During and after the pre-fish for the Guntersville BASSMASTER, the pros had lunker-shaped stars in their eyes. The 20-plus-pound stringers being caught at local tournaments and the sheer numbers of chunky bass they were seeing indicated a welcomed change from the cold, tough tournaments they've been experiencing so far this season.

But as all BassFans know, sometimes much can change between pre-fish and tournament time. So the million-dollar question is: does Guntersville still look good?

Sort Of

The answer is a definite "sort of."

Larry Nixon pre-fished three days and said that then "the fish were very aggressive and the fishing was very good. But it doesn't seem to be quite as good right now. It's gotten tougher."

Mike Iaconelli agreed. "I spent a week of pre-practice down here and it was phenomenal," he said. "There's numbers in here like you wouldn't believe." He added that during the pre-fish "it was fairly easy to go out and catch 18-20 pounds. Now it's definitely going to be tougher."

A major reason for that is the weather. Big deal, you say? Well, there's weather, and then there's weather. Yesterday the wind blew over 30 mph from the S/SE.

As a result, the water became "churned up and stained," Nixon said. The high winds mean "you can't practice like want to. You just have to blow and go, and stay in areas you don't care to fish."

"The lake is looking awfully windy," said Jay Yelas. "It really eliminates half the lake when it blows that hard."

"I hate to hear weather excuses," said Gerald Swindle, "but the fact is that we've had extreme winds the last few days. The wind was actually blowing so hard that it muddied up one whole side of the lake (Guntersville is 69,100 acres). It's so hard I'm physically exhausted from just trying to hold the boat in place."

Drawdown and Rain

Adding to the changing conditions are typical Tennessee River phenomena: a drawdown and rain.

"They dropped the lake about a foot today because they're expecting a lot of rain tonight and tomorrow," Yelas said. "So it's typical Tennessee River fishing: a different water level every day, rain and windy. All these lakes on the Tennessee River are famous for having rapidly changing conditions, and that's what we have going on right here."

Wind and rain of course mean mud, but not everywhere. Lee and non-creek areas still have clear water, enough that some pros are catching bass sight-fishing.

Also, the wind and rain will play into some anglers' hands. For example, those who like fishing colored water will be better off. And Swindle noted that the wind -- which was supposed to blow hard again today -- means that many of the anglers who didn't pre-fish might not have a chance to check out the mid-lake structure and thus could be at a disadvantage come tournament time.

Dean Rojas said that he's found fish in both clear and muddy water, in part to be prudent: because this is his first time at Guntersville, he doesn't know "how the weather will affect water clarity and how fast it will clear back up again."

Between Spawning Waves

"I hear a lot of guys talking about (the lake changing)," Iaconelli said. "I think there are a lot of reasons."

One, he said, is that "there has been major spawn already. A wave of fish came in, and that's when (local tournaments) had those phenomenal weigh-ins. It was easy pickings.

"Now that one wave that was in is coming out, and another wave wants to go in. We're between stages," he said. "But there's still a ton of fish out here."

Teens per Day for Top 10?

Before practice started, the pros were predicting 18-20 pounds per day to make the Top 10, and over 20 pounds per day to win. Now, that's been scaled back.

Swindle lives about 40 minutes from Guntersville. His feeling is that if the high winds last through today, as they were supposed to, and the 1-3 inches of rain come, Top 10 weights will be 15-16 pounds per day. With stable conditions he thought that would rise to 17-18 pounds per day.

Yelas said: "It will still be a good tournament, but it seems that that magic window of easy 20-pound stringers has passed us. Now it's more like 'go and ground out 15 pounds' conditions."

Clark Wendlandt said that Guntersville is "one of those places that's so good you don't know if you'll do well until you get going. Fifteen pounds (per day) may not be any good at all."

Here's the upshot: Regardless of what the weather does, the pros expect the Top 10 to catch about 50 pounds over the first three days. Not too shabby.

Weather Forecast

Here's the forecast for today and the tournament, according to the Weather Channel.

> Tue, Apr 9 -- Heavy T-Storms -- high 69°F, low 56°F
- Wind -- S to S/SW at 15-20 mph max

> Wed, Apr 10 -- AM Clouds/PM Sun -- high 74°F, low 54°F
- Wind -- N to 8 mph max

> Thu, Apr 11 -- Mostly Cloudy -- high 77°F, low 54°F

> Fri, Apr 12 -- Mostly Cloudy -- high 74°F, low 51°F

> Sat, Apr 13 -- Mostly Cloudy -- high 77°F, low 55°F

Notable: Clunn

Will Rick Clunn get a Top 20 and keep the possibility alive to make a 29th straight BASS Masters Classic?

"I'm not even sweating it anymore," Clunn said. "I know what I have to do. I think I need two Top 20 finishes.

"I'm fishing better," he noted. "I feel really good about that. I'm going into those tournaments with that attitude. Plus, (the remaining two lakes, Guntersville and Eufaula) have been good to me. I won my first Classic on Guntersville.

"So it boils down to something very simple," he said. "I have to perform. And if I don't, I don't deserve to be (at the Classic). If I do perform, then I'll be there."

Other Notable

> Will Frank Scalish hold onto his good-sized lead in the BassFan.com Rookie of the Year Race?

> Denny Brauer will be running his new Busch beer-sponsored Ranger in this tournament.

> Gerald Swindle and Marty Stone will be running their new CITGO-decaled Tritons, and word is that they look incredible.

Launch/Weigh-In Info

> Daily weigh-ins take place at 3:00 p.m. CST at Guntersville State Park. Launches are at 6:15 a.m.

> On Saturday the North Alabama Tournament Anglers will be conducting a CastingKids event at Guntersville State Park beginning at 11:00 a.m. For more info contact Tom Ott at (256) 233-0739.

Tomorrow: BassFan.com's Top 10 to Watch!