Bass Can Be Caught Shallow, Deep, In Between On Logan Martin In Alabama Bass North Division Final

Over the years Logan Martin Lake has been good to Mark McCaig of nearby Oxford, Ala., and he hopes that good fortune holds Saturday for the final Alabama Bass Trail North Division tournament.

“I moved here because of that lake. The first time I ever went fishing on Logan Martin I met my wife. My future father-in-law took be fishing and I went home and gave a two-weeks notice on my job.”

McCaig was 19 years old at the time. A year later he married that girl he met on his first fishing trip to the Alabama lake.

“We’ve been married for 24 years, so that worked out with her, too,” he said.

McCaig has come to know Logan Martin intimately over the past 25 years and he expects fishing to be really good for the Alabama Bass Trail tournament Saturday.

“The lake is fishing really good right now,” McCaig said. “It will likely take a mixed bag of fish, both spotted bass and largemouths. I doubt that one species will win the tournament, but there is a good population of both.”

He said the largemouth bass population has really come on strong in recent years and this time of year they can usually be caught deep.

“The spots can be caught from two feet out to 20 feet deep. They are real nomadic fish, here today gone tomorrow.”

The spotted bass can be caught using the same tactics as fishing for the largemouths, he said.

“They will bite deep baits, too. You catch a lot of them on jigs and a Shakey head will definitely play a role in the tournament,” he said.

“The thing about Logan Martin is that it can be won shallow, deep, or in between. It’s a really good lake for numbers of fish. You are not going to have the weights you will find at Guntersville, for instance, but I think it will take close to 20 pounds to win it.”

McCaig said he and teammate Tim Hurst, also of Oxford, tuned up for the Alabama Bass Trail tournament by fishing the Weekend Bass Series Alabama South Division tournament last Saturday. Hurst finished 5th with 14.9 pounds, including the second Big Fish of the tournament at 4.39 pounds, and McCaig finished 6th with 14.84 pounds.

“It was good practice,” said McCaig who has won the Weekend Series Alabama North Division Angler of the Year title two years in a row.

Currently, he and Hurst are ranked 11th in the Alabama Bass Trail North Division Points race, but McCaig said he feels they can move up strongly Saturday and possibly even take the points title.

“Not because we know the lake so well, but because a lot of the guys ahead of us don’t know it very well,” he said. “Most of them have already fished the lakes they consider their home lakes and the ones they know best. If everybody ahead of us catches them Saturday it really won’t matter, but if those guys stumble we could move up and have a chance to go fish in Arkansas.

If they climb at least three spots to 8th place they would qualify for the Bassmasters Team Championship in Arkansas and possibly earn a berth in the Bassmaster Classic. The top 8 in both the Northern and Southern Divisions get to move on to the national championship.

The top 50 teams in both divisions also move on to the Alabama Bass Trail Championship in October on Smith Lake.

“The ABT final event on Logan Martin is the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication from the anglers and staff,” said tournament director Kay Donaldson. “I am thrilled with the response this year and I am looking forward to the Championship in October on Smith Lake.”

Alabama Bass Trail – North Division

Sat, Jun 21, 2014

Logan Martin Lake

Lakeside Landing

Call Kay Donaldson 855-934-7425

www.alabamabasstrail.org