NEWS

Logan Martin Lake Preview Story With Paul Davis and Josh Chapple

Logan Martin Lake Preview With Paul Davis and Josh Chapple

Lincoln Ala-The Alabama Bass Trail South Division makes stop number one of five this weekend to begin the 2022 season. 225 Teams have registered for the 9^th season of the ABT and are all fishing for a first-place purse of $10,000 with a $37,000 pay out to the remining 40 places.  The first stop is on beautiful Logan Martin Lake.

Logan Martin Lake has a brand-new fishing destination in Lincoln Landing. The town of Lincoln invested millions of dollars into this large facility. Construction is not fully complete in some areas, however, teams will find this new facility to be one of the best on the ABT. With lots of ramp lanes, dock space and parking, teams will see how the town of Lincoln supports the sport of fishing. Logan Martin has long been a great tournament destination for the ABT and this new facility will make it even better.

The team of Paul Davis and Josh Chapple both grew up fishing the lake, and they now call Logan Martin home. They both live in the same neighborhood on the lake. As kids they both spent lots and lots of time fishing with their dads on Logan Martin.  They spent a few days last weekend along with a couple of days this week practicing for the event and found the lake to be in the typical February and March pattern.

The team said, “historically for this time of year a lot of teams will be throwing crankbaits. This lake can fish kind of small for this time of year. The water is currently down a little below winter pool, and that will sometimes group the fish up on long points making a crankbait a good bait to use to find fish. Normally, we wouldn’t say this event would be won offshore this time of year, but the Garmin Live Scope has really changed things so teams can find some of those groups of fish easier.”

The lake can be broken down into two areas: north or south of the landing. Anglers traveling north of Lincoln Landing will find a river style of fishing. Teams often will make the run to the Neely Henry Dam and fish for spotted bass. Fish can be found in the current breaks caused by rocks and lay downs. Paul shared, “there is a good chance the tournament can be won in this area since teams will mostly be targeting spotted bass, and the large spots live in these areas. There has been lots of water moving though the system so the current should be still be good this weekend.”

South of Lincoln Landing the river widens out and forms large creeks and back water. “There are lots of feeder creeks, large bluff walls, and areas with chunk rock and clay where teams can find fish using a Jig and spinnerbait. The key in these areas is finding the largemouth bite.”

Paul and Josh believe many teams will catch limits, and most should have a good fishing day. However, the largemouth fish weighed in are going to be what it takes to win this event. “The team that wins this event could possibly be the team that stays committed to largemouth all day long. They are not going to get many bites, but if a team finds five largemouth, there is a good chance, they could win this event.”

Paul and Josh shared a little helpful advice for teams fishing Logan Martin for the very first time: “Teams that plan on running north need to pay close attention to the map this time of year as the water is way down and interesting to navigate. Many teams can find fish by fishing their own style as Logan Martin has lots of options.”

All anglers should make sure they have checked text messages and emails for the latest information and changes made to keep everyone as safe as possible during this time. There was a virtual meeting posted on the ABT Facebook Page this past Monday night.

All friends and family are welcome to attend this event, bring lawn chairs and practice social distancing. Everyone can watch the live weigh-in and over 4 hours of on-the-water live coverage beginning at blast off through 11:30 on the ABT Facebook page, ABT website and ABT YouTube. The launch and weigh-in will be held at Lincoln Landing 740 Travis Drive in Lincoln, AL.

Download and listen to the ABT Podcast on your favorite Podcast app by searching for “Alabama Bass Trail Podcast.”  The podcast is released each week on Tuesday. 

The sponsors of the 2022 Alabama Bass Trail include: Phoenix Boats, Academy Sports, Alabama Power, America’s First Federal Credit Union, American Trailer Rental Group, BAJIO, Berkley, Big Bite Baits, Bill Penny Automotive, Black Rifle Coffee Company, Buck N’ Bass, Anheuser – Bush, Inc., E3 Sports Apparel, Fish Neely Henry Lake.com, Garmin, Jack’s, Lew’s, Mountain Dew, Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, Power-Pole, Strike King, Sweet Home Alabama, T-H Marine, Wedowee Marine, Yamaha, Navionics and YETI Coolers.