18.71 Pounds On Swimbaits Take Electric-Only Battle On Blue Ridge

Chris Gayton and Aaron Cole won the Georgia Total Electric Championship on Blue Ridge tipping the scales at 18.71 pounds.

Forty teams of Georgia’s top electric-only bass anglers took to Lake Blue Ridge in the north Georgia mountains on Feb. 25 to battle it out amongst the best of the Georgia Total Electric Championship’s 10 participating clubs from across the state. Vying for a record payout in excess of $20,000 in prizes, the tournament payout included two ePropulsion Navy 6.0 Evo Electric Outboards and E-Series Battery Packs provided by ePropulsion & Mack Boring Parts Co. that would fully outfit both anglers of the winning team.

Chris Gayton and Aaron Cole claimed the crown and new motor packages with a limit of spotted bass tipping the scales at 18.71 pounds.  

Starting on a calm and cool morning, the blast off is unlike any other bass tournament where the lake roars to life with the sound of outboards winding at 6,000 RPMs and the smell of 2-stroke engines abound. Instead, 80 anglers blasted off in near silence to the growing sound of rustling water as the lake came alive with 40 electric boats traveling to their first spots to outfish the competition.

The fairly clear water in combination with fish still on the move between their winter haunts and prespawn staging areas led to a day of deep-water fishing for most.

Second place went to Merrick McClure and Jeremy Vaughn with 16.98 pounds, and third place went to the team of Dusty Diamond and James Beckjordan with 16.59 pounds.

The Georgia 811 “Contact Before You Dig” Big Fish weighed 4.90 pounds and was caught by the team of Josh Thompson and Tanner Carson. The Overall TEC Club Champions title went to the Small Water Angler Teams (SWAT) with a total of 19 bass caught that weighed 51.81 pounds.

The 2023 Georgia TEC Winners, Chris Gayton and Aaron Cole, are no strangers to high-stakes competitive fishing. They fish in multiple clubs and trails. The winners were already equipped with a Navy 6.0 Evo Electric Outboard on their Fisher 1860 jonboat and were able to make a long run up into the river end of the lake.

“We made our first big run in the morning and worked our way back to the ramp,” said Chris.

When asked how they won, they said focusing on ditches adjacent to upcoming spawning areas in 15 to 40 feet of water produced quality spotted bass.

“We bounced from ditch to ditch throwing a small Keitech swimbait down on them,” Aaron said. 

Merrick McClure and Jeremy Vaughn locked down second place with 16.84 pounds of spotted bass while chasing schooling fish 30 to 60 feet deep using Active Target. They credit their Lithium Pro batteries for helping sustain their search through the day trying to locate the movement of the schools against a stiff breeze. Pearl-white, shad-style baits and small swimbaits did most of their damage. 

The Team of Dusty Diamond and James Beckjordan secured third with 16.59 pounds of spotted bass. Similar to the winners, they experienced a day of mainly throwing small swimbaits on heavy jig heads while covering water in the flats and ditches of the main lake.

Josh Thompson and Tanner Carson, who hauled in the Georgia 811 Big Fish with a 4.9-lb. largemouth, dialed into a different pattern from the winners.

“We were fishing a fluke on a line of docks in the back of a shallow pocket. We skipped it under a dock, and she hammered it. We ended up catching three bass off the same dock,” says Josh.

The team of Josh Thompson and Tanner Carson hauled in the Georgia 811 Big Fish with this 4.9-lb. largemouth that nailed a fluke under a dock in the back of a shallow pocket.

The event was brought to you by ePropulsion Electric Outboards, Mack Boring Parts Co. and Tiny Boat Nation Southeast located in Oxford.

To learn more about the Georgia TEC and find a club to join to qualify for the 2023 Championship, please connect with them at www.gabasstec.com.

Merrick McClure and Jeremy Vaughn locked down second place with 16.84 pounds of spotted bass while chasing schooling fish moving around in 30 to 60 feet deep using Active Target.