C.D. McDuffa has a limited history of fishing Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation (ABN) events in recent years. In fact, he said it had been at least 3 years since he last fished with the organization.

He has plenty of experience on Lake Guntersville, however, successfully competing in various tournament circuits.

McDuffa, from the northwest Alabama community of Hodges and a member of the Belgreen Bass Club, put that experience to work Saturday (Feb. 21) in the first ABN qualifying tournament of the year, improving throughout the day to a 23.44 limit that topped the field of 80 boaters. He boxed a solid weight early on an A-rig and had multiple key culls later with a red Chatterbait.

(See the full photo gallery at the following link: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCLbJB.)

Tim Cornelius (Neely Henry Bassmasters) took second with 22.73, and Billy Short (Gadsden Bassmasters) followed in third with 21.64.

Another highlight of the day was a record-breaking performance by co-angler winner Jonathan Barnette. A regular on the ABN circuit, Barnette claimed the top spot with a three-fish limit weighing 16.51, including 6.58 and 6.49 largemouth. His biggest catch was the Lake Counseling Co-angler Big Fish, a new feature of ABN tournaments.

Barnette broke the co-angler three-fish limit record previously held by Greg Wray, who had 16.34 on Lay Lake in 2021. Barnette won by over 4 lbs. with Jeff Armstrong (Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters) in 2nd at 12.02.

Donald Griffith (Wiregrass Bassmasters) boated the Academy Sports + Outdoors Big Fish among boaters with a 7.04 largemouth. He caught the big fish on a Fire Craw Jack Hammer bladed jig with a white Big Bite Baits Kamikaze Craw trailer.

Fished out of Goose Pond in Scottsboro, the tournament was held as a cold front crept toward Lake Guntersville. Several days of unseasonably warm weather had many fish pushed up shallow. Water temps ranged from mid-50s early to over 60 later in the day.

McDuffa caught some shallow, but also went to his “A-rig place,” relying on contrasting baits to boat his winning total. He traveled about “10 minutes away (down the lake)” for an early limit and then came back “real close” to the launch area and culled several times.

“I started off catching them on the A-rg and had about 19.9 somewhere around 9:30, maybe even 8:30 or 9,” McDuffa said. “I started playing around a little bit. Somewhere around 12:30, I drug out the ol’ red Chatterbait and culled. My three biggest fish came on the red Chatterbait, all 12:30 or later. I was still catching them when I came in.”

McDuffa said he practiced part of the day Friday but relied mainly on past success to lead him to his fish.

“Just places I’ve fished before (in other tournaments),” he said. “They just happened to be there.

“I was going to my A-rig place and going for broke. The same with the Chatterbait place. I was either going to catch ‘em or go home.”

In catching his record weight, Barnette took a cue from his partner, his brother Jim Barnette, and made a strategic change around mid-morning. Jim had 4 keepers in the boat before Jonathan scored. He blanked on the first 2 spots before getting on the board upriver in Jones Creek.

“I had been catching them on a rattlebait,” Barnette said. “This week, I couldn’t get them to hit the Rat-l-trap. Jim was catching them on a Chatterbait, so I switched to a Chatterbait.”

He quickly caught his record limit, including the 6.58 big fish, on the bladed jig.

“I didn’t have a fish until about 10,” Barnette said. “It was a slow start for me. I think Jim was picking them off because they weren’t stacked anywhere until we got to Jones Creek. We had caught 7 or 8 in there (Friday). Today was a little slower, but I caught my limit and then culled once.”

In the afternoon, after a move to a spot “right above the (B.B. Comer) bridge,” Barnette caught the other bigger largemouth.

“Most of the time we were casting around the vegetation,” he said. “The second biggest one, I caught out in the middle. (Casting away from the grass), I retrieved down a little ditch and it hit.”

Barnette, a former ABN Co-angler of the Year, said he had experienced some decent finishes on Guntersville, but a win had eluded him. His prior co-angler win came on Pickwick.

“There’s always that potential here,” he said. “The biggest I caught in practice was about 4. I didn’t dream that these 2 fish were around.”

Rounding out the top 10 boaters were George Crain (Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters, 21.16); Aaron Cherry (Lee County Bass Club, 21.04); Griffith (20.82); Dennis Hatton (Belgreen Bass Club, 20.20); Kotaro Kiriyama (Coosa Valley Bassmasters, 19.47); Kyle Lusk (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 19.43); and Jeff Warren (Belgreen Bass Club, 19.40).

Among the co-anglers following Barnette and Armstrong in the standings were Dylan Hatton (Belgreen Bass Club, 11.58); Shannon Oliver (Belgreen Bass Club, 11.41); Donald Fish (Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters, 9.90); Donny Davis (Belgreen Bass Club, 9.83); Jake Childers (Hamilton Bassmasters, 9.72); Sutton Black (Monroe Student Bass Anglers, 9.70); Chris Speck (Belgreen Bass Club, 9.63); and Will Delaney (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 9.32).

Crain and Armstrong took the Team (total boat weight) title with a combined 33.18. The Barnettes were second with 32.16, followed by the Hattons with 31.78. Donald Griffith and Cole Griffith were next with (28.44). Lucas Thornton and Oliver rounded out the top 5 teams with 27.59.

Qualifying teams earn a spot in the state championship this fall. Top teams in that event then qualify for the B.A.S.S. Nation Team Championship in early December.

Another winner Saturday was Kelly Stephens in the Academy Sports + Outdoors drawing.
ABN president Eddie Plemons thanks all the sponsors who continue to support the ABN schedule. They include Academy Sports+Outdoors, Lake Counseling (ABN competitor William “Bill” Weathers), Airport Marine, Office Partners, Fish Life Fish Care Products, Impulse Lithium batteries, AmFirst BassCash, 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.

The ABN season continues on March 21 with a stop at Lake Eufaula. The other two qualifiers are at Martin (April) and Millers Ferry (May). The ABN State Championship will be held Oct. 29-30 on a lake to be determined.
For more information about the ABN and to register for the tournaments, check out the organization’s website at https://albassnation.org/.

Greg McCain is a freelance writer with hundreds of credits in various print and digital publications. In addition to producing photos and content for this website, he is a regular contributor to Alabama Outdoor News (AON) magazine, CrappieNow digital magazine, and the ACC Crappie Stix blog. He is a member of the Belgreen Bass Club, an ABN chapter near Russellville.