SCOTTSBORO, Ala. – Blasting off on Friday with a lead of more than 4 pounds over his nearest pursuer, Isaac Peavyhouse could taste his first Toyota Series win. When he returned to Goose Pond eight hours later, he was convinced he’d let it slip away.
Peavyhouse had blasted 28 pounds, 6 ounces of Lake Guntersville largemouth on Day 1, which had him in second place, then moved into the lead with 24-8 on Day 2. On Day 3, he once again topped the 20-pound mark, but with the legendary lake kicking out heavy bags like usual in the Central Division season finale, he didn’t think it would be enough. He got even more nervous when Hayden O’Barr placed a 28-8 mega-bag on the scales.
“Coming in, with the weight I had, I thought I gave it away, honestly,” Peavyhouse said.
Turns out, Peavyhouse’s final-day limit of 20-15 was enough to edge O’Barr by 15 ounces. His three-day total of 73-13 earned him $40,000, while O’Barr had to settle for his third runner-up finish in a Toyota Series event in the past three months.
A resident of Jamestown, Tenn., Peavyhouse has tasted most of his tournament success on nearby Dale Hollow Lake and other highland reservoirs in the area. He’d only competed on Guntersville a few times prior to this event, and never during the postspawn.
Knowing the reputation of the lake’s river-channel ledges, Peavyhouse figured fishing offshore would be the way to win, so he committed to idling during practice and searching for schools. He had no trouble locating them, but when he started running those spots on Day 1, he found competitors already sitting on just about all of them.
“All three days of practice, I idled the whole time,” he said. “I had about 30 schools marked, but apparently 28 of them were community holes, because you couldn’t never get on them.”
Peavyhouse eventually found a school that he had to himself. That spot turned out to be all he needed, as he caught all 15 of his keepers there.
“It was a really sneaky spot,” he said. “It was just a little drain on a flat, and the fish were in about 20 foot on the edge of the grass. I was side-scanning a spot that I’ve caught them here in February on a jerkbait and just saw the school on my side scan. In practice, I made one cast in there, caught a 5-pounder and left. I didn’t know it was that good, but it panned out.”
On Day 1, Peavyhouse caught about 25 pounds right away from the school before trying to run new water and eventually returning to cull a couple more times. He found the bite a bit tougher on Day 2, but he still managed a strong limit.
Friday, the lake threw him a curveball. A floating eelgrass mat had settled over the spot, making it impossible for Peavyhouse to get his bait down to the fish. He left and tried to fish elsewhere but didn’t catch a keeper. Finally, he returned and found the mat had moved just enough for him to make the proper presentation.
“I finally got one cast down to them – because that eelgrass would bow it up – and first cast I got down to them, I caught a 5 1/4, and second cast I got a 4.40,” Peavyhouse said. “And then it blew back in there, and I never could get it back to them again.”
Peavyhouse caught those two fish on a Strike King 10XD crankbait, his most productive lure all week. He then used a Yank-Um Custom Tackle structure jig and a jighead minnow to fish around the eelgrass and fill out the rest of his limit. He threw all his baits on Yank-Um Custom Tackle rods.
The win was the first for Peavyhouse outside of the BFLs and by far the most lucrative of his young career.
“It’s awesome, man,” Peavyhouse said. “I’ve won two BFLs and placed high in a bunch of Toyotas and some other tournaments, but I’ve never had a bigger win like this. So, it’s a blessing.”
Here are the final totals for the Top 10:
1st: Isaac Peavyhouse, Jamestown, Tenn., 15 bass, 73-13, $40,000
2nd: Hayden O’Barr, Scottsboro, Ala., 15 bass, 72-14, $16,500
3rd: Matteo Turano, Puryear, Tenn., 15 bass, 70-14, $12,250
4th: Cal Lane, Grant, Ala., 15 bass, 70-13, $10,000
5th: Carter Nutt, Nashville, Tenn, 15 bass, 68-14, $9,000
6th: Caz Anderson, Haysville, N.C., 15 bass, 68-10, $8,000
7th: Broderick Luckey, Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 67-13, $7,000
8th: Clint Knight, Russellville, Ky., 15 bass, 67-12, $6,000
9th: Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 15 bass, 67-0, $5,000
10th: Preston Kolisek, Loretto, Tenn., 15 bass, 66-14, $4,000
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Steve Lopez of Oconomowoc, Wis. earned Thursday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass Award with a fish weighing 7-12, while Kyle Lusk of Scottsboro, Ala. won Friday’s with a 7-5 specimen.
Despite the dominance of Dylan Nutt of Nashville, Tenn., who won both of the first two Central Division events of the season on Pickwick and Chickamauga, the Angler of the Year race remained in doubt entering the finale. With Nutt finishing 26th and barely missing out on Day 3 at Guntersville, it turned into a showdown between himself and two of his teammates at the University of North Alabama: his twin brother, Carter Nutt, and Banks Shaw.
Shaw’s ninth-place finish ultimately earned him the crown and $5,000 payday that comes with it. Combined with finishes of fourth on Pickwick and eighth on Chickamauga, he wound up 4 points ahead of Carter, who finished fifth on Guntersville, and 7 points clear of Dylan.
Shaw will hope that’s not the last AOY check he cashes. The 21-year-old continued his breakout season by winning last week’s Invitationals stop on Pickwick Lake and moving into the AOY lead on that circuit.
