Neely Henry - ABT Live Weigh In

https://www.alabamabasstrail.org/tournament-series/video-feed/

22 dang pounds, good grief. And from the photo I saw it didn't look like there was one BIG fish, it looked like they had 5 equal fish.

When I quickly scanned the results, it appeared that someone weighed in a 7+ and one a touch over 8lbs. I was pretty surprised by that.

This is a point I make often.... these guys / you guys who fish these large trails (the ABT, even BASS and FLW guys) just have "something" you don't have. Period. It's not a learned skill, it's not better knowledge of the lake, you cannot explain it. It's a giftedness from God, as if God said "and I'll make this guy supernaturally catch inexpicably large bass from a lake that nobody else does." A VERY good fisherman could fish the Coosa lakes his whole life and NEVER catch a 7 or 8 pound bass, never even SEE someone else catch a 7 or 8 pound bass, and these guys just roll up in a $10,000 tournament and bust em like it's normal. A VERY good fisherman could fish Neely during the week with nobody else on the water, and not catch 22 pounds, but these dudes just roll up on a Saturday with 100-200 other boats and catch them. You can't explain it.

I bet every one of the top 50 boats practiced a day or two and most have years and years of experience e on that lake.

i grew up on the coosa more often than not every 100 boat tournament had big fish like that weighed in

I live 15 mins from Neely Henry, 20 mins from Logan Martin, 50 mins from Weiss, and 1 hour from Lay, my whole life. I fish on average twice a week. I've WON 100 boat tournaments, fished the Coosa River Trail (albeit a few years since), and so forth. it is WILDLY uncommon to see a 7+ fish (again, I'm speaking about Logan and above). Well let me say this....I don't know what's normal on Lay/Mitchell/Jordan, perhaps they do routinely catch that size fish. But you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning 5X than catching an 8lb fish from Logan Martin, and Neely / Weiss are only somewhat better. 6 pound fish are VERY uncommon, but I catch one that big most years on the Coosa, but 7 or 8 pounders?????...naw playa.
Even if what you say is true, consider the odds of what you just said....you've got 200-300 of the BEST fishermen in the state on a lake, and they only bring in ONE fish that size. I can hold my own with the next guy, and I've NEVER, EVER, EVER caught, or been in the boat with someone who caught, and 8 pound fish on the Coosa. I've caught multiple 8 pound fish from Guntersville, a 10 pound fish from Wedowee (and lots of 6+ fish from Wedowee), I'm good enough to catch them IF THEY ARE THERE. If it was THAT common, I would have done it, even if by pure fluke luck. I feel like we throw numbers around that we don't really think about.... Coosa River, in June, on a Saturday, with $10,000 on the line and 100-150 other boats all in your way, 22 pounds, and (rumored) big fish of possibly 8 pounds. That's idiotic, NOBODY should have expected that. Stop and think about those numbers!!!

I fished the Spina Bifida tournament on Logan last weekend, I believe there were 77 boats, and many of the best sticks in this part of the state were there because nothing else was going on. It took low 18's to win, and we finished 11th with 15.68 (which included a 4.96 fish). Big fish was 5.80 (and I swear that fish didn't look bigger than our 4.96). But most of those boats had 11 to 14 pounds, which is NORMAL on the Coosa. There were a bunch of major sticks, guys who have won ABT's, guys who fish at the higher levels of Federation trails and have won boats and stuff, who had 13 or 14 pounds. It shocked them, just like it did me, to see 18 pounds. You know why? Because THAT is one helluva sack on the Coosa river, especially in friggin June on a Saturday with ZERO current pulling. So y'all will just have to overlook my disbelief in how these guys keep winning these big tournaments with stupid inexplicable sacks. It's the ultimate case of the stars aligning and the universe being tilted just right.

18 lbs won the next day as well and a 6 something big fish. Logan is not the lake Lay or Neely are
It took 19.5 to get a check 5th place in a 37 boat tournament yesterday at Lay. But With the rain and wind and days of weather changes those big girls chewed this weekend

It has taken 20 -24 lbs to win at lay every Saturday since February.

ive got a feeling that you think youre a lot better than you really are.

A guide wins but more guides finished way down in the standings of the ABT. I find it ironic some of these guides constantly finish in the bottom of the standings. I will pass on paying $400 a day to someone who's rarely ever competitive.

