Recap Story

By Jason Duran

The Alabama Bass Trail South Division tournament at Logan Martin Lake brought intense competition to Lincoln Landing. With cloudy skies and favorable prespawn and spawning fishing conditions, 225 anglers battled for the top honors and a share of the prize money. A total of 216 limits were caught, and the 40th-place angler weighed in 14.84 pounds. Logan Martin Lake is renowned for its exceptional fishing opportunities and diverse fishing styles. Teams strategically spread out across the lake, from dam to dam, utilizing the lake’s expansive 15,000 acres and 275 miles of shoreline. All these anglers were vying for the grand prize of $15,000.

Blake Tomlin and Justin Foster secured their second ABT Victory with a five-fish limit weighing 19.01 pounds. Their first-place finish secured them a spot in the ABT Championship along with a payout of $15,000. The team shared, "We targeted docks—specific docks that were just deep enough that you couldn't see the bottom underneath them, but not very deep. Not all docks are productive, so it helps to narrow it down to find the ones that will yield results. In each pocket, there were only a few docks that were ideal for us. This lake is filled with docks, but we found that many of the deeper ones, especially those in the main river channel—6, 7, 8, or even 10 feet—just weren’t productive. The docks we focused on were around 2 feet deep. The fish are looking to spawn, and these are the docks they are going to get under. When we visited this lake last year, the fish were in the pre-spawn stage in April. We assumed they wouldn't spawn until the water levels returned to normal, but this year, they are spawning right now, even though the water is still low. I'm not sure why we didn’t figure that out until today." Their plan for the day was to fish for pre-spawn fish using chatterbaits and moving baits, and they hadn't even planned to pull out the flipping baits. However, they ended up using a Texas-rigged speed craw and a swimbait for the win.

Brown & Sorrells Close Behind

John Brown and Trey Sorrells finished in second place, weighing in a solid 18.72-pound limit. Their consistency kept them in contention. Their performance earned a $7,500 prize plus the $2,500 Phoenix Pay Day Bonus. Trey shared, “I came down Wednesday to practice and caught a ton of fish, nothing over two pounds.  I left it with John to practice on Thursday and Friday. He caught a ton of fish, not much over two pounds, nothing like what we caught today.” John added that on tournament day, “We brought lunch, which is unusual for us. We had snacks and a great spread. Today was just two buddies going fishing. We expected to catch a lot of fish since everyone here usually catches 40-50 a day. We knew we could do it, but weren't sure if we could catch the three-pounders.”

John continued, “I was getting our chicken salad and lunch ready when Trey caught a 4.5-pounder, and then the game was on. We caught a second fish, a 2.2-pounder, and by noon, we culled it with our last fish. I told that two-pounder, ‘If you'll make it, buddy, we'll get you on TV.’ So we managed to get him on TV today—that's the most recognizable two-pound bass on Logan Martin.”

Their key bait was a shaky head with a few different worm types, including a fitness worm, a magnum fitness worm, and the classic green pumpkin color. They felt the fish could have weighed more last week since they appeared to have mostly spawned out. Their secret to winning? Making lunch and just being two buddies enjoying a day of fishing.

Staggs & Hamaker Round Out the Top Three

The team of Eric Staggs and Jason Hamaker secured third place with an impressive catch weighing 17.94 pounds, keeping the competition fierce at the top. Jason shared, "I came last weekend to practice and stayed shallow. I spent most of the time throwing a chatterbait and a square bill, catching some decent fish. However, when I returned to those same areas today, I didn’t get a bite. We fished that way for an hour and a half, maybe two hours, and then I got lucky and picked up a worm, casting it over there and catching a four-pounder. After that, Eric picked up a worm and culled a good fish, and we spent the rest of the day doing that." The team noted that they realized the fish were still there; they just wanted something different today. When asked about this, they explained, "I think it had a lot to do with the cloud cover today. I believe that changed the way the fish were positioning themselves. Most of the ones we caught were along the bank, but they just weren't interested in other baits. We likely caught around 25 to 30 fish by 10 o'clock." Their key baits included a bone and chartreuse Spook, a Berkley Frittside crankbait in shad color, and a Zoom Magnum Finesse worm. Jason added, "I wish we had started doing what we figured out a little bit earlier. After the good practice we had, it was hard to make the change. I'm ecstatic, but we just got lucky—it all started with that one catch, and then I thought, ‘Yeah, there’s something to this.’ So, we started running with it." They took home a prize of $6,000, along with a $1,000 AmFirst bonus.

The top ten standings are below. For a complete list of standings, please visit the results page.

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The 2025 Alabama Bass Trail Sponsors Include: Phoenix Boats, AMFirst, Landers – McLarty Chevrolet, McGraw – Webb Chevrolet, Rapala, VMC, Crush City, Buffalo Rock, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Jack’s, Garmin, Lew’s, Strike King,Southern Protection Agency, Alabama State Parks, Halo Fishing, Snag proof, NetBait, Bait Fuel, TH Marine Supplies, Power-Pole, Pro Guide Batteries, American Trailer Rental, Yamaha, Anheuser-Busch, American Baitworks, E3 Sports Apparel, FishAlabama.org, Sweet Home Alabama, and Alabama Mountain Lakes.