“The fishing this summer has been just outstanding, with bigger fish being weighed in than any summer I have been here,” Shay said. “I can’t believe how good the fishing has been from last summer to this summer.”

Shay said he attributes the huge increase in fishing success to lower-than-normal water temperatures.

“The water temperature is around 83 degrees and typically this time of year it’s around 90 degrees. We’ve only had a couple of days of 90-degree weather in July and August combined so far, just one or two days a week. There has been a lot of cloudiness and some days the temperatures have been dropping down into the 60s. Everything combined has been keeping the water temperatures down and it’s just been beautiful for the fish.”

So beautiful, he said, that just about any tactic favored by an angler has been successful this summer.

“There are so many guys doing so many different things – and it is all working. Everybody’s favorite way to fish is successful.”

Their favorite fishing methods will have to be modified somewhat, however, for the Snag Proof Open Saturday, Shay said.

“It’s strictly a frog tournament and they can only fish with Snag Proof Frogs. They can use the frog almost any way, just as long as it’s Snag Proof. They can Texas rig it, Carolina rig it, drop-shot it and, of course, use it on topwater,” he said.

“If I were fishing the tournament myself, I’d have some rigged up that would go down under so I could fish some of the deeper grass, as well as having some rigged up for topwater fishing, too.”

Shay said the fish are not in a real summer pattern.

“It tends to get a little tough in the summer. They seem to be roaming the grass lines now. They are still eating shad. It’s not quite a summer pattern, but we’ll take it.”

He said Saturday’s tournament will have a three-fish limit and bass of all three species found in Guntersville – largemouths, smallmouth and spotted bass – all must be at least 15 inches long.

“The entry fee is $180 per boat, one or two anglers, and big fish is included in the entry fee,” he said. “First place will pay $10,000 based on a 150-boat field and the payback will go to 20 percent of the field. The payback for big fish will be 100 percent, paid to multiple species.”

Registration for the tournament will be held 3-6 p.m. Friday at the Bait, Tackle and Grill at Goose Pond, with the meeting from 6 to 7 p.m.

Snag Proof Open

Sat, Aug 10, 2013

Lake Guntersville

Goose Pond Colony

Call Jamie Shay 256-599-0132

www.snagproof.com