Gossett’s Plan B nets Eufaula title
By Greg McCain

Zeke Gossett normally likes to fish shallow in the spring on Lake Eufaula.

The young Coosa River guide works the plentiful grass beds and shallow brush on the lake, which also provides the possibility of finding bedding fish even at an advanced time in the spawning cycle. Like most high-level fishermen, however, Gossett knows when to move on to plan B.

That scenario presented itself early in the Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation qualifier Saturday (April 20) on Eufaula. Gossett abandoned his shallow-water patterns around mid-morning, opting instead for mid-depth brush piles on the lower end of the lake to locate quality largemouth. The result: another ABN win for Gossett (Shotgun Sports Supply).

His five-fish limit of 21.10 easily outdistanced the boater contingent in the third ABN event of the year.  Coby Carden (LA PO Boys), a regular tournament winner with the ABN, finished second at 16.73, and Sam Hanggi (Auburn University Bass Club) took third with 16.71.

On the no-boater side, Tim Fox topped the back-of-the-boat crowd with 10.81, and he also landed the Academy Sports + Outdoors Big Fish, a 5.15 largemouth. Fox (Wiregrass Bassmasters) fished behind Shane Powell (Wiregrass Bassmasters), another regular winner on Eufaula.

A field of 71 boats fished the tournament out of Lake Point State Park, just north of the city of Eufaula. Afternoon storms arrived as predicted in the area, but the tournament and weigh-in were concluded without incident.

“I had a shallow spot that I was kind of banking on, and it just didn’t work out,” Gossett said. “It didn’t happen.

“We started running brush. Dad (Curtis Gossett) lost a good one, and I caught a little spotted bass about two-something pounds. About 9:45 or 10, we made a change and went way down the lake. I pulled up on a pile and caught a five and a three-something.

“We fished around for a little while and pulled up on another pile about 12 and caught another five and a three.”

Gossett (check zekegossettfishing.com for guided trip information) eventually caught all of the fish that he weighed around brushpiles in 12-15 feet of water. He caught most fish on a Strike King 4.75 Rage Swimmer.

“Typically, I fish shallow this time of year,” he said. “I practiced up shallow Thursday and Friday morning and caught one four-pounder. That was it.

“After that, I moved to the brushpiles. I didn’t catch any real big fish out of the piles, maybe one close to four pounds, but I got several bites so I knew that was the deal. Actually, I was targeting brush shallow, but that didn’t work.”

Unlike Gossett, most of the other top finishers did locate their fish shallow. Carden boated all of his total in the first couple of hours and then unsuccessfully sought a big fish the remainder of the day.

“I caught them early this morning on a frog around a shad spawn,” Carden said. “I’ve been running around all afternoon trying to get a big bite, and I haven’t had one yet. I haven’t culled anything since about 8:30 this morning.”

On the co-angler side, Fox made quick work in building his three-fish limit.

“It started off pretty quick,” he said. “ We pulled up on a spot about 8, and I caught the big fish (on a spinnerbait).”

Fox, winning his first ABN title, said he caught the other two bass in his limit on a Senko.

“It was my first time on Eufaula this year,” he said. “We didn’t practice, but I had a good partner.”

Charles Rosato (Birmingham Bass Club) finished second among co-anglers with 9.66. He fished with ABN veteran Lee Byrd, and they went looking for fish around a shad spawn early. He said the bass were there but would not commit to their baits. The fruitless morning hours quickly turned around late in the day.

“We found one magic oxbow up the creek (in Cowikee), and I caught everything that I weighed,” Rosato said.

Throwing a white Horny Toad, Rosato found that the bass in the oxbow would bite under cloud cover.

“We finally ran out of white (frogs) and started throwing bruised banana,” he said. “It didn’t seem to matter as long as the sun wasn’t shining. Every time it was overcast, the fish would start biting again.”

Rounding out the top 10 on the boater side were Evan Rice (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 16.00); Larry Bullock (New Line Bass Club, 13.45); Kenny Smith (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 13.43); Joe Lay (Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters, 13.03); Landon Christian (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 12.04); Pat Murray (Belgreen Bass Club, 11.65); and James Hardy (Shotgun Sports Supply, 11.58).

Lay, who won the first ABN qualifier this year on Lake Martin, maintained his Angler of the Year lead after three events. Noah Godwin (Pro Line Bassmasters) and Ferlin Weeks (Belgreen Bass Club) follow Lay in the standings.

On the co-angler side, other top finishers behind Fox and Rosato were Matt Hanggi (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 8.18); Andy Waldrop (Gadsden Bassmasters, 7.43); Dale Westmoreland (New Line Bass, 7.21); Johnny Clark (W Alabama Bass, 7.15); Jordan Luster (Tallapoosa River Anglers, 5.99); Alan Cantrell (Winfield Bassmasters, 5.97); Bill Weathers (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 5.92); and Jonathan Barnette (Carbon Hill Bass Club, 5.84).

Westmoreland led the co-Angler of the Year standings after the event, followed by Rosato and Greg Wray (Tennessee Valley Bass Club)

The Hanggis won the Team title with a 24.89 total. Other teams who qualified for that portion of the state tournament in the fall included the Gossetts, Bullock and Westmoreland, Powell and Fox, Evan Rice and Avery Phillips; Byrd and Rosato; and Kyle Glasgow and Alan Cantrell.

Zeke Gossett, who also earned contingency bonuses from Triton Gold and AmFirst as well as first-place money, concluded a lucrative day by being the top finisher among Fishin’ For A Cure participants. ABN competitors pay $25 per tournament or $100 for the year to participate in F4AC with the money going to support Children’s of Birmingham. Through the years, the ABN has contributed over $300,000 to help fight childhood diseases at the hospital.

Andy Folds (Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters) won the $100.00 drawing from Academy and a $100 check from the ABN. The Academy drawing will be a regular feature of the ABN tournaments again this year. Anglers submit their Academy receipts at weigh-in, and a winner will be rewarded at each event.

President Eddie Plemons thanks all the sponsors who support the ABN schedule. In addition to Academy, they include Airport Marine, Impulse Lithium batteries, AmFirst BassCash, Fish Life Fish Care Products, Office Partners, Halo Rods, Radicull Culling Devices, Davis Bait Co., George Paint and Body, BassCats Boats, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Mercury, Motor Guide, Lowrance, NetBait, Shell, Hammer Rods, Shelby County, Strike Zone Lures, Charlie’s BBQ, the Rod Glove, T-H Marine, Power-Pole, and Alabama Hosting. Plemons emphasized that ABN members must sign up each year to be eligible for contingency prizes from organizations that offer them. Impulse Lithium is the latest product to offer cash prizes to ABN competitors who are signed up with the company.

The 2024 ABN season continues in early June with a qualifier on Pickwick Lake in northwest Alabama. The 2024 state championship will be held on Lay Lake in late October.

Greg McCain is a freelance writer from Russellville, AL, and a member of the Belgreen Bass Club. In addition to producing content for this website, his credits include articles in Georgia Outdoor News, the ACC Crappie Stix blog, the Cornfield Fishing Gear website, CrappieNOW online magazine, and Great Days Outdoors.