Took 22 at Logan Martin today with an 8lb big fish in the sylacaugua tournament 19.5 was 2nd

woah woah there aint no way that somebody caught an 8lb bass and weighed in 22lbs on logan martin. just dont happen

It does not happen often at that pond anymore. But with post spawn fish and cool weather, cloudy conditions and current it can.

Couple of these post are classic

I like birdcarver's posts better. Grow up fella's.

Shhh!!! This is just getting good

Yes I saw where Tim caught an 8+ in the Sylacauga tournament, but even he would tell you that's 1-in-a-million. I'm as argumentative as the next guy, but if y'all are truly trying to argue with me that it's expected and normal to catch 8 pound fish on the Coosa, in the Summer (or honestly any time), then you're just trolling to stir to me up.

And Beadle, I'm not disillusioned about my own skill, but I'm good enough to have caught ONE simply by lucky odds in 45 years of fishing twice a week. It's not about individual skill, it's simply about odds. THAT is what I'm so shocked by when I see these weights, and THAT is why I joke that God just ordains some guys to do stuff that isn't humanly normal. IT'S AN ARGUMENT OF ODDS, NOT SKILL!!!!! And then how much more are those odds compounded when we're talking about catching that fish in a major tournament? And then how much more above THAT are those odds compounded when you're a traveling professional who may have never even fished the lake?

Hell, y'all act like double digit bass live under every boat dock. Yet I'm the one who thinks he's better than he really is..... SMH

7.2 weighed at lay lake Saturday. It seems like the summer months are when the big girls get caught on the coosa to me. In the spring you get lots of 4-6 lbers with once a year someone has a 9or 10. In the summer a lot of 6-8s show up, not like 3 per tournament but it's like 1 giant is weighed every week or two from now til August.

I would like to be on a shocking boat and see what happens. The one person I know who has done it said the number of 4-6lb fish would blow your mind and make you realize how bad a fisherman we all are.

That's a good reply, and I wouldn't really argue with it. 4-6 pound fish don't raise my eyebrow, they're really common (I believe we've had a 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 fish weighed in every tournament our club has held this year) And the way you said it doesn't make it sound like I'm a fool with a Snoopy pole because I haven't caught one (here's looking at you, Beadle)

I'm not sure why everybody gets their doggone panties wadded up when I say "8 pound fish are highly unusual on the Coosa", but this is twice now that I've said it and folks have lost their everloving minds about it. My main point was consider how lucky you have to be, to be the THE PERSON who catches that 8 pound fish in a $10,000 ABT. It would be a really lucky day to go to Neely or Logan and catch an 8+ pounder, but it would be a REALLY lucky day to do it in the ABT or any other big-money derby. And while 20+ pounds has become much more common on the Coosa, still consider how infrequently you catch that size limit, and then how lucky you are to do so in a $10,000 ABT. THAT is all I'm saying!!!!!! I'm just blown away at the lucky odds people have.

If you can read between the lines, what you ought to take away from my position is that I do not believe skill is involved, it's 95% luck. Maybe that's where I differ from others, and maybe that's why folks are taking me to task about it. To hear Beadle put it, I'm "skilled" enough to catch 7-8+ pound fish each year on other lakes (including a 10# at Wedowee), and I'm skilled enough to catch 6-1/2 pound fish on the Coosa, but I'm not skilled enough to catch an 8 pound fish on the Coosa???????? Bullshux!!! It ain't about skill!!! It's simply the odds because that many fish of that size don't live there. It's loooooooong odds.

Here's something I thought about earlier that I wanted to point out... Remember a few years ago when Hunter & Canada were winning all these Coosa tournaments with huge bags of spots? Everybody basically ran them out of town because they thought they were cheating. Well here's what should surprise you-- that didn't seem crazy to me at all. THAT is what the Coosa is known for, and it wasn't that uncommon for us to go have 20+ pounds of spots below the dams (we were doing that before it was cool I guess you could say) We used to often put in on 77 right there at Ohatchee creek below Neely dam in the afternoons and it wasn't common to run up there and catch a couple of 5 pound spots. (But even that has become way less easy now) That's all those guys were guilty of--being the first fools to run an hour from Pell City to the Ohatchee dam to catch those huge spots. So it just blows my mind that people were that bent out of shape about two guys catching what (at that time) was plentiful on the Coosa, but apparently those same people think everybody always catches 8 pound largemouths on the Coosa.

