FLW Tour Championship preview: Logan Martin Lake, Aug. 11-14
Obstacles and possibilities abound for top pros in $1.5 million championship
Heading into the 2004 FLW Tour Championship on Logan Martin Lake, anglers undoubtedly will be facing myriad crucial decisions throughout the week as they vie for the top prize of $500,000. Should they fish shallow, deep or somewhere in between? Is it best to go after largemouth bass, the uber-aggressive Coosa River spotted bass or target a mixed bag? Will the Alabama Power Company, which generates tremendous water current that triggers most bass feedings, keep a routine power generation schedule or throw anglers off by deviating from their preset timetable?
Throw in the usual variables such as weather, wind and the overall competitive strength of the 48-member pro field, and it’s difficult not to come away with the conclusion that this championship is truly up for grabs.
“There are multiple ways you can catch fish here,” said FLW Tour Championship contender Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn. “You can fish shallow, deep or somewhere in the middle. You’re going to see both types of fish caught. And you’re going to see guys fishing a bunch of different ways. There’s something for everybody here. And that’s the great thing about this tournament.”
Lake history, facts
Located in east-central Alabama on the Coosa River, Logan Martin Reservoir sits approximately 30 miles east of Birmingham, Ala. Logan Martin Lake was initially formed by the construction of the Logan Martin Dam, built in 1964 by the Alabama Power Company for power generation and flood control. The reservoir, which borders St. Clair and Talldega counties, extends 48.5 miles from the dam upstream to Neely Henry Dam. Logan Martin covers more than 15,000 acres. It also boasts healthy populations of largemouth and spotted bass in addition to a wide spectrum of striped, white and hybrid bass.
Pros weigh in on techniques, hurdles
Veteran FLW Tour pro and championship contender Clark Wendlandt believes the tournament can be won fishing a variety of different ways. But, as usual, consistency will be key.
“I think you’re going to need somewhere between 10 and 14 pounds each day to move on – unless, you get very unlucky.” said Wendlandt. “As far as I can tell, the fish aren’t really concentrating on one type of area. I’ve caught fish in 1 foot of water and I’ve caught fish in 15 feet of water. You’re going to see some guys fishing a deep crankbait pattern and Carolina rigs, and other guys are going fishing the shallow shoreline upriver. You’ll see a lot of flipping and shallow-water techniques. There will be some dock fishing as well. To me, this lake is going to fish huge.”
Strader agrees that virtually all anglers will be able to fish their strengths due to the wide variety of structure, habitat and forage offered up by Logan Martin.
“You’re going to see some really good stringers,” he said. “There are just a lot of ways to catch fish here.”
Largemouths vs. spots
Unlike most lakes known for spotted bass, Logan Martin houses some of the largest and most aggressive spots in the country. As a result, anglers have a very realistic chance of winning the entire tournament targeting spotted bass alone.
“Spots are totally different on the Coosa River chain,” said Strader. “These spots are a lot bigger and fight a whole lot harder than anywhere else I’ve been.”
“I’ve never been to a place like this with these type of spotted bass,” said Wendlandt. “They are the biggest I’ve ever seen. And they kind of act like aggressive largemouth. To win this tournament, I think that you can catch just largemouth bass, just spotted bass or a combination of both. You can win on any combination.”
The power of Alabama Power
For all intents and purposes, the Alabama Power Company will control the tempo of the bite throughout the four-day event. When the power company decides to generate water, current will increase throughout Logan Martin as a whole, but will be particularly powerful upstream near the dam. Simply put, when the current is flowing, the bass are biting.
“I think a lot is going to depend on Alabama Power,” said Strader. “If they start generating current, the fish are going to bite. The power company will give you a tentative schedule and they usually will stick to that schedule. But if there is a lot of rain, they’ll just go ahead and change the schedule on you.”
Bracket-style championship offers unique challenge
The 2004 FLW Championship employs a unique format that pits angler against angler in a series of head-to-head matchups for the majority of competition. Heading into the tournament, all championship anglers received seeds ranging from 1 to 48 based on year-end FLW standings points. Once the tournament begins, the No. 1 ranked angler (FLW Tour rookie Shinchi Fukae of Osaka, Japan, holds the distinction this year) will be matched with the 48th-ranked angler (Chad Grigsby of Colon, Mich.) Second-ranked angler Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., takes on 47th-seeded angler and local favorite Todd Ary of Birmingham, Ala., and so on down the line.
For the first two days of competition, each pro will compete in bracket-style, head-to-head matchups against his one opponent. Whoever brings the most weight to the scales in total over the course of two days will advance to the “Round of 24” Friday. Consequently, 24 anglers in each division will be eliminated after the second day of competition.
On Friday, the two survivors in each four-man bracket will have their weights zeroed out and square off for another day of head-to-head competition. Whoever brings in the most weight during the one-day matchup will advance to the finals. The end result is that another 12 anglers will be eliminated Friday, while the remaining 12 winners will advance to Saturday’s finals.
On the final day of competition, the advancing 12 pros once again will have their weights zeroed out at the start of competition. Then the finalists will head out onto the open waters of Logan Martin Lake in a one-day battle for the first-place prize of $500,000 cash. However, with a total purse of $1.5 million earmarked for the entire championship, the pro who comes in 48th, or last place, will still take home a check for $15,000.
Co-angler championship follows standard format
In the Co-angler Division, the full field – determined by the top 48 co-anglers in the year-end standings – will fish the first two days of competition. After Thursday’s weigh-in, the top 24 co-anglers who bring in the largest combined two-day stringers will make the cut and earn a berth in Friday’s co-angler finals. There is no head-to-head competition for co-anglers. On Friday, the top 24 anglers who survive the first two days of competition will have their weights reset to zero. After one more day of fishing, the co-angler champion will be crowned. The winner will receive $25,000.
Related links: