LAKE GUNTERSVILLE, AL – Jimmy Bearden holds the 9.43-pound bass he caught to win the grand prize in the Big Bass Splash presented by Sealy Outdoors on Lake Guntersville from April 1-3. He hooked the fish on Town Creek Jimmy Bearden made the most of his first opportunity to compete in the Big Bass Splash presented by Sealy Outdoors on Lake Guntersville. The Scottsboro angler won the grand prize with a bass weighing 9.43 pounds he caught at 11:40 a.m. on April 1, the first morning of the three-day tournament.
The grand prize was a 2016 Triton 19 TRX bass boat powered by Mercury, equipped with Minn Kota, Lowrance, Navionics and Power Pole. The boat’s value is approximately $42,000. “The boat was the No. 1 prize,” Bearden said. “The second-place prize was $2,500. There was a major difference between first and second place.”
The Big Bass Splash format featured hourly payouts from the 7-8 a.m. hour until the 1-2 p.m. hour all three days. Twelve places were paid in cash daily, with the heaviest bass earning $1,000.
“A guy came in 50 minutes before the end of the tournament and weighed in a bass that was 7/100ths of a pound smaller than mine,” Bearden said. “You can’t get no closer than that. “I was told that during the whole history of the tournament, no fish caught on the first day has ever held on to be the overall winner after the third day. “It’s the first time I’ve ever fished that tournament. I’ve always wanted to but never had the opportunity to. I’m very blessed. “I like the format of that tournament. You have one fish to weigh in per hour and then it’s released immediately, so there’s no harm to the fish.”
Bearden caught his winning bass on a quarter-ounce football-head jig at Town Creek. Bearden and his son, Houston, who lives in Grant, use Spike-It dyes, which are specially designed for dipping plastics such as worms, grubs and skirts to produce immediate, permanent color changes. “Houston colored my trailer the night before the tournament started and said, ‘Daddy, you’re going to get a bigger one on this,’ and he was right,” Bearden said. “After I won the boat, Houston said, ‘All right, Daddy. When are we going to fish the next tournament — me and you?’”
Bearden has won other tournaments during his fishing career, but none of those victories featured prizes that compared to a new bass boat. “The motor is torn up on the boat I have now, so I was fortunate to win one. Very fortunate and blessed,” Bearden said.“They’re going to do a replica of the bass I caught and give it to me next year. That’s an added bonus I thought was really special.”
Shannon J. Allen | sports@sandmountainreporter.com