Day 1: Lake Martin

10:53am -- Bassmaster Open tournament director Hank Weldon, who grew up on Lake Martin, is on BASS Live and just explained that this lake is devoid of timber because the area was clearcut before the lake was flooded. So locals plant lots of Christmas tree piles, which this week could be players.

10:44am -- Bassmaster photographer Chase Sansom just noted a trend. "This is third angler I’ve covered putting the Neko worm to work," Sansom reported. "All of them seem to be working them on scope around any sort of structure on the bottom."

10:41am -- There’s a lot of running a gunning going on this morning on Lake Martin, according to Bassmaster photographer Solomon Glenn. "G-man checke in on Carl Jocumsen and reported he’s only boated 2 fish," Glenn said. "Jocumsen, on the other hand, is sitting just outside the Top 10 with about 9 pounds. He’s caught most of his in the mouth of a large creek arm and now is fishing marina docks with a fuzzy dice looking for a bigger bite."

10:40am -- Trey McKinney is sitting in the unofficial Top 10 right now with 9-4, according to BASSTrakk. However, Bassmaster photographer Grant Moxley reports that McKinney told him he actually has more 10-11 riding around in his livewell. In a tournament of ounces, that's an important difference — and, in fact, would have the young angler in the unofficial lead.

10:30am -- With the day approximately halfway done, there are only three anglers in double digits, led by Alabama pros Will Davis Jr. and Scott Canterbury. Expect a lot of movement as a single 3-pounder can vault someone up the leaderboard.

10:15am -- Photographer Grant Moxley reports that Trey McKinney is in about 6 feet of water, focusing on the minority of docks that still have water on them. In between, he's scoping for stumps and trees.

10:10am -- Photographer Dalton Tumblin reports that Austin Cranford is staying locked in on one particular creek. He’s using his scope and doing a lot of zig zagging, looking for fish roaming around. The trolling motor is steadily moving and he’s covered this creek from one end of the other just about.

10:00am -- Water temperatures are climbing quickly. They were generally in the mid-40s last week, possibly cooler in some places, but now we're seeing it well into the 50s.

9:36am -- Steve Bowman reports Lake Martin is low. Some might say super low. However, as always, these anglers will utilize every inch of water possible. That’s the case for Greg Hackney on Day 1. He’s super shallow and we are trying to get to him. It’s not going as well as we hoped.

Donnie Johnson, whose an old hand on this lake, is battling to get us across a bar. Hackney is on the other side and he got stuck as well, but he made it. We are fighting to hopefully make it, but it doesn’t look good. It’s always an adventure on the Elite Series, and in every Elite you can expect every drop of water no matter how deep or shallow these guys are going to go there.

9:28am -- Wes Logan updated photographer Chase Sansom on his quick start: “First dock I pulled up to this morning I flipped in there and caught one. Then I ain’t had a bite on a dock since. All of my fish have been coming off stumps or rocks offshore”

9:25am -- When Christopher Decker talked to Bassmaster Opens pro Lucas Lindsay for the tournament preview story, the Auburn angler mentioned several times big swimbaits and glidebaits have been an important part of his arsenal for catching bigger bass in recent years at Lake Martin. Megabass Magdrafts, Berkley Cull Shads and Clutch glides are just a couple of examples of baits that meet this criteria.So far on LIVE, only Steve Kennedy has picked up a glidebait, and it has yet to generate a strike.

“It’s a post front day. They are not going to eat my glide,” Kennedy said. “I’m going to have to throw my jig, which is eating me up.“

While Day 1 may not be setting up for that bite, there are plenty of anglers in the field who will try to make it work all week. Kennedy, Chris Zaldain, Carl Jocumsen and Brandon Palaniuk come to mind. At the moment on BassTrakk, Kennedy is tied for ninth with 7 pounds, 10 ounces with his jig. Zaldain is next in 31st with three bass weighing 4 pounds, 5 ounces, although Palaniuk has yet to register any activity.

9:07am -- Photographer Grant Moxley reports that Brandon Lester is on fire, catching tons of fish, but culling up only an ounce or so at a time. This is one of those tournaments where having the right scale or culling beam (or possibly both) is a necessity. Too much money is on the line to make a mistake when organizing your livewell.

8:56am -- Shane Durrance reports that Robert Gee is fishing a 500 yard long stretch and "fish are literally everywhere. He is targeting 50 to 60 feet of water. However, the fish are suspended in 40. He said that one issue he is having with forward-facing sonar dealing with catching the bigger spots, is that you can’t really distinguish a small striper from a large spot."

8:46am -- There were lots of dice rigged or ready to rig as the anglers prepared for takeoff this morning, Bassmaster photographer Andy Crawford reported. “I saw a few minnows, as well, but not as many as I expected,” he said. “There were way more dice.”

8:45am -- On Live, Davy and Tommy have made references to the Kennedy family cabin on Lake Martin. It's loaded to the gills with evidence of the many successes achieved by Steve and his dad Van, who qualified for the 1982 Bassmaster Classic. Trophies galore, magazine covers, and other ephemera of long term success.

