Bass Fishing
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Nobody tells a story like Zell!
Story Time! Zell Rowland's Best Guntersville Story
02/03/2012
I’ve won twice there. The last time I was there, the first day of the tournament I threw a Zell Pop. I pulled into a pocket I knew I could get a limit out of and started down the bank. Before I was halfway around I had five 4-pounders in the livewell. That’s not bad.
I left that pocket right then and ran to different areas and threw a variety of stuff looking for a real big one. I culled a couple, but when I weighed in I had five that weighed 21-something, and I’m in 53rd place! I’m going, ‘never have I been here!’ That’s close to being like Lake Falcon.
So the next day I get in the boat and am already depressed over what it took, and I’m going, ‘what am I going to do today? How do you beat catching five 4-pounders a day?’ So I thought about it for a few minutes and decided I was just going to fish for monsters. I got the largest sized Money Minnow and tied it on. My co-angler is sitting there looking at me, and he says ‘how’d you catch them yesterday?’ and I said ‘Throwing that popper right there.’ He said ‘Aren’t you going to throw it again today?’ and I said ‘Absolutely not. These guys are killing me, and I’m throwing a big bait. If I get a bite it’ll be a big one.’
I go to the same pocket and don’t get a bite. When I got to the other corner I look back, and look down at that popper, and I know I can catch 20 pounds on it. I know fishing’s not that tough; it’s the bait I’m throwing. A 3- or 4-pounder isn’t going to hit that great big swimbait. So I keep on going down the bank and there’s a log underwater. I threw that swimbait over that log and it hits it on the way back. I said ‘I hung that bait up,’ and I’m popping my line and pulling on it trying to get it off.
Finally I reel down and as I go to pull I feel something move and the water boils on this side of the log! I said ‘I got him!’ He breaks off and jumps, and it was a 9-pounder. My co-angler says, ‘Did you see how big that fish was?!’ I said, ‘I don’t even want to talk about it. Trust me, I don’t even want to discuss this!’
I sit down and say a few words and tie another bait on, then start down the bank again. I tell the guy that one of the best fish I caught on a popper yesterday was right off that sea wall there.’ I fire that swimbait out there and get about four cranks and get four or five little pops on the bait and thought it was a bluegill. I’m talking to the guy not paying a bit of attention to what I’m doing and all of a sudden in my brain I realize that I don’t feel the bait anymore. I pick up on the rod and my line is way out in front of my trolling motor.
I cranked down and hit him, and break the line on the hookset. This fish jumps and it’s a 10-pounder. You could see the bait in the side of its mouth. This guy says, ‘Man, that’s two that would weigh more than 20 pounds!’
I sit down in disbelief and tie on another bait. I take off and run under the Brown’s Creek bridge. I’ve got one 20 yard stretch of bank in there that I don’t show anybody. I pull up there and throw a spinnerbait out, crank it about three times and bam! It was like I was hung on a stump! I came out in front of the boat just stripping drag. I couldn’t get it within 15 feet of the boat because when I did it would just strip drag. Finally I go around the boat once and the whole time it stayed down where I couldn’t see it. I told the guy it’s gotta be one of those great big catfish that weighs 30 or 40 pounds. I’m walking him down the gunwale and he’s still staying down where I can’t see him and he takes off again stripping drag. I told the guy that it’s gotta be a big drum. I’d caught them there before.
He comes around the boat again and I’m tired of this. So I crank my drag as tight as I could get it and I’m pulling. I said, ‘we’re about to see what this is.’ When it got to about where my partner is, his mouth dropped to the floor. When I looked, it’s a 15-pounder! I’m about to cry. I’d put all this pressure on that fish and he’s just swimming.
The first thing to come to my mind is ‘Man, that’s the biggest fish anybody’s ever caught out of this lake. I’m gonna be a hero if I get it in.’ Then I said, ‘I sure hope that thing doesn’t open his mouth and that spinnerbait come out!’
