NEWS

Danny Lavoie and Todd Mahoney Bulldog the ABT

Danny Lavoie and Todd Mahoney Bulldog the ABT
by Dan O’Sullivan

October 5, 2017 – Decatur, Ala. – One of the highlights of the Alabama Bass Trail roster is the amount of out of state anglers that the trail brings in.  We’ve already mentioned some of the states that send teams to fish the ABT in previous articles and one of those teams from Georgia that had a stellar season in 2017 was Danny Lavoie and Todd Mahoney.

The team, from Franklin and Whitesburg, Georgia are veterans of many tournaments over the years throughout the Southeast including BFL division events. However, much of their last several years have been spent fishing on their home lake West Point in Western Georgia.

Growing tired of competing on the same body of water with the same anglers forced them to look outside their home range. “We both have spent quite a bit of time fishing in Alabama over the years,” they said.  “We knew that the ABT went to a lot of the lakes we have always enjoyed fishing and that the competition was stiff, so we decided to give it a shot.”

Like many teams they started the season with a goal of qualifying for the ABT Championship, but they exceeded their goal. “Not only did we make the ABT Championship, but we also made the Bassmaster Team Championship, and that was not something that we expected,” they said. “We’re really happy with the season that we had and are looking forward to both championships.”

As many teams that fish together for long periods of time do, Lavoie and Mahoney work well together in the boat. They fancy themselves as shallow water anglers with a twist. “We prefer to spend our time in water less than three feet deep, but many of these lakes require us to fish deeper,” they said. “We are able to adjust when it is necessary to fish offshore, and feel like that has been a key to our success this season.

They hope that their ability to adjust will serve them well this week on Logan Martin. “We both have done well there fishing with and against each other, so we have high expectations, “they said. “It’s going to be an interesting tournament, the fall bite can always be tough, but we feel like the bite is going to come to us.”

“We are looking forward to it and hope we can continue on the strong season we’ve had with a top five finish.”

The sponsors of the 2017 Alabama Bass Trail include; Bill Penney Toyota, Phoenix Bass Boats, Garmin, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Wind Creek Hospitality – Wetumpka, Wind Creek Hospitality – Montgomery, Alabama Tourism Department, SCA Performance,  T-H Marine Supplies, Wedowee Marine, AFTCO,  Fish Neely Henry Lake.com, Lew’s Fishing,  YETI, E3 Apparel, TVA and Alabama Power.

For information about Alabama Bass Trail and for complete tournament standings visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.