09-05-2011, 09:00 AM
Had the opportunity to spend 12hrs on the water with a couple of retired Vet Arm Rangers, Doug Dever and David Raney of Huntsville, Alabama. Doug and Dave had one goal with booking this trip, they wanted a BIG Spot. They fish Lake Guntersville on a regular basis so catching big bass is not uncommon for these two, but they&#39;d never tangled with a trophy Spot and they wanted to see what all the fuss was about. They were about to get their chance. I decided the best shot at getting both guys a true giant Spot on a holiday weekend was to take them night fishing and throw big Crankbaits, Spinnerbaits, and Jigs. Off we went.<br /><br />We fished from 10pm Saturday night-10am Sunday morning. On our first stop I had David on front deck beside me telling him what we were fishing (structure) when I feel the boat shift and can tell by the way his line is moving he has a really big fish, that along with all the straining and grunting kinda give it away . Not long after he hooks it we catch a glimpse just outside our fluorescent light a HUGE Spot clear the water. After a hard fight Dave boats his biggest ever Spot at 5.78lbs on Cul-M-Rites !!! They guys were freaking out. I put the fish in the livewell for a few minutes so we could finish fishing the ledge thinking we may get another big one to take pics. Less than 20mins later I hear Doug on the back deck yell, BIG ONE!!! The fish runs at the boat and when he caught up with it, it literally almost took his rod. After a long fight we net another huge Spot at 5.27lbs, Doug&#39;s biggest Spot.<br /><br />Less than an hour in we have two personal bests. The remainder of the night we fished a ton of stuff and had a slow night. We boated a couple more 3&#39;s and a some other small fish but it was tough. At daylight the plan was to start shallow and quickly go deep so they guys could learn sonar sight fishing/interpretation. We boated approx a dozen Spots and a couple of toothy critters between 8a-9:30a from 25-40ft.<br /><br />The Walleye bit custom painted Gay Blades.<br /><br />Thanks again for the trip Doug and Dave. And thank you for your service to this country as well. You guys were a ton of fun on the marathon !!!<br /><br />LB