ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. — Will Davis Jr. insists the fishing is brutally tough on Lake Martin, but right now he is making the most of the bites he has received.
The Sylacauga, Ala., native continues to lead the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Martin presented by SEVIIN with a two-day total of 24 pounds, 9 ounces. After leading Day 1 with 13-0, Davis added 11-9 on the second day, thanks in part to the biggest spotted bass — a 3-6 — he’s caught out of the lake in several years.
“It is brutal out there. I didn’t think it was going to be good,” Davis said. “I said, ‘My gosh, I didn’t know they lived here like that.’ It has been a long time since I’ve seen one that big. It’s probably been 10 years.”
Fellow Alabama pro Josh Butler is second with 23-12 followed by Florida’s Bobby Bakewell in third with 22-3.
Although a weak cold front pushed through the area early in the week, sunny and seasonably warm temperatures have prevailed over middle Alabama. Plenty of bass have been caught, but catching keepers and quality is much more difficult.
For the most part, Davis has stuck to the bank, primarily targeting docks that are located anywhere from 2 to 20 feet of water. Garmin LiveScope has revealed which docks hold bass and which ones aren’t worth fishing. A Davis Baits Wood Jig paired with a 2¾-inch Big Bite Chunk has been his best bait, as well as a popper-style bait.
Each creek he goes into fishes differently, he said, and the different water clarities set the bass up differently. One thing that is constant, however, is the sun positioning the bass under docks as it gets high in the sky.
“Each creek is fishing differently in some aspect. Some fish are shallower in some creeks, and some fish are deeper in some creeks. It is very weird,” he explained. “The water color has a lot to do with it. The clearer it is the deeper they seem to be, and the dirtier it is the shallower they are.”
Davis caught eight keepers total on Day 1, and Day 2 wasn’t much better. Around midday, he only had two bass in the livewell, which forced him offshore for a while.
“I could feel the tires shredding,” he said. “I finally just started running new water and remembered, to do well here you have to run new water. You cannot repeat the milk run every day. You can go to the same area, but not the same stuff.”
There, he caught two spotted bass with a drop shot before fishing new shallow areas the rest of the day. His big spotted bass came late in the day and put on a show for the Bassmaster LIVE audience.
“I pulled up there and told (my cameraman) John, ‘This is a big one,’” Davis said. “I fired that jig up under there and the bass ran down there to it and thumped it. I set the hook, and he didn’t get it. I fired it back over there, and the bait went down and she hit it before it hit the bottom. I knew it was a good one. It is one you have to have in this tournament.”
After landing a respectable 9-7 on Day 1, Butler caught the tournament's biggest bag so far, a 14-5 mixed bag that included several quality spotted bass. Butler, who has already won an Open this season at Logan Martin, is just 13 ounces behind Davis.
“I had to put my head down and stay in the same area I fished yesterday,” Butler said. “I got fortunate this morning and caught an almost 4-pound spot. Just what you have to have here. I was shocked it was a spotted bass. I broke a couple off; it could have been an even better day. In the last hour, I caught a 3-pound spot and another 2½-pounder.”
The Hayden, Ala., native has focused his efforts close to the bank, targeting as many seawalls and docks he can find. The seawalls that have deeper water around them have produced better quality bass.
“The dock bite doesn’t pick up until 10:30 or 11 o’clock, but after that it is lights out. This afternoon, I ran to an area and every single dock had fish on it. It was a lot of fun.”
Bakewell embarked on a similar comeback, as he caught 12-5 on Day 2 to add to his 9-14 Day 1 tally. A key topwater bite unfolded for the Floridian, which got his day off to a positive start.
“I got six or seven bites this morning on a buzzbait, which I didn’t get yesterday,” he said. “From there, I got lucky and caught a fish on a jig at the end of the day. Every bass I caught was out of an area I had never made a cast around in my life.”
Bakewell has mixed in both a shallow-water and offshore strategy so far. He has started his days shallow, taking advantage of the three-hour topwater window around certain types of seawalls. He then went and fished offshore brushpiles that were located in less than 30 feet of water.
Louisville, Tenn., boater Chris Whitson caught the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day, a 3-11 largemouth. Davis continues to hold the overall lead with his 4-9 largemouth from Day 1.
At the end of the Day 2 weigh-in, nine anglers earned invites to the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series through the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers points race. Minnesota’s Easton Fothergill earned the $45,000 first-place prize with 1,606 total points.
Idaho’s Cody Meyer, Alabama’s Tucker Smith, Georgia’s Paul Marks, Georgia’s Emil Wagner, California’s Andrew Loberg, Texas’ Dakota Ebare, Arkansas’ Beau Browning and Canada’s Evan Kung all earned invites as well, but their official points finish will be determined after the Day 3 weigh-in.
Georgia’s Chad Stahl won the co-angler division with a two-day total of 10-7. Japanese angler Satoshi Yaguchi finished second with 10-1 while North Carolina’s David Waack finished third with 10-1. Georgia’s Jason Law caught the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament, a 3-8 bass that earned him $250.
Texas angler Niko Romero clinched the non-boater points race with 1,614 points followed by Jimmy O’Brien in second with 1,530 and Jason Barber in third with 1,523 points.
Lake Martin-Tallapoosa Country Tourism and Alexander City are hosting the event.
