NEWS

2014 Logan Martin Lake Tournament Recap

Butler, Tate win on Logan Martin Lake

PELL CITY — To say Josh Butler and Jeb Tate had a good day on the water Saturday would be an understatement. Butler, of Hayden, and Tate, of Dora, won the Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series North Division tournament on Logan Martin Lake Saturday, June 21, with a five-fish limit that weighed 20.13 pounds. They were the only team to top 20-pounds with their catch. They won $10,000. Marty Lycos and Michael Carter finished in second place with 19.99 pounds. Brandon Staggs and Jerry Wright were third with 19.08 pounds. Wes Logan and Kenny Pannell were fourth with 18.83 pounds. There was a tie for fifth place with the team of Hadley Coan and Scott Keeling and the team of Mike Raney and Michael Pharr each weighing in 17.76 pounds. Butler and Tate were surprised with their weight. “We were hoping to have a good tournament, but were thinking we would catch around 17 or 18 pounds. We never expected to catch 20 pounds,” Butler said. Tate said they caught their fish working jigs over chunk rock and pea gravel bottoms. “We had a great day,” Butler said. “Every fish we hooked, we put in the boat.” Butler said he and Tate caught all the fish they weighed in by 9 a.m. Tate said they continued to catch fish for much of the day, but none were larger than the five they had in the livewell. Butler said they added ice to their livewell throughout the day make sure their fish remained healthy in the 90-plus degrees heat. Lycos and Carter caught their fish on Choo Choo lures jigs and Zoom speed worms. Their catch was anchored by a 7.68-pounds largemouth, that Lycos caught while just trying to catch five keeper-sized fish to start the day. “We started out trying to catch a quick-limit using a Texas-rigged worm when that big one hit,” Lycos said. “We had a great day.” “We were blessed,” Carter said. Wright said he and Staggs caught all of their fish from a single spot. “We pulled up on it in practice and caught a couple of good ones right off the bat, so we pulled off and left it alone,” Wright said. “When we drew boat 96, I figured there would be no way we would get to fish that spot. But when we got there, we were surprised. There wasn’t another boat in sight.” After catching a limit, Wright and Staggs decided to leave that spot, bit quickly changed their mind. “Just as I pulled up the trolling motor to leave, Brandon caught another 5-pounder, so we just stay there all day,” Wright said. Other teams in the top 10 were, Justin Atkins and Grant Galloway, 17.37 pounds; Nathan Brewer and Michael Brewer, 16.84 pounds; Joel Green and Allen Johnson, 16.55 pounds; Chris Kanute and Chase Kanute, 16.47 pounds.