20 years ago my daughter Lauren was born in Huntsville, Alabama.  Because of this, returning to fish nearby Lake Guntersville was an exciting return for me.  We arrived at Blue Heron Paradise RV Resort at 7PM the night before after a 300 mile drive from western North Carolina.  The owner of the park had already been following our journey and encouraged us to join them for their monthly spaghetti buffet and karaoke night which proved to be a welcome reprieve from cooking as well as entertaining.

5:30AM came quickly as we met our guide Mike Gerry of Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service at the boat ramp.  Thankfully we crossed into Central Daylight Time so we gained an hour of sleep.  Today we were going after Largemouth Bass.  Although it seemed early to us there were 30 empty boat trailers already present in the parking lot.  From everything we hear this lake gets as much fishing pressure as any lake in the country.  So how good is it?

Well, at 9:00 AM Taylor caught the biggest bass of his life which weighed in at 5lb 7oz and is now the standing trophy of the trip.  I hooked, fought, and lost a large one myself but he got off.  In total we boated 10 bass and lost that many as well in four hours on the water.  Ironically, everything out guide told Taylor to do he did the opposite.  Keep your rod high, Taylor kept it low.   Twitch your rod tip, Taylor just reeled slowly.  Wait a full second before you set the hook – Taylor just yanked.  I’m not sure but I think Taylor was actually texting a friend when the big one slammed his lure – a technique I’m not sure I can repeat.

When we returned to the dock there was a frenzy of newspaper reporters and a local television crew present to greet us.  We felt a bit like a paparazzi crew was upon us.  Although a bit awkward, especially for Taylor, it seemed to go well.  Everyone was gracious and encouraging which made us feel at ease.  Two hours later we were finally on the road again to Tennessee where tomorrow we will tackle our second doubleheader day of the trip.  This one might be the hardest day of the journey as we fish 4 hours on Dale Hollow Lake, drive 5 hours to Kentucky, fish Kentucky Lakes in the evening, and then drive 4 hours to Pickwick Lake in Mississippi.  We will need to tag team the sleeping effectively tomorrow in order to endure the long day.