Is a spring tournament on Guntersville ever not a slugfest?
It used to be rattle baits that tore up early-spring bass on the lake. Now it’s the Alabama rig. No matter. If you’re not cracking at least 25 pounds a day then you’re not competing.
Unfortunately, Keith Pace wasn’t cracking 25 pounds or anywhere near that mark during the FLW EverStart event over the weekend. The Monticello, Ark., angler finished 112th at Guntersville, dropping him from No. 6 in the Minors-Only Ranking to 24th.
All hope is not lost for Pace to bounce back into the top 10. Look at Kent Ware. A month after his worst tournament in years (he finished 134th at an FLW EverStart at Okeechobee in January), he finished sixth at Guntersville. That jumped him from 19th to eighth.
Jason Smith is another one who will have to try and fight his way back into the top 10 after he slipped from ninth to 16th after finishing just outside the top 50 this weekend.
After all the jostling in the top 20, the remainder of the top 50 were pretty tame, aside from a couple substantial falls. Sandy Melvin debuted at No. 31, George Kapiton fell from 32nd to 60th and Drew Benton went from top 50 (46th) to outside the top 80 (81st).
Check back Wednesday for an update on the Regional and College rankings.