I’d no sooner finished that sentence when it opened its mouth and the spinnerbait came out. That guy with me said, ‘I’ll never forget this trip as long as I live. I’ve seen a guy lose three fish that weighed over 30 pounds today.’
I wanted to puke.
I left that pocket right then and ran to different areas and threw a variety of stuff looking for a real big one. I culled a couple, but when I weighed in I had five that weighed 21-something, and I’m in 53rd place! I’m going, ‘never have I been here!’ That’s close to being like Lake Falcon.
So the next day I get in the boat and am already depressed over what it took, and I’m going, ‘what am I going to do today? How do you beat catching five 4-pounders a day?’ So I thought about it for a few minutes and decided I was just going to fish for monsters. I got the largest sized Money Minnow and tied it on. My co-angler is sitting there looking at me, and he says ‘how’d you catch them yesterday?’ and I said ‘Throwing that popper right there.’ He said ‘Aren’t you going to throw it again today?’ and I said ‘Absolutely not. These guys are killing me, and I’m throwing a big bait. If I get a bite it’ll be a big one.’
I go to the same pocket and don’t get a bite. When I got to the other corner I look back, and look down at that popper, and I know I can catch 20 pounds on it. I know fishing’s not that tough; it’s the bait I’m throwing. A 3- or 4-pounder isn’t going to hit that great big swimbait. So I keep on going down the bank and there’s a log underwater. I threw that swimbait over that log and it hits it on the way back. I said ‘I hung that bait up,’ and I’m popping my line and pulling on it trying to get it off.
Finally I reel down and as I go to pull I feel something move and the water boils on this side of the log! I said ‘I got him!’ He breaks off and jumps, and it was a 9-pounder. My co-angler says, ‘Did you see how big that fish was?!’ I said, ‘I don’t even want to talk about it. Trust me, I don’t even want to discuss this!’
I sit down and say a few words and tie another bait on, then start down the bank again. I tell the guy that one of the best fish I caught on a popper yesterday was right off that sea wall there.’ I fire that swimbait out there and get about four cranks and get four or five little pops on the bait and thought it was a bluegill. I’m talking to the guy not paying a bit of attention to what I’m doing and all of a sudden in my brain I realize that I don’t feel the bait anymore. I pick up on the rod and my line is way out in front of my trolling motor.
I cranked down and hit him, and break the line on the hookset. This fish jumps and it’s a 10-pounder. You could see the bait in the side of its mouth. This guy says, ‘Man, that’s two that would weigh more than 20 pounds!’
I sit down in disbelief and tie on another bait. I take off and run under the Brown’s Creek bridge. I’ve got one 20 yard stretch of bank in there that I don’t show anybody. I pull up there and throw a spinnerbait out, crank it about three times and bam! It was like I was hung on a stump! I came out in front of the boat just stripping drag. I couldn’t get it within 15 feet of the boat because when I did it would just strip drag. Finally I go around the boat once and the whole time it stayed down where I couldn’t see it. I told the guy it’s gotta be one of those great big catfish that weighs 30 or 40 pounds. I’m walking him down the gunwale and he’s still staying down where I can’t see him and he takes off again stripping drag. I told the guy that it’s gotta be a big drum. I’d caught them there before.
He comes around the boat again and I’m tired of this. So I crank my drag as tight as I could get it and I’m pulling. I said, ‘we’re about to see what this is.’ When it got to about where my partner is, his mouth dropped to the floor. When I looked, it’s a 15-pounder! I’m about to cry. I’d put all this pressure on that fish and he’s just swimming.
The first thing to come to my mind is ‘Man, that’s the biggest fish anybody’s ever caught out of this lake. I’m gonna be a hero if I get it in.’ Then I said, ‘I sure hope that thing doesn’t open his mouth and that spinnerbait come out!’
I’d no sooner finished that sentence when it opened its mouth and the spinnerbait came out. That guy with me said, ‘I’ll never forget this trip as long as I live. I’ve seen a guy lose three fish that weighed over 30 pounds today.’
I wanted to puke.
