“The top three are separated by just 10 points and all three of these guys have a really good chance of being the Angler of the Year,” said BWS Ornamental Director Randy Sullivan. “They are all right there together, so it’s a anybody’s ballgame.”

The Alabama North is one of the larger BWS divisions with an average of 70 or so boaters per tournament which makes for some close points points production among the anglers, Sullivan said.

“That is what is really neat about these larger divisions. In the smaller divisions you might have to fish one, two or three tournaments to slide into the top 40, but if you are fishing one of the bigger divisions like the Alabama North you have got to be pretty good just to make it to the top 40.”

If a division averages 80 boats that means there are 80 fishermen in each event which increases the possibility of accumulating points if an angler does pretty well in several tournaments, Sullivan said.

“Some of the smaller division average 30 or 40 boats so you pretty much have to catch fish in just one tournament to make the regional. In the bigger ones you have to fish all the events and catch more fish just to qualify at the end of the season.”

Bradley Jones of Aragon, Ga., leads the standings with 974 points heading into the two-day final which awards double points. Terry Tucker of Gadsden, Ala., is second with 965 points, and Mark McCaig of Oxford, Ala, is third, just one point behind Tucker.

Jones started out of the gate slow, finishing 21^st in the first tournament of the year in February on Lake Guntersville, but he recovered nicely with a 3^rd place finish in April on Weiss Lake. In May he was 5^th on Lake Neely Henry, but he moved to the top of the standings with a first place finish on Weiss Lake in July.

“I am not really sure what this cooler weather is going to do to the fish,” said Jones. “They were bunched up, but I am scared the fish might scatter out a little bit now. I’m going to go fish the next few days and hope I can find something before the tournament starts.”

Jones is an admitted shallow water angler and he said he believes the fish will be caught shallow.

“I love to flip and throw topwater and I really think that is how the tournament will be won unless they move some current and then the deep fishermen will probably catch them pretty good because it is the Tennessee River. It’s going to be a matter of finding the right group of fish and staying on them,” he said.

“The ideal situation for me would be for the sun to shine all day long and start off by getting a couple of good fish on top and then go flip where I caught those fish for the rest of the day.”

The top 40 boaters and top 40 co-anglers in this weekend’s tournament will be invited to fish the Southeast Regional Championship at Clarks Hill Lake near Augusta, Ga., Oct. 5-6. The regional will feature teams from the Alabama North, Alabama South, Tennessee East, South Carolina and Florida Divisions.

From the regional championship, the top 50 boaters and top 50 co-anglers will qualify for the Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship Nov. 4-10 on Lake Sam Rayburn in Texas.

 

Bassmaster Weekend Series – Alabama North Division

Aug 25-26, 2012

Lake Guntersville

Val-Monte Resort / Bucky Howe

Call Randy Sullivan 256-230-5633

www.abaproam.com