8:40am -- Trey McKinney's marshal sent us a photo of a quality Lake Martin largemouth, they type he'll need to double or triple down on today if he's to rack up his second consecutive top ten to start his AOY quest.

While the mob scene on the lower lake is underway with forward-facing sonar addicts searching for those 10-pound limits of spotted bass, another scenario could play out far up the lake. This was the scene during practice when I ventured into a creek to discover a dozen boats searching for evidence of prespawn activity. Water temp was 58 degrees. Too soon to call it, but sunny afternoons warming the rocky shorelines and near-shoreline areas could bring that bite into play. It's a tale of two fishes: scoping for a weak limit of spotted bass, or going for broke up the lake and add a kicker to the base weight.

While doing Dock Talk yesterday Kyle Patrick talked about the "randomness" of the bite and how critical one bigger catch will make the difference. Click here.

Carl Jocumsen shares insights on how junk fishing will come into play when searching for that one key quality catch. Click here.

Beau Browning on the importance of quality bites for upsizing a daily catch. Click here.

8:10am -- Will Davis has logged three bass worth 7-4 into BASSTrakk. "While I’m not sure what the field is throwing at the fish yet, (he) is making quick work with some sort of crankbait this morning," Bassmaster photographer Chase Sansom reports. "Not sure what it is, but I’m guessing he's one of the few guys winding a crankbait around."

8:06am -- Robert Gee already has a limit for 9 pounds, 5 ounces, according to BASSTrakk. He told Bassmaster photographer Shane Durrance that he's seeing large schools of fish "everywhere." Gee said he is targeting the larger blobs using his forward facing sonar to ensure he catches the biggest fish out of the school.

8:01am -- What difference does FFS makes It allows anglers not just to find fish, but to target the bigger ones. Photographer Shane Durrance is following Robert Gee, and says that "He is seeing largemouth schools of fish everywhere. He is targeting the larger blobs on forward-facing sonar to ensure he catches the biggest fish out of the school."

7:55am -- Let the scoping theories begin. It's still very in our first FFS tournament of the Elite Series season, but the of the top six in the standings, five -- Robert Gee, Jacob Foutz, Beau Browning, Evan Kung and Jay Przekurat -- are all in their twenties. Will Davis Jr. is the old man of the group at 33. We'll see if this lasts all day and over the remainder of the event.

7:45am -- Robert Gee is the first angler to a limit today. He has 8-13 on five fish. He'll need to cull up to make the cut. In 2018, 8-13 on Day 1 was good enough for 84th place. Over two days, that catch as an average would have been 91st.

7:40am-- Steve Kennedy, who is likely to go for broke this week, started the day right with a 3 pound 2 ounce largemouth cranking heavy cover. If he can get five of those caliber fish each day, he should end up in the running on what is generally considered his home pond. A second later his rod bowed up again, but this time it was a bare keeper. It went in the livewell, because four quality fish might not be enough -- that 12 or 15 ounce little guy could put him into a cut.

7:16am -- Will Davis Jr., adorned in what Ronnie Moore described as an "old school Reebok jacket," cranked up a 3 pound 4 ounce largemouth to start the day. That fish could be a difference-maker. Five of them could put him in the lead.

6:58am -- In the 2024 Open, Josh Butler's Day 2 catch of 14-5 was the only bag over 14 pounds. Bobby Bakewell's 13-12 on Day 3 and the 13 pounds Will Davis Jr. amassed on Day 1 were the only other catches of 13 pounds or more.

6:50am -- Of course, there was also an Open here in October 2024, won by Bobby Bakewell with 35-15, an average of just under 12 pounds a day. Current Elites who finished in the top ten that week: Dakota Ebare (3rd), Will Davis Jr. (4th), Cody Meyer (5th), Paul Marks (6th).

6:15am -- Expecting tight competition? You're in luck. Expecting huge bags? Maybe not so much. In 2018 at Martin, there were a total of seven bags over 15 pounds. That included four on Day 1 and three on Day 2, with none on the final two days. No angler had more than one bag over 15 pounds. Cliff Prince jumped out to an early lead with 19-13, then struggled with three fish for 4-5 on Day 2 to fall to 14th. On Day 3 he had a baby limit of 6-7 (six seven!) and dropped to 48th.

6:10am -- The only current Elite pro to make the top ten at Martin in 2018 was Mark Menendez. He finished 8th with 49-1.

6:06am -- In the 2018 Elite Series event on Martin, it took 35-13, and average of just under 12 pounds, to qualify for the top ten after three days of competition.

6:02am -- It's not even blast-off and we're already thinking about cut weights. It's been a long time since the Elite Series has been to Lake Martin: February 8-11, 2018, to be precise. In that tournament, won by Takakiro Omori with 59 pounds 8 ounces, 50th place after two days was 21-4.

Official Practice

Dock Talk - Click Here.

Drone Gallery of Lake Martin - Click Here.