Although he’s originally from California, Justin Lucas has lived in Alabama for several years and now calls Lake Guntersville his home lake. That’s the host of this year’s Major League Fishing REDCREST, and Lucas is eager to fish on his adopted home waters.
He’ll be one of the favorites when the event kicks off during a tournament that should offer excellent fishing, as the lake is in excellent shape and the Major League Fishing anglers are hitting it at a great time right at the start of spring.
A Home Lake Classic
Living right near the lake, Lucas keeps an eye on how it’s fishing, and he’s also been watching the weather in the region. The fishing is excellent, and he said the weather is turning around just in time, which should be great for bass fishing at this premier event.
“It’s been consistently cooler than usual this winter and this spring,” Lucas began. “Some of the lakes around here are just starting to hit the high 50s and low 60s, so I don’t know how many fish will be spawning, but a lot of the fish could be shallow when we start practice and start spawning if it warms up some more.”
Guntersville has also been kicking out some big bags lately, something Lucas and others have noticed. “With our format and having to catch a lot of fish, I think we are going to be fishing differently than most of those events,” he said. “If I were in a five-fish tournament, it would be all big baits and things like that, but we’ll need to catch some good ones and a bunch of fish to keep up. I need to figure out a way to get a lot of bites because this one will take a lot of weight to do well.”
There’s a chance that the weather warms and the bass move to beds, which can be a predicament for anglers fishing in this event. You can quickly fall behind if you take too long to catch a bedding bass, as the clock is always ticking, and most anglers should be consistently catching bass all day.
“What I do in this format is similar to how I target every spawning bass. You have to look at their initial movements when you get close and watch that initial impression,” he said. “What the fish does right away is a good judge to see how quickly you can catch them. Depending on how big the fish is, I’ll have to make that determination and see if it’s worth spending the time on.”
Tactics in Play
Springtime is great because so many lures work and can be a player. Lucas is ready for anything, but his first choices of what he plans to use are a swimbait, a wacky rig, and something to flip and pitch to shallow cover.
“The Berkley Cull Shad swimbait could be a player and will be a way to catch a little better fish,” he said. “I like to fish my swimbaits like that on a 7-foot, 6-inch Abu Garcia Fanatsista X rod with a 6.6:1 Abu Garcia Revo SX and 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon. I’ll use that if the wind picks up, and I need to cover a lot of water around spawning areas.”
A wacky rig is another must-have for Lucas and likely many more anglers in the field. Lucas will use a Berkley MaxScent The General stick worm and cast around spawning areas with it. “A wacky rig will be a player, especially if it’s flat calm,” he said. “I’ll definitely pick up a wacky rig in those situations.”
Lucas likes to fish his wacky-rigs on a 7-foot heavy action Abu Garcia Fantasista X spinning rod and an Abu Garcia Zenon X 3000 reel spooled with an 8-pound Berkley X5 braid with a leader of 10-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line.
Finally, Lucas believes a compact crawfish imitator will be a dual threat, and he’s going with the Berkley MaxScent Stank Bug. “I plan to fish that craw on a light Carolina Rig, and fan cast it and drag it around spawning areas, but when it’s rigged on a Texas Rig, it will also be a great bait to pitch to beds,” he said. “I fish it on a 7-foot, 6-inch medium heavy Abu Garcia Fantasista X rod, 8.3:1 Abu Garcia Zenon X reel, and 15-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line.”
Justin Lucas has yet to win a major bass fishing championship event, but this could be the year he adds one to his resume. He’s very familiar with the lake and lives on its shores, so nobody would be surprised if he takes the win at REDCREST.
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