprawling 69,100-acre Tennessee River reservoir. The Grant, Ala. angler brought in a five-bass tournament limit for 23.29 pounds. He anchored his bag with a 5.37-pounder to score a 4.66-pound average.
“It’s good to start the season with a W!” Patterson exclaimed. “I caught my fish on Chatterbaits and Rat-L-Traps. I concentrated on the outer grass lines where it broke from about six to eight feet of water. The bass seemed to be holding on the outer edge of the grass. Fish were biting so sporadically that it was hard to put a pattern together. I had about nine bites all day long. Fortunately, I had the right bites. The cold front that came through probably helped me a little bit. It pushed the fish from four to five feet of water out to where I was catching them.”
In second among the boaters, Tracy D. Robinson from Gadsden, Ala. also landed his five-bass limit. He brought 21.96 pounds to the scales, anchored by a 5.67-pound mossback.
“I caught my fish early in the morning on Chatterbaits right off the bat,” Robinson detailed. “I culled two of those early fish with bass I caught later in the day on a jig. I was fishing the same area, but the bass stopped chasing the moving baits. I had to fish the jig really slowly. I was fishing about 10 feet deep on the edge of grass. I had to be close to the grass to get a bite.”
In third place, Roy Galbraith found five keepers for 21.70 pounds, but one of them really stood out. Fishing his first year as a boater in a new Caymas boat, the former division Co-Angler of the Year from Guin, Ala. won the tournament lunker title with a 7.41-pound bucketmouth.
“I caught two bass on a Chatterbait and everything else on a Rat-L-Trap,” Galbraith said. “I caught most of my fish around the grass downriver, but I caught the big one off a rocky spot. It’s been a good trail. I really enjoyed fishing it. I have a new Caymas boat and really enjoy it. It’s the best riding boat I’ve ever been in.”
Phillip E. Dukes of Rainsville, Ala. took fourth place among the boaters with a five-bass limit for 19.84 pounds. He capped his catch with a 5.02-pounder. Placing fifth, Jay L. Kendrick from Grant, Ala., also scored a limit. His five bass totaled 19.64 pounds.
In the Co-Angler Division, Scott A. Norman jumped off to a great start for the season. The Acworth, Ga., co-angler finished with a three-bass division limit for 11.05 pounds and a 3.68-pound average. He sealed his victory with a 4.93-pounder to also take the division lunker honors.
“My boater put me on fish,” Norman advised. “I caught my fish on a red Berkley Frittside square-billed crankbait run through five to eight feet of water on the edge of grass. We were fishing from mid-lake to the upper end. It was a grind.”
Larry G. Franks of Wilsonville, Ala. also broke into double digits for the co-anglers. His three-fish limit weighed 10.52 pounds with a 4.63-pound kicker.
“I caught all my fish on a lipless crankbait in two to four feet of water around the grass,” Franks explained. “We fished up the river.”
Taking third among the co-anglers, second-year vet Verona B. Kendrick brought in a three-bass limit for 9.32 pounds. The limit included a 3.10 kicker. Lipless crankbaits worked for the co-angler from Adairsville, Ga.
“I threw a Rat-L-Trap around the edge of the grass all day long,” Kendrick said. “I kept popping it out of the grass to get reaction bites.”
Landing in fourth place among the co-anglers, Kevin Shrader of Valley Head, Ala., brought in three bass for 7.75 pounds. Michael E. Jones of Rome, Ga., rounded out the top five co-anglers with three bass going 7.52 pounds.
The division next heads to Weiss Lake, a hydroelectric power company reservoir that covers about 30,200 acres. On April 16, the anglers will launch out of Leesburg Landing in Leesburg, Ala. To register for this event, see www.americanbassanglers.com/proddetail.php?prod=14695.
Each ABA Open Series division offers four one-day qualifying events in a boater/co-angler format. Boaters pay an entry fee of $210 for each event while co-anglers pay $105. The top 20 percent of registered anglers in each tournament receive cash payouts based on the total number of entries. If at least 60 boaters enter the tournament, the Boater Division winner will receive a minimum of $5,000.
In addition, anglers may qualify for bonus money offered by such tournament sponsors as Caymas Boats, Mercury Marine, the T-H Marine Atlas Awards program, MotorGuide, and Power Pole. Anyone who qualifies for Caymas Cash rewards could receive up to $7,000 for winning any ABA Open Series event. If the winning boat carries a Mercury motor, the angler could receive an extra $1,000 in cash from Mercury Marine. If that boat comes with a MotorGuide Trolling Motor, the angler could win an additional $500.
See each manufacturer’s website for details, rules, and qualifications for more information on their contingency programs.
The top anglers could also earn invitations to fish area championship tournaments with a guaranteed $6,000 to the winning boater for a field of at least 60 boats. If 100 or more boaters participate, the winning boater in a championship event will take home a guaranteed minimum of $10,000.
For more information about this tournament, call tournament director Floyd Vaughn at (256) 230-5633. For more information about any American Bass Anglers tournament series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com or call (256) 232-0406.
American Bass Anglers is sponsored by Caymas Boats, Mercury Marine, T-H Marine, Garmin Electronics, Power Pole, Lucas Oil, Monster Energy, REKS Sunglasses, Optima Batteries, Hotel Planner.com, and LurePartsOnline.com.
This story was written by ABA staff writer John N. Felsher. To submit articles of interest email info@americanbassanglers.com.