How Tucker Smith won the Guntersville UAC

Tucker Smith wins the big $$$! Tucker is the same dude who famously went out in 2021 with his Auburn bud (and now fellow Elite pro) Logan Parks and won that $1 mil Bass Pro Shops tourney – they split that prize, and this weekend Tucker went out and won another $500K…at that qualify to get in, state of AL Ultimate Angler Championship.

Tucker does know Guntersville, but hadn’t tourney-fished without FFS there before except one time when he won a HS tournament. How did he win it this time? I mean, besides aliens and the same chip Easton Fothergill, Jacob Wheeler and Dustin Connell probably have (okay maybe not DC). Here’s how he caught ’em:

Going in and practice

> “I’ve fished out here for a long time. I’ve lived here on Guntersville for over a year. I’ve got a lot of experience on the lake. But we had no FFS, which is a big thing for me on this lake because I’ve lived here with the technology.

> “But it was exciting too. I knew I wasn’t gonna have to be stuck out in the middle of the lake the whole time. I knew if I found some sneaky stuff and I could have it to myself I might have a good tournament.

> “I looked around a lot. The 2 best places that I found were during the 2 official days of practice….

> “I looked for out of the way places…shallower stuff, deeper stuff. I had 1 school that was in about 22′ of water I was catching some fish out of in the morning. And I had 4 really good places…hat where shallow…and those places weren’t getting touched by anybody.

> “I knew if I was able to keep that stuff…to myself, I felt like I had a good shot to do well in the tournament.

> “In practice I caught some 3-3.5 lbers – I never caught any giant ones. …felt like I was gonna catch a decent bag with what I found.”

Tournament

> “I ended up going to some of my places the 1st day and did a lot better than I thought. I had about 15 lbs the first 20 minutes of the tournament – my first hole. I ran to my next spot and ended up catching a bunch but not really upgrading.

> “Then I ran to a place where I caught a 3 and a 3.5-lber on a rockpile. You had to hit a specific rock in that rockpile to get a bite – something I learned in the tournament. They were down in the rocks…if I could hit that rock and bounce it over that rock I would get a bite.

> “I probably lost 30-35 jigs on this one rock.

> “I had 3 over 6 on that rock the 2nd day.

> “[Day 3] I ran all my good stuff down the lake…it was not happening. I had 4 fish for 8 lbs and it was like 12:30…Man I’ve gotta do something.

> “I had a really good place that was way up the river. I ran all the way up…near the boat ramp. I knew after making that run I had made that call and couldn’t go back.

> “I pulled up, made the lineup, triangulated my cast…with a jig, and ended up catching 18 lbs and culled everything out.”

The spots

> “The rockpile was shallow and the deep spot was almost like a current break [with a shell bottom]. …a lot of current ripping the 1st and 2nd day. They pull current on weekdays and not as much on the weekend.

> “The final day…they were not pulling any water. The 1st and 2nd day [the fish] were sitting there perfect…behind that current break and I was able to catch them on that jig. Once that water calmed down on the final day I had to adjust and move around.”

> The rockpile: “…seemed like there was a little bit of a hole in that rockpile they were sitting in. They’d smoke it and I’d set the hook as fast as I could. …a reaction bite, kind of like stroking it…a lot of times they would spit it before I set the hook.

> “I found [the spots] with side can in practice. I used my side scan pretty much all practice.”

Winning bait

> 3/4-oz Picasso Tungsten Football Jig (gp and tex mex) with a 3″ Yamamoto Yama Craw (gp – “when I was stroking that jig, it would have just enough kick on the fall”). ‘Tex mex’ is “a little bit lighter gp. Really the reason I tied on that tex mex was I broke off so many of the gp.

> Why a 3/4-oz jig even up shallow: “I wanted to be on contact with the bottom the whole time. When you snap a jig and it falls down really quick, it’s a better reaction bite than the lighter jig. They suck it in or don’t eat it.

> “That was one thing that was really key…having a bottom bait. The water is turning over really bad…everything on the bottom is rising up to the surface and the water is stained. Whenever the water is stained and you’re on an offshore bite, try to key in on something that’s on the bottom.

> “The fish seem to bite and feed more on the bottom when that water’s turning over and when that water’s dirty. They’re not super active – they’re kind of methodical.

> “…throw [the jig] around and drag it super slow. …I did the dragging technique and I did the stroking a jig technique to get fish to react – when I needed to try to get one to bite.”

Rest of his gear

> 20-lb P-Line 100% (Soft?) Fluoro – “I was fishing some nasty stuff…tearing up my line, it always held up. I got every single fish in the boat except for 1 – it just jumped off. That line is just a huge confidence thing for me.

> “My rod was a 7′ 5 H Shimano Curado, and I was throwing my Aaron Martens [custom-tuned] Shimano Metanium that he gave me – that I caught ’em at LaCrosse on, that reel. That drag is so good I don’t have to worry about it ever slipping. …perfect drag [is] super key when you’re reeling in fish over 6 lbs – because a lot of times when you set the hook, that fish is gonna do what he wants to do. I don’t have to worry about that fish locking the drag up….”

Shoutouts

> “The Yama Craw came in clutch this week. Yamamoto has really been upping their game, creating new baits that align with the new styles of fishing.

> “Impulse Lithium – my batteries have been flawless all year. [In this one] I ran the livewells all day on high, I was pumping in water all day to keep those fish alive, I was running recirc on high all day. [Plus] Humminbird side scan to find those areas, and Lakemaster mapping was really key to following those contours and finding those hard spots to find those schools of fish.

> “…the Bass Pro guys – their team has been unbelievable with me. My Nitro 21 XL has been awesome this year. It has a huge front deck for fishing off of, a ton of storage…it’s basically my house on the water around the country with how much stuff I keep in it.

> “And Mercury – I’ve been running a Mercury my whole life and never had any issues.”