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Top lures at Logan Martin Lake Open

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Photography by
Andy Crawford
Photography by
Craig Lamb
Photography by
Chase Sansom
Photography by
Grant Moxley
An early morning shad spawn and bass in all phases of the spawning cycle. Those were the opportunities in play at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Logan Martin presented by SEVIIN. 
The bite was on for prespawn, spawn and postspawn bass from one end of the Coosa River impoundment to the other. Josh Butler, a local angler with pro credentials, scored a wire-to-wire win. 
Butler’s three-day total was 49 pounds. On Day 1, he caught a game-changer largemouth weighing 7-13 that ultimately sealed the deal. Even better, Butler received an invitation to the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors, and he is now inside the cut of the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers. 
“That was a game changer,” Butler said. “That fish was probably the reason I won.” Butler fished current seams and rocks for spawning spotted bass. With the spawning season underway, check out his top lures and those used by the Top 10 anglers, and get stocked up for the spring. 
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Zeke Gossett (10th; 36-7)
Gossett covered the water column with a crankbait, swimbait and drop shot. 
A top choice was a 6-inch Strike King KVD Filler Worm, rigged on a No. 1 Owner Cover Shot Hook, with a 1/4-ounce Elite Tungsten Drop Shot Weight.
Gossett used a Strike King 6XD to cover deeper strike zones. 
For finesse tactics, he used a Strike King 3X Z-Too Soft Jerkbait rigged on a 1/4-ounce Owner Ultrahead Round Jig.
Danny McGarry (9th; 38-8)
McGarry covered shallow and deep strike zones with an underspin rig and Carolina rig. 
He used this 5/16-ounce Great Lakes Finesse Sneaky Underspin with a swimbait.
McGarry made a Carolina rig with an X-Zone Lures Adrenaline Craw, rigged on a 3/0 BKK Chimera Hook. 
Yui Aoki (8th; 38-10)
Aoki used a jig and Damiki rig to cover his strike zones.
He made the Damiki rig with a 5-inch Dstyle Virola swimbait on a 1/4-ounce jighead. 
He also used a 1/2-ounce Dstyle Rubber Jig. 
Garrett Paquette (7th; 39-9)
Paquette began his morning fishing offshore structure for spotted bass, and he then switched to largemouth later in the day. He also used a glide bait to trigger the fish to come up off the bottom to reveal their location. He followed up with a swimbait to close the deal. 
The fish finder was this SPRO KGB Chad Shad 190 Glide Bait. 
His follow-up bait was this Damiki rig made with a 4-inch Big Bite Baits Slim Minnow, rigged on a 1/8-ounce Gamakatsu The Round jighead. 
Kyle Austin (6th; 41-4)
Austin targeted brushpiles, stumps and docks with a casting, flipping and pitching program. He noted his catch included prespawners with the shallow bite improving as the tournament progressed. Austin used a junk fishing approach with these two baits as the best of the lineup. 
A key bait was this 1/2-ounce Strike King Compact Tungsten Casting Jig with a Strike King Rodent for a trailer. 
For a change-up bait, Austin used the Strike King Rodent on a 3/0 hook with a 1/4-ounce weight. 
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Jeremiah Kindy (5th; 41-5)
Kindy used a walking topwater over shallow rockpiles for an early bite. Later on, he switched to a swimbait and spinnerbait. 
For the early bite, he used this vintage Jimmy Houston signature Heddon Super Spook. 
Then he switched to a 3/8-ounce homemade jighead with a Keitech FAT Swing Impact 3.8 Swimbait. 
Kindy also used a 1/2-ounce War Eagle Screamin Eagle Nickel Frame Double Willow Spinnerbait with willowleaf gold and silver blades. 
Emil Wagner (4th; 43-12)
Wagner keyed on brushpiles, relying on current flow conditions to set up for his success. A high spot on the main river channel with isolated rockpiles and with a bottom depth of 15 feet made up his key area. 
A Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flatnose Minnow rigged on a 3/16-ounce jighead was a top choice. 
For a reaction bite he used a Berkley Frittside squarebill crankbait.  
Kyoya Fujita (3rd; 45-9)
Fujita targeted largemouth in brush and trees with a jig and used a jighead minnow rig for offshore postspawners.  
For the heavy cover bite he used this 1/2-ounce jig for targeting bottom fish.
A 5-inch Jackall Driftfry 5.0 rigged on a 3/16-ounce jighead was another top choice. 
Tucker Smith (2nd; 45-15)
Smith fished a mix of habitat features, including brush and rockpiles. He also caught schooling bass on offshore spots. 
For deeper bass he used this 3/4-ounce Picasso Tungsten Football Jig, with a 4-inch Yamamoto Yama Craw. 
Another top choice was this 4-inch Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm, rigged on 1/4- to 3/16-ounce Picasso Jig Heads. 
Josh Butler (1st; 49-0)
Butler used a shaky head and wacky rig for his top lures. He never got on a shad spawn bite, instead keying on spawning spotted bass, which accounted for the success of his wire-to-wire finish.  
He made the shaky head with a 3/16-ounce Dirty Jigs Scott Canterbury Shakey Head and a Zoom Trick Worm. 
Alternatively, Butler used a 5-inch Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General, rigged with a VMC Crossover, on a 1/0 Decoy Big Bite Finesse Worm20 Hook. Depending on current flow, he added a 3/64- or 1/8-ounce tungsten screw weight. 

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