By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor


Randy Howell has been back to Lake Guntersville on several occasions since he won the 2014 Bassmaster Classic there. After all, it's only a 1-hour drive from his Springville, Ala. home.

Next week, though, will mark his initial return to competition on that venue. He's naturally looking forward to it.

"I am excited to go back there because I have so many good memories from a year ago," he said. "That whole town is such a fishing destination – the mayor and everybody there are all fishing people and it's such a fun place to be. It's all about bass fishing.

"Plus, the energy level I'm going to get there will be really good for my confidence, and we all know that's one of the biggest factors for success in this sport."

Bigger Bags Needed

Howell averaged 22 1/2 pounds per day en route to becoming the second Alabamian to win the Bassmaster Classic in his home state (Boyd Duckett was the first when he triumphed at Lay Lake in 2007). He's under no illusion that the same rate will be enough to win next week.

"This one's going to be in prime time," he said. "I won the Classic with a pretty low weight – it wasn't what the lake would've produced if we hadn't had the bad (weather) conditions prior to the start. This is going to be one of those big slugger events. Everybody's going to have a 3-pound (per fish) average and it's probably going to take close to a 4-pound average just to make the 50-cut. To win, it'll take over a hundred pounds.

"I'd love to be the guy who catches that, and there's probably going to be more than one. I don't have one of those belts (presented to anglers who surpass the century mark in Elite Series events) yet and I need to get one."

He said it shouldn't be too difficult to avoid fishing memories of 14 months ago.

"It's a different season and a warmer time and the fish will all be up on the banks and spawning. If it was the exact same time of year again it'd be hard to get away form the rip-rap or the those bridges, but we're past that season now.

"Another thing is those bridges and rip-rap have been beaten up so hard since then. I have friends who send me pictures and texts and they say they can't even fish them because there's so many people, and most of them are boats from out of state.

"In a lot of ways, I'm glad that this'll be a different type of event," he continued. "Guys will be able to spread out and there won't be such a pile of people on top of each other."

Notes of Encouragement

Shooting video segments was the primary reason Howell returned to Guntersville on several occasions over the past year. None of those trips involved any serious fishing.

Each time he's experienced pleasant interactions with locals or visitors to the lake.

"There's been times when it was like a parade, with people driving by and whooping and hollering and raising their arms up. Even when I've parked at one of the really secluded ramps, I've come back and there's been two or three notes on my windshield with people saying they were glad they saw me today or they wish they could've met me."

He refuses to live in the past, though. He's got work to do in 2015 in order to qualify or next year's Classic at Grand Lake in Oklahoma.

"I've definitely enjoyed the whole run. I try to set my goals high every year and the first one on the list was to win that Classic again. I didn't do that, so now I'm on to the next goal.

"I start every event with the goal of making the Top 10, and my ultimate goal is to win the Angler of the Year, which is something I still haven't done in my career. I'm off to a decent start with a 31st (at the Sabine River) and I'm excited to have that momentum on my side going into Guntersville."

Notable

> Howell's previous Elite Series finishes at Guntersville were 51st (May 2010), 28th (May 2009) and 76th (April 2007).