Guntersville Elite Series

We had a little of the morning cloud cover, then it got clear. I thought that would help. It didn't.

I caught three little ones early on a hump I'd been catching big ones on, then went bed-fishing. I caught one more and had three hours to catch my fifth keeper, but I never did. I was sort of surprised.

I'm happy with my finish though. Once you get to this day, you can't be upset. I gave away a few points, but I just didn't have anything going today.

The funny thing was, I never cast a lure deeper than 5 feet all week. That's pretty unlike me, and it cost me today. And I was dropshotting a Roboworm a lot, but doing it in less than 5 feet.

I just needed my fifth one and kept thinking all day that I should stay shallow and try to catch that fifth. I never got it.

Photo: Rebecca Edwards

Today I lost 10-grand by 13 ounces. I'm sick of going to gas stations and people telling me that "A bad day fishing is better then a good day at work." This may be true unless fishing is your work.

Today started well and I caught an easy limit on a 4-inch Senko wacky-rigged with 10-pound PowerPro Line. The bass were on the outside of the weed edge and were chasing shad.

I caught them on the natural shad color, which is a dark smoke color with gold and black flake. I also found and caught two bed-fish with only a few minutes to go.

Truth is, I'm upset about missing the cut. I've made the last three cuts and to miss this one by just a little just plain hurts. Anyhow, that's fishing.

Tomorrow Becca and I will stay after for the Bassmaster expo and work for Triton, Mercury and Lowrance. The family expo is a neat deal. It's made for the fans and spectators and gives them a chance to visit one-on-one with their favorite fishermen.

Have a question? Check out my website at JarrettEdwards.com and leave me a message. Thanks for reading and we'll see you soon at Clarks Hill Reservoir.

I caught five bass for 13-13 today, which puts me in 43rd.

Today was a lucky day on the water for me. I started off on my bed-fish and was fortunate enough to be the first one there. The bad news was that she was not there. It was pretty early though, and the water was stained due to a large rain the night before, so I waited and waited for 45 minutes till I couldn't wait no longer and I gave up on her.

The next spot I pulled up on was a rock causeway covered with surface vegetation. Jimmy Mize beat me there and already had a quick limit. It's times like these when you second-guess yourself about where and how you started.

I flipped four short fish and proceeded to somehow break off a good one buried deep inside some viney grass.

I caught them on that Yamamoto prototype bait and a 3/8-ounce weight. I was fortunate to catch two small keepers flipping the grass.

As the day wore on I caught a few more keepers on a 5-inch Yamamoto Senko rigged wacky-style on 16-pound Sugoi fluorocarbon.

The bass were on the inside of the weed edge guarding fry in less than a foot of water and they were extremely aggressive toward my baits. With 10 minutes to go I pulled up to a shoreline near Guntersville Yacht Club where I caught them good last year.

I made several casts with a Luhr-Jensen Sugar Shad lipless crankbait and caught a nice 2 1/2-pounder as I ripped the bait out of the grass. I loaned my partner a 1/4-ounce Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap in the shad color and he caught a few nice ones as well.

Tomorrow's a new day and I have no idea where I'll start or what I'll do. Let me tell you, it's so easy to blank here it's not funny. The weather's horrible. There are tornado sirens that have been going on here for the last half-hour, with huge hail chunks falling everywhere.

The weather tomorrow looks like solid rain and wind and severe thunderstorms. I wonder if the heavy rain will muddy up the backwaters, causing tougher fishing conditions. Hopefully I can catch another limit tomorrow to keep me up in the points.

My practice was tough – the same thing I'm hearing from everyone else. I haven't caught many big fish – mostly 14- and 15-inchers. And I really haven't seen much over 3 or 4 pounds.

I had 15 pounds the first day, then the last day 2 days maybe a 12-pound bag. Pretty meager.

I'm finessing them – throwing topwater Ricos and Senkos a lot. I'm just trying to cover areas where I saw a good fish. In one area I'm working, I saw a 7-pounder. Maybe I can get lucky and get one of those.

It'll be a tough battle the next 2 days, but I'd rather have it a little tougher than too good.

Well, as things happen, fishing has been pretty tough for me. I kind of stumbled onto a flip bite late Tuesday afternoon. I've been flipping the new Yamamoto Flappin' Hog – a new creature-type bait that Yamamoto will release this fall. The color 208, which is watermelon/red-flake, seems to get the most bites for me while matched with a 3/8-ounce tungsten weight.

I'm using a 7 1/2-foot St. Croix Legend flipping stick matched with 50-pound PowerPro line. I'm fishing heavy matted vegetation. I'm trying to make my own holes through the grass, but it's tough to get the bait down there and I can't seem to get bit with a heavier weight.

I'm boat No. 6 out tomorrow and I plan to run to a 3-pound bed-fish that I have located about 8 minutes from blast-off. I'm not sure if she'll be there or not, but I hope to make it there first.

Other than that, that has been my prefish. There's not too much going on right now. Being 24th in BASS points is great, but I feel that I'm going to fall hard here at G-Ville. I'm not so confident I can get a limit, but I would be satisfied with one any size.

Today was pretty tough on me. We had winds in the mid 20s and boat positioning was a challenge. I did see a lot of fish today, but not many of them would stay put. I would cruise with my Minn Kota Maxxum Pro 101 on high cruising down the bank and I'd spook the bass and she would race me down the bank for 20 yards – definitely not locked on.

The sad part is, almost all of them would not come back. I caught a few Senko fish today around docks, but they too were few and far between. I think most of these bass are in post-spawn already. They are very skinny and spooky.

Tomorrow is another day though. I'm going after them!

Today Rebecca and I drove down from Greensboro, N.C to Guntersville, Ala. –about an 8-hour drive. We've enjoyed our 2-week vacation visiting family and friends in Colorado and Arizona. A few ESPN guys came down to visit us from Texas. We had a great time filming and even had time for some snowmobiling in the Rockies as well as trout fishing and a big campfire.

It was a great time and will make for some great film. Make sure to watch for our interview on BassCenter soon.

It's great being back to Guntersville. I have had mixed results on this pond in the past. I'm pretty sure there are still quit a few bed-fish to be found – last year in the FLW event here held around the 1st of May they caught 'em good on beds. I will definitely be searching hard for them.

I'm sure there will be lots of dock-fish to be had too. The problem with docks for me is finding enough of them to last a 4-day event. I plan on pitching docks and skipping 4-inch Yamamoto Senkos under and around them. The wind might gust to 25 mph tomorrow, so I don't know how far I will be able to run, but I'll be giving it my best shot.