By Jason Duran
The Alabama Bass Trail South Division stop at Logan Martin turned into exactly the kind of tournament many expected for late May on the Coosa River chain. Limits were available throughout the field, but separating from the pack required timing, adjustments, and a handful of quality bites that could change an entire day.
In the end, Zeke Gossett of Pell City and Ethan King of Wilsonville put all of those pieces together better than anyone else, weighing 19.17 pounds to win the Logan Martin Lake Tournament and earn the $15,000 first-place payday.
Their five-bass limit was anchored by a 5.47-pound largemouth and narrowly held off Chip Bradley and Nick Harris, who finished second with 18.29 pounds.
The victory came by fishing for quality instead of numbers.
The pair started their morning around the shad spawn, capitalizing on an early feeding window with a frog and swim jig before transitioning into a completely different style of fishing later in the day.
“When it happens, you have to capitalize on it,” Gossett said of the shad spawn bite.
With an early boat draw, they quickly put fish in the boat before moving into transition areas where bass were beginning to reposition toward deeper water. Instead of targeting traditional offshore schools, the duo used forward-facing sonar to locate larger fish holding surprisingly shallow in just 2 to 5 feet of water.
“We were getting less bites, but we felt like we were fishing for bigger fish,” Gossett said.
That adjustment proved to be the key decision of the tournament.
King had originally found the area during practice after quickly catching a 4-pounder and seeing multiple quality fish nearby. Rather than pressure them, he immediately left the area untouched until tournament morning.
By the time they arrived Saturday, the fish had repositioned slightly. After the shad spawn faded, the pair moved roughly 100 yards from where they originally found them and relocated the fish that ultimately carried them to victory.
The duo estimated they caught around 25 fish throughout the day, but their focus remained entirely on quality. On a fishery known for numbers, Gossett and King intentionally targeted stretches that historically produced larger bass.
“Typically in May, 16 pounds wins here most of the time,” Gossett said. “To see the weights today was absolutely incredible.”
The win carried extra significance because it came on home water against one of the deepest South Division fields in recent memory.
“Being this close to home, you expect to do well,” Gossett said. “But to win an Alabama Bass Trail, you have to have your best day against the best guys. For us, it just happened to land on the right day.”
Bradley and Harris Lean on Experience for Runner-Up Finish
Chip Bradley and Nick Harris finished second with 18.29 pounds and earned $7,500 after putting together one of the strongest early-morning patterns of the tournament.
Their limit included a 5.61-pound largemouth that came during the opening hour and immediately confirmed they were around the right class of fish.
“When you catch a 5-pounder on Logan Martin within the first hour, me and him both looked at each other and said, ‘Alright, here we go,’” they said.
The team started close to takeoff and relied heavily on history and instinct rather than extensive practice time. Between family responsibilities and coaching youth softball, they split practice into shorter sessions and focused on fishing conditions instead of overcomplicating the process.
“We’ve got enough history here,” they said. “We just go fishing conditions on this place.”
Their biggest fish came on a swim jig, while additional fish were caught on a Dirty Jigs setup with a Reaction Innovations trailer, a buzzbait, SPRO frog, and minnow-style baits around fish they located on forward-facing sonar.
Bradley and Harris believed falling water and heavy boat traffic changed their fish throughout the day and prevented the stronger afternoon bite they expected from developing.
Even with the changes, the second-place finish pushed them into the South Division Angler of the Year lead entering the final regular-season stop.
Godwin Brothers Continue Consistent Season
Noah and Cole Godwin added another strong finish to an already impressive season, weighing 16.85 pounds for third place and earning $6,000.
Their tournament became a lesson in adjustment and timing.
During practice they located several quality fish around lower-end docks and brush, but by tournament day many of those fish had moved or repositioned after changing weather conditions, rising temperatures, and recent rain.
“We found some good fish,” they said. “They just were not easy to get to bite.”
The Godwins caught one key fish off a bed they had found earlier in the week, using forward-facing sonar to relocate it after initially losing sight of it.
From there, the day turned into what they described as junk fishing. They rotated between shallow areas, brush piles, medium-depth docks, and isolated stretches where fish would position differently depending on the sunlight and shade angles.
“There were just little windows throughout the day where they would bite,” they said.
Their key baits included a squarebill, flutter spoon, spoon, and ChatterBait. They caught around 15 to 20 fish throughout the day, but like much of the field, quality bites remained difficult to generate consistently.
Even without the giant bite they needed to challenge for the win, the third-place finish further strengthened their AOY position entering the Alabama River finale.
The Logan Martin results also reshaped an already crowded South Division Angler of the Year race heading into the final regular-season stop on the Alabama River.
With their second-place finish, Chip Bradley and Nick Harris moved into the AOY lead with 883 points. Chris Rutland and Coby Carden dropped to second with 857 points after finishing 34th at Logan Martin, while Dashton Dawson sits third with 854 points.
Noah and Cole Godwin strengthened their position with a third-place finish and now sit fourth overall with 833 points. Frank Bradfield and Tyler Morgan, along with James Willoughby and James Willoughby, are tied for fifth with 811 points.
Just 29 points separate first from fourth entering the final event, setting up one of the tightest South Division AOY races in recent memory.
South Division AOY Top Five
Logan Martin also produced major momentum shifts deeper inside the standings. Gossett and King climbed to 11th overall after their win, while Stihl Smith and Kevin Scott moved into ninth following a seventh-place finish.
The Alabama Bass Trail South Division will close its regular season June 13, 2026, on the Alabama River, where both the tournament title and the Angler of the Year race remain completely open.
Download and listen to the ABT Podcast for more information about this event and other Alabama Bass Trail news. The podcast is released each Tuesday.
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