The team of Lopez and Frey win the 2nd Annual Battle of the Brands Tournament on Lake Guntersville with 24.01 lbs.
Photos and video provided by: Kenneth Grover
The 2nd Annual Battle of the Brands Tournament February 18, 2024 started with cold temperatures in the upper 20’s but it warmed up to a more comfortable range as the day went along. Despite the cold temperatures, the fishing was pretty good for most anglers. The Battle of the Brands is a tournament where the anglers can use products from Bill Lewis Lures, Yamamoto Baits, Buckeye Lures, Steel Shad Lures and Big Bite Baits which is a new addition for the 2024 event. As the Battle of the Brands continues to grow, it creates opportunities for the anglers to dial in a pattern based off their strengths.
Official registration took place at Guntersville Middle School Saturday afternoon from 3:00 PM until 6:00 PM. Afterward, an official tournament meeting and rules clarification was conducted by Xtreme Bass Series that started at 6:00 PM. GSM Outdoors also provided a “goody bag” when each team went through the official registration process. Guntersville Tackle and Outdoors (GTO) had a good assortment of products available for the anglers to purchase at the middle school. Of course, Rat-L-Traps were a popular choice, but the new Hammer Trap was a hot commodity as well. Because of the changing weather conditions, many anglers were looking to provide options for the day and added a variety of baits from all the brands.
There is not an official morning take off location for this tournament. The 142 teams that entered this event were able to use any launch on Lake Guntersville and each team had a specific start time that was determined by their boat number. Boat numbers were assigned as each team registered for this event. Those boat numbers determined when the teams had to be at Guntersville Civitan Park to weigh their catch. The teams could return by water or by land but had to be checked in with the tournament staff by their assigned time. The first flight was due to weigh in at 3:00 PM. The scales would open at 2:30 PM for any team that wanted to weigh their catch early.
As teams started to assemble for weigh-in, it did not take long to see that a lot of teams caught them well throughout the day. We certainly heard of a lot of catches on red colored Bill Lewis Lures Rat-L-Traps and the new Hammer Trap. There were a lot of other baits that contributed to the overall catches. Those included Buckey Lures Jigs (Football, Mop, and Spot Remover Pro), Buckeye Lures Scope Head with a Yamamoto Scope Shad, Yamamoto Senko, Flappin’ Hog, Yama Craw, and Paddle Tail Zako, Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper and Pro Swimmer, Bill Lewis Lures MR6, MR12, ATV 2.5, ATV 1.5, and Scope Stick Jerk baits.
The team of Steve Lopez and Rich Frey finished in first place with a total catch of five fish that weighed 24.01 lbs. According to Steve, “We kind of junk fished around.” “We used the Bill Lewis Scope Stick and caught a 5 pounder on it.” “We used a ½ oz. red Rat-L-Trap to catch two fish.” “We caught a bunch of fish on brown and black and blue Buckeye Lures Mop Jigs with a green pumpkin Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog on the back of it.” “We caught a six pounder at the end with about 15 minutes left in the day.” “We were targeting eel grass in 5’-6’ of water with the Rat-L-Trap and rip rap with the Scope Stick and Mop Jigs.” Steve and Rich collected $3000 for the win and another $8000 with the Nitro Rewards Contingency.
The team of Johnny Patterson and Bryan Douglas finished in second place with a total catch of five fish that weighed 23.83 lbs. Johnny said, “we caught our fish on red colored Bill Lewis Lures Hammer Traps.” “We were throwing the 3/8 oz. size in about 5 feet of water.” “We were fishing a combination of eel grass and hydrilla.” Johnny and Bryan collected $1750 for the second place finish.
The team of Joey Nance and Payton Nance finished in third place with a 5 fish limit that weighed 23.42 lbs. They reported catching their fish on chrome/blue colored Bill Lewis Lures Rat-L-Traps.
The team of Bronson Jones and John Kist caught the biggest bass of the event that weighed 7.65 pounds. They reported catching that fish on a black and blue Buckeye Lures Jig at about 2:00. They collected $1590 for the big fish award.
John Carman and Gary Tyree caught the second biggest bass of the event that weighed 7.48 pounds. They collected $750 for that catch.
Jeff Gardner and Shannon Gardner caught the third biggest bass of the event that weighed 7.27pounds. They collected $500 for that catch.
Top 20 Teams:
Thanks goes out to the GSM Outdoors brands and all the other companies that contributed to supporting this event.
