Division 2 and EQ competition continues this week at the 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series Presented by SEVIIN Reels at Alabama’s Logan Martin Lake
With just three events complete and six more to come, the 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series Presented by SEVIIN Reels is just getting started. Nonetheless, a handful of EQ competitors – anglers fishing all nine 2024 Bassmaster Open events hoping to graduate to the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series – are navigating fierce Opens competition and separating themselves from the rest of this series’ deep pool of bass-catching talent.
The top nine EQ anglers at the end of the 2024 Bassmaster Opens season will earn invitations to the Bassmaster Elites next season. After three events, Canadian angler Evan Kung currently leads the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers (EQ) race with 568 points. Texas pro Dakota Ebare is second with 555 points, followed by Matt Adams in third with 529, Mike Surman in fourth with 504, and Easton Fothergill in fifth with 502 points. Andy Newcomb is sixth with 501 points, followed by Bobby Bakewell in seventh with 491, Cody Meyer in eighth with 491, and Christian Ostrander is currently on the bubble in ninth with 488.
Thursday morning marks the start of the fourth Opens event of the season – the second in Division 2 – when the 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series Presented by SEVIIN Reels at Logan Martin Lake kicks off in east-central Alabama. Competition days are Thursday through Saturday, May 2-4, with daily takeoffs from Lincoln Landing at 6 a.m. CT and weigh-ins each day back at the landing at 2 p.m.
Situated about 30 miles east of Birmingham, Logan Martin is a 17,000-acre Coosa River impoundment harboring healthy populations of largemouth and spotted bass. But rising water levels are impacting bass behaviors every day, as the Alabama Power Company is currently in its annual process of filling the lake to full pool.
Nania on Lake Levels
Cropwell, Alabama pro and Opens EQ angler, Joey Nania, calls Logan Martin his home lake, guiding anglers there over 100 days each year. On Monday of this week, Nania – currently 28th in the Opens EQ points race – said lake levels had risen three feet in the past two weeks, and that he expected the waters to rise eight more inches before competition starts on Thursday.
“The lake is going to be filling until Thursday – the first day of the tournament – when it is scheduled to reach full pool. It’s going to be fun to see who figures it all out,” says the SEVIIN Reels pro. “I’ve dealt with this every spring for the past thirteen years or so, so I’ve got a pretty good gameplan, but every year is different.”
One of the things that is different this spring is the fact that there’s no current running through Logan Martin.
“We haven’t had much rain at all this spring,” Nania says. “In a normal year even when the lake is filling, they’ll still run a little water, but not this year. We may get a little rain the day before the tournament, but they aren’t scheduled to run any current during tournament hours all three days, which can make a tricky situation even wilder. It’s a lot of variables. We’ve got fish transitioning in all directions… largemouth… spots… and it’s changing every day. Nobody is going to win this one doing any one thing. It’ll be a junk-fishing thing with both shallow and deep patterns.”
Nania feels an enviable confidence that comes from his intimate knowledge of his home waters, and while he’s not ready to reveal his tournament strategy to the world, he did divulge one presentation he’ll likely lean on. “I can’t afford to make these other Opens anglers any better than they already are!” he says, “but I will tell you that I’ll be throwing a finesse jig on a 72H rod and a SEVIIN GF reel a good amount during the competition.”
Outside POV
Maple Grove, Minnesota pro, Chad Grigsby, is currently 16th in Opens EQ points, thanks, in part, to a strong 6th-place finish at Santee-Cooper Lakes earlier this season. The St. Croix Rod and SEVIIN Reels pro comes into the Logan Martin Open on a level playing field with most of the rest of the competitors, all of whom have been trying to learn as much as possible about the lake’s numerous docks, stump flats, creeks, brush piles – and its changing conditions – throughout practice.
“It’s been 20 years since I fished here,” Grigsby says. “So, I’m really beginning from nothing here, which isn’t a terrible thing. It’s been busy here all week with quite a bit of pressure and traffic. It’s tough, but I’m getting a lot of bites from both largemouth and spots, but not much in the way of size.”
