05/26/2009 - FIRST PLACE: Aaron Martens: 29-02, 29-12, 28-11, 19-15, 20 bass for 107-08 total.

Primary pattern: Aaron was cranking hard current breaks in 3 to 10 feet of water with a RC 2.5DD crankbait.

SECOND PLACE: Skeet Reese: 25-09, 24-14, 26-02, 27-11, 20 bass for 104-04 total.

Primary pattern: Similar to Aaron's, cranking a RC 2.5 around shallow rock and shell bars in 2 to 6 feet of water.

RICK’S ANALYSIS: After the BASS Elite Series on Lake Guntersville, I can unequivocally say that Lake Guntersville is the best lake in the country, hands down.

Yes, we do hear a lot about Amistad, Falcon or Clear Lake – and those are great lakes – but they are also so remote they do not get a fraction of the fishing pressure that Guntersville receives day in and day out.

When you account for the constant and intense fishing pressure that Guntersville gets from thousands of hardcore bass anglers on a weekly basis, it’s just mind boggling to see what it produced in this Elite Series.

I was as sick as I’ve ever been during this event and had to sacrifice 4 hours of fishing time per day to rest and still caught 25-14 and 26-8 the first two days. Due to the high, muddy water, many of the fish were schooled up behind any little hard current break on the main river. At times I would catch 30 bass in row on an RC 3.5 from those little eddies. Because I was so sick, I caught them until I was literally zapped with exhaustion and had to go tie up under a bridge and take a nap – I’ve never been so wiped out by the physical fighting of bass before.

I’ve been going to Guntersville for over 30 years now and it never ceases to amaze me how magical that lake is. Every time I go there I say: well it probably won’t be any better than the last time we were here – and it always surprises me.

Guntersville is a great example of how extraordinary a grass fishery can be if it is left alone by the managing agency. Years ago the TVA tried to turn Guntersville into a swimming pool by killing all the grass and the fishing was horrible for several years. Now that they have just left the lake alone it has turned into the absolute best public fishing lake on earth.