I have been on Neely all my life. Fished back in the days of 10 fish bags and a good bag be 38 pounds. Had a couple 34 pound bags back in the 80s. Was fortunate enough to catch a 7.5 in a tx with 33 pounds total to win it all. That is the biggest fish I have caught on Neely. One afternoon we caught 2 dip nets full of spots and LMs weighing 122 pounds and put them in the freezer. Did not think twice about it either. My Dad has a 7 & a 10 on the wall that came from the same stump on back to back casts in Beaver Creek back in 70s. Wont hear anything like that today!

There are some guys that just have "IT". These local guys also are the ones that can put 3-4 days a week fishing too. Keep up with the latest trends, tactics, patterns etc. With the time they put into the sport they still have the "IT" factor too. I have seen it through the years. Some of these guys wont go fishing for 2-3 weeks and step out and catch quality fish and not think a thing about it. It just comes natural. I have a close friend that is this way. Did not have a bass boat for over a year while he was building their house. Got moved in, bought a boat and the first day he was back on the water bam, the pics started rolling in to my phone. He has the "IT" factor.

I will say this also, someone like me that lives 1/2 mile from boat launch and tries to go every chance I get, is sometimes at a disadvantage. You just want to fish, so you fish close to ramp, like everyone else does to all these pressured fish that has seen every bait made. Makes it hard to enjoy the two hours you have this afternoon when you cannot even get a bite.

I caught a 9+ on Logan once. I hate that lake.

That was not crazy and not what got them run out of town. Them winning all over the state like at the mobile delta, Alabama River and on the coosa with huge bags of largemouths while not even fishing for large amounts of time during tournaments raised eyebrows and my understanding is double dipping on Triton Gold and Nitro bonus money sealed the deal.

Well I wasn't going there, but.... (I seem to remember multiple times when their GoPro didn't work either) I guess I was just thinking about how the local folks would gasp when they brought in 21 pounds of spots, and I was like, "what's the big deal?" I don't know if they brought in an 8#'r though

I think they do!


I catch those big double digit bass all the time.

Heck..I dont catch many single digit bass ever.






Oh wait...thats cause I fish for those big STRIPED BASS...never mind....

Yall are fishing for the wrong species. Heck..I use fish the size yall catch..FOR BAIT!

If there is one person getting their panties wadded up in this thread, it is you. Just because others do something you haven't, doesn't mean it is just luck on their part. Sure it may be unusual to do it, but it can obviously be done and is done.

DoubleO, this thread is not about trash fish! You are talking about CARP aren;t you????

BOB, is yer envelope blinking?

People win the lottery. People get struck by lightning (some have been struck more than once). Those things obviously have been done. Were you trying to prove a point? I'm a lot of things, but damn fool enough to believe 8 pound largemouth are caught from the Coosa river on purpose ain't one of them.

Yeah. The point was to quit bitching about it. Carry on.

Trash fish???

Larry I hope they eat every dang bass wherever your fishing! They are King of the fresh water lakes...No predator except us Striper guys!

heck..if it werent for us stripers guys YOUD HAVE NO FISH to catch.....the fish we catch eat yours like you eat Sonic corn dogs.....

Im trying to control em for you bass guys as most hate stripers!

Heck those lil bass? theyre the size of my bait!

Honestly..Ill be fishing..see one of my rods jerking a little..think..Hmmm..that baits pretty active....after 3 or four minutes..i realize some dang 3 pound bass ate my bait.LOL.

I dont even feel em reeling em in..just pull em up and chuck em back. Dang nuisance is what those dang little bass are.


Just kidding Yall...I like bass fishing too! Just had to mess with yall.

I've been on one here at Guntersville with the TVA guys. This was 20ish years ago, and they let two anglers fish an hour before they started the shocking. If you know the lake, they used a giant block net on the King Hollow cove on 227 that goes to the state park from the city. It's where the boat ramp is there right after you cross the bridge.

Donny Mac and I fished in there for an hour - spinnerbaits, jigs, worms, shallow cranks, tubes, anything we could think of to try to catch a 12-incher. Didn't get a bite. We stayed the last 20 minutes on one big dead pine tree that had fallen off the bank, tossing plastics and jigs.

The first run by the TVA guys, I think the shocked up and netted almost 70 fish including a couple of 6-plus pounders. The fish that rolled up off that dead tree shocked the heck out of us. Not just bass, either. Baitfish, bluegills, rough fish and cats were in there.

The TVA guys got length-girth, clipped a fin and put them in one of the holding tanks. They made two more trips around the cove before I left and had info on I think almost 200 fish.

It was quite illuminating. Anyone who ever gets a chance to go in a shocking boat, do it.

But, even the TVA guys couldn't catch an 8-pounder.