This past week has been a bit different for me — I spent the early part of it in Arkansas turkey hunting with my good friend Steve from Ohio. We hunted for two days and I was fortunate enough to get my very first turkey. Definitely one of those memories I’ll hang on to for a long time. After that, we packed up, hit the road, and headed back to Guntersville to start preparing for the Captain D’s tournament.We kicked off practice on Wednesday and by Friday, we felt like we had it dialed in. Not trying to sound cocky, but we had located some truly big post-spawn females and figured out the bait they wanted more than anything else we had tried all week.During practice for the Captain D’s tournament, Steve and I were averaging around 50 bites a day. Most of the fish were in that solid 2- to 3-pound range, with several pushing 3.5 to 4 pounds. These were quality bites, no doubt — but not exactly the ones we were targeting. Because we were focused on locating key areas and not drawing extra attention, we often shook fish off or let them come off at the boat. We weren’t trying to land every one of them — just get a look, take note of the size, and keep our spots under the radar.By late Thursday and into Friday, we started seeing those big post-spawn fish showing up on short-stay spots — places they only hold on for a few days. These are often the biggest fish in the lake, and it’s a really cool thing when you catch one and know exactly why they’re there. We found more than a few of those places.Come tournament day, we had a great boat number — 19. I’ve had some strong finishes in this event before… second, fourth, seventh, tenth — but that win has always slipped through. Unfortunately, it did again this year. We had an issue with the boat not running right; read more https://www.guntersvillebassguides.c...-in-early-may/