Despite his reports of a solid shad spawn taking place, the veteran angler describes Logan Martin’s bass as scattered. He agrees with Nania’s assessment that no single pattern or presentation will dominate. “They’re on the banks, the docks, the brush piles, and offshore,” Grigsby says. “A buddy pulled up to me yesterday and gave me a hard time because I had 17 rods on my deck. I’ve used 14 of them trying to figure out my best options!”
One technique Grigsby feels is going to play is a dropshot rig in Logan Martin’s numerous brush piles. “A lot of these fish have spawned and the females are holding in certain brush piles,” he says. “At the same time, I think there are still a lot of pre-spawn fish staged and waiting for lake levels to normalize, so certain transition areas are holding both, and these fish will all be susceptible to a dropshot.”
St. Croix & SEVIIN Rewards Programs
Once again, the St. Croix Rewards Program and SEVIIN Rewards Program will provide the opportunity for additional payouts to any registered boater or co-angler fishing St. Croix rods or SEVIIN reels at the Logan Martin Open.
Each program pays $1,000 to any registered boater who wins an Open tournament fishing St. Croix rods or SEVIIN reels, or $500 to the highest-finishing registered top-10 boater fishing St. Croix rods or SEVIIN Reels.
Similarly, each program awards $500 to any registered co-angler who wins an Open tournament fishing St. Croix rods or SEVIIN reels, or $250 to the highest-finishing registered top-10 co-angler fishing St. Croix rods or SEVIIN reels.
Since these are two separate contingency programs, a registered angler fishing both St. Croix and SEVIIN who wins or finishes highest in the top 10 would receive both rewards – up to $2,000 for a boater and up to $1,000 for a co-angler.
Anglers must pre-register to be eligible to win these contingency programs. Registration takes place at the St. Croix / SEVIIN tent prior to the start of competition at each tournament.
2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Presented by SEVIIN Reels Schedule
Division 1
February 1-3, Lake Okeechobee, Clewiston, Florida
March 7-9, Santee Cooper Lakes, Clarendon County, South Carolina
October 10-12, Lake Hartwell, Anderson, South Carolina
Division 2
February 15-17, Lake Ouachita, Hot Springs, Arkansas
May 2-4, Logan Martin Lake, Lincoln, Alabama
June 20-22, Lake Eufaula, Eufaula, Oklahoma
Division 3
July 11-13, Lake St. Clair, Macomb County, Michigan
August 22-24, Leech Lake, Walker, Minnesota
September 12-14, Mississippi River, La Crosse, Wisconsin
Follow the Action
Bassmaster LIVE will be streaming action from the Logan Martin Open on bassmaster.com on Saturday, May 4.
Follow Joey Nania on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or through his website, joeyfishing.com.
Follow Chad Grigsby on Instagram, or his YouTube channel.
About St. Croix Rod
Headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly producing the “Best Rods on Earth” for over 75 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with skilled craftsmanship, St. Croix is the only major producer to still build rods entirely from design through manufacturing. The company remains family-owned and operates duplicate manufacturing facilities in Park Falls and Fresnillo, Mexico. With popular trademarked series such as Legend®, Legend Xtreme®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph®, Mojo, and BASSX, St. Croix is revered by all types of anglers from around the world.
About SEVIIN Reels
Wherever and however you fish, the reel in your hand should help create better experiences. Born from St. Croix’s seven decades of design and manufacturing expertise, industry-leading customer service, and unbroken private ownership by the Schluter family dating back to 1977, SEVIIN reels are meticulously engineered and purpose-built to help anglers conquer every species on every piece of water on the planet. SEVIIN focuses on reels and reels only, designing and crafting products that improve the angling experience, regardless of the rods anglers choose. Seven seas, seven continents, seven days a week, SEVIIN reels are fueled by a collective love of fishing surpassed only by a passion to deliver the most reliable reels on the water.
