ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (Feb. 3, 2025) – Boater Stihl Smith of Alexander City, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Tournament on Lake Martin. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Bama Division. Smith earned $4,163 for his victory.
“It was not a very good morning bite,” Smith said,” but at around 8 I caught my first fish. I caught it on a jig.”
Smith spent the first couple hours of the day “hodgepodging” around and fishing a mix of targets. He threw at docks, brush, points and any fish he saw on his Garmin LiveScope. While it wasn’t exactly a pattern, the junk-fishing approach put a couple quality largemouth bass in the livewell as Smith sorted out a more consistent way to get bit.
“As the sun came up more, I started getting around the bait more,” he said. “If the bait was there, the fish were there. I was using LiveScope, just using forward-facing sonar and throwing at fish in the bait balls. I had to catch a bunch to catch a decent one.
“I was catching mostly spots. I believe the spots were getting where they’re gonna spawn, but not quite spawning yet. So more of a prespawn deal.”
Smith had two primary areas in the middle part of the lake. While he caught his two best fish on a jig, Smith boated many more using a Damiki rig and said his overall approach was “pretty plain and simple” for the early season at Lake Martin.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Stihl Smith, Alexander City, Ala., five bass, 13-13, $4,163
2nd: Kyle Dorsett, Springville, Ala., five bass, 11-9, $2,082
3rd: Joseph Nania, Cropwell, Ala., five bass, 11-7, $1,387
4th: Bruce Thompson, Midland, Ga., five bass, 11-3, $971
5th: Vernelle Quinnie, Duncanville, Ala., five bass, 11-1, $1,413
6th: Michael M. Smith, Andalusia, Ala., five bass, 10-15, $763
7th: Joe Minor, Clanton, Ala., five bass, 10-12, $659
7th: Drake Sturgill, Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 10-12, $659
9th: Blake Tomlin, Greenville, Ga., five bass, 10-3, $520
9th: Kris Colley, Ragland, Ala., five bass, 10-3, $520
Vernelle Quinnie of Duncanville, Alabama, caught a bass that weighed 4 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $580. Jeffrey Ford of Trion, Georgia, won the co-angler division and $2,082 Saturday, after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Jeffrey Ford, Trion, Ga., three bass, 7-11, $2,082
2nd: Gary Marlowe, Montgomery, Ala., three bass, 7-3, $1,431
3rd: Adrian Gonzales, Anniston, Ala., three bass, 6-12, $692
4th: Michael Stevenson, Leitchfield, Ky., three bass, 6-8, $486
5th: Ben Caldwell, Hartselle, Ala., three bass, 6-7, $416
6th: Daniel Vasquez, Boynton Beach, Fla., three bass, 6-5, $382
7th: Kyle Schuchard, Morris, Ala., three bass, 5-10, $347
8th: Garrett Brown, Trion, Ga., three bass, 5-5, $312
9th: Hudson Choquette, Montevallo, Ala., three bass, 5-4, $260
9th: Jeffery McCoy, Birmingham, