Championship tactics

Logan Martin Lake: Home of the mean Coosa River spotted bass

EverStart Series pro Terry Tucker’s top-water lure had not moved 2 feet on the lake’s surface when suddenly, the water beneath the bait exploded. A spotted bass, jumping over the lure, came up again to engulf it. Only this time the fish did not miss.

Similar explosive action from the spotted bass in Alabama’s Logan Martin Lake is expected when the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship comes to the lake Aug. 11-14. The 48 pros and 48 co-anglers who earned a coveted championship slot will access some of the best summertime bass fishing in the country.

While the heat of summer is normally a time when weights are low, FLW Tour pros should have no problem bringing in limits of spotted bass that weigh in excess of 20 pounds!

“Five good spots on Logan Martin weigh 22 to 24 pounds,” said Matt Herren, a Trussville, Ala., resident and FLW Tour pro who has earned a championship berth. “You get 20-pound sacks there regularly.”

That is no exaggeration. The lake has become what many recognize as one of the best lakes in the country for catching magnum spotted bass – those over 4 pounds.

That is due in large part to the Coosa River spots that are native to the region and grow larger and are far more aggressive than the spots found in other parts of the Southeast, including the Tennessee River System.

“These Coosa River spots are altogether different,” said Tucker, who has been catching Logan Martin spots for nearly two decades. “They’re big and they’re mean.”

Situated near Pell City, 15,263-acre Logan Martin lies about 30 miles east of Birmingham. An impoundment of the Coosa River, which originates in northwest Georgia, it spans nearly 50 miles in length and is sandwiched by Lake Neely Henry to the north and Lay Lake to the south.

And though it exists primarily for the generation of hydroelectric power by the Alabama Power Company, the lake offers anglers some simply dynamite angling opportunities.

A big reason for that is the wealth of cover and structure on the lake. Logan Martin is covered with docks along its shores, but there are also plenty of points, river-channel ledges, humps, man-made brush piles, stump fields and laydowns. So, whether an angler is prone to beat the banks for largemouths or ply his trade offshore for spotted bass, there is no lack of areas to work.

“A guy is going to have a smorgasbord of opportunities,” Herren said. “If he wants to fish shallow, he can do that. If he wants to fish deep, he can do that as well.”

For those looking to chase spotted bass, Tucker said he would recommend starting at the area around Lakeside Marina and work north to the Interstate 20 bridge, which is considered about midlake. On this end of the lake, closest to the dam, the water is clearer and is loaded with docks, ledges and humps, all of which provide ideal habitat for spotted bass.

Tucker recommends anglers start off in the morning by tossing a top-water bait such as a Bite-A-Bait Top Walker or Heddon Zara Spook – both of which have a walking-type action – near any shoreline cover or over the lake’s abundant flats. The spots on this lake will just annihilate these baits.

As the morning top-water bite subsides, anglers can then target docks. The shade from this cover keeps the water cooler and provides the ideal ambush location for spotted bass. Skipping jigs with soft-plastic trailers is an ideal choice for fishing underneath docks or working along the outside edges. However, one of the most effective ways to catch large numbers of spots on Logan Martin is the use of a small worm on a leadhead. Many varieties of leadheads abound, but one of the best for catching spotted bass is the WiredWorm from Conquistador Tackle. Unlike other leadheads, this one has a stinger hook near the tail – an absolute must for the often-pecking spots.

In August, the fishing here can be tough just like anywhere else in the Southeast, a fact attributable to the rising water temperatures. But this year, FLW Tour anglers will have an unlikely ally in getting some active bites. During the summer months, Alabama Power typically generates electricity daily on the lake. This adds current to what is normally stagnant, hot water, and in the process it activates the fish.

When those turbines are releasing water, Tucker said the pros targeting spots should head for main-lake humps and creek-channel ledges. Once there, a Carolina-rigged lizard or a deep-diving crankbait, such as an Excalibur Fat Free Shad, Luhr Jensen Hot Lips Express or Bill Norman DD22, should be the ticket for some bone-jarring strikes from spots.

“This tournament could be won with spots,” Tucker said. “Someone could pull up to the right hump or right row of docks and just wear them out.”

Even so, just about everyone who has fished the lake in summer, including Tucker, feels that the 2004 FLW Tour Championship will be won with a mixed bag of both spots and largemouths. Herren agrees, adding that with different anglers feeling more comfortable working different types of structure and cover, it only makes sense that both species will be present in weigh-in bags.

A self-described shallow-water angler, he said the best largemouth action is likely to take place on the north end of the lake, where there is plenty of wood cover such as laydowns and stumps. Productive areas on this portion of the lake are Choccolocco, Blue and Dye creeks. These creeks feature plenty of wood cover, but, more importantly, are known to have cooler water entering at their northern extremes, a fact that concentrates both baitfish and largemouths.

Buzzbaits and spinnerbaits around the wood cover are likely choices for this end of the lake. However, jigs and Texas-rigged worms around docks are likely to pay dividends as well. But when the current is being generated, look for some anglers to “swim” jigs along the shoreline grass for largemouths, said Tucker.

A lot of what anglers will be doing during the tournament, said Herren, depends on the lake level. During the drought that ravaged the Southeast for four of the last five years, the lake had been down about 18 inches in August. When this occurs, it takes away the shallow bite around cover and grass. Last year, however, the lake was actually up considerably, he said, giving anglers their pick of shallow or deep fishing.

Either way, he looks for there to be at least four or five patterns to produce during the championship. Herren looks for the fierce spotted bass – which are the most consistent bite in summer – to be in the thick of it all.

“Those spots are crazy,” he said. “You are just as likely to catch them in the middle of the day, with high sun and 100-degree heat, on a top-water. You never know with those things.”

Mixed bag

Like past FLW Tour championships, the 2004 event on Logan Martin Lake is likely to be an angler’s duel, won or lost by mere ounces.

With that being the case, many locals feel that to take home the $500,000 first-place prize, an angler needs to go for spotted bass on the lower end of the lake early and then head up the lake for a kicker largemouth when the sun comes up.

On lakes with quality populations of more than one bass species, strategy is often just as vital as fishing ability.