Angler of the Year Title on the Line

6/11/2010 10:17:35 AM

FLW Tour Season Finale at Lake Guntersville

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The FLW Tour will visit Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Ala., June 23-26 for the final stop of the FLW Tour circuit. The event, presented by Ranger and hosted by the Huntsville/Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau, will feature as many as 300 top bass anglers casting for top awards up to $125,000 cash in the Pro Division and up to $25,000 cash in the Co-angler Division.

“It’s got big ones in it,” said Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., who has four FLW Tour top-10 finishes and is hunting his first Tour win. “I like places like that. I think the tournament will be a deep deal cranking (Bomber) Fat Free Shads out there on those ledges.

“It’s got me confused this year,” Christie added. “There’s water in the bushes, and that’s where I like to be. I caught some good ones in practice, and I just can’t leave them.”

Christie said he doesn’t predict the lake will produce the stringer weights it is capable of producing in the spring time, but he does predict anglers will catch a lot of fish, including multiple 20-pound-plus stringers a day.

“If the grass isn’t topped out yet, (the fish) are going to be on the outside edge and 15-20 feet (deep) out on the river channel points,” Christie said. “If we get lucky and the grass is topped out, there could be some fish caught out of the grass — flipping, topwater and all that kind of stuff.”

The Angler of the Year race will be decided at the conclusion of the Lake Guntersville event. Going into the season’s final event, Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., is leading the pack with 775 points. National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., is hot on his heels with 754 points. Rounding out the top five in contention for the title are Ishama Monroe of Hughson, Calif., (741), Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., (721) and Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., (712).