S W IM MI N G
Story & Photos
BY KEVIN HAWK
through shallow vegetation
W
hen I moved from Cali-
fornia to the Southeast
in the fall of 2009 to
pursue tournament bass fishing full-time, I knew I need-
ed to work on my grass fishing
skills if I wanted
to compete on
both the FLW
and B.A.S.S.
tournament cir-
cuits. That’s why
I chose to live next
to Lake Guntersville—the famous grass
fishery in North Alabama.
Once I started fishing Gville I quickly
became overwhelmed by its consuming
vegetation. Hydrilla, milfoil, and eelgrass
covered the lake’s flats and humps from the
shoreline to the river channel.
I decided to divide the lake into sections
and fish them one at a time, which allowed
during the fall
10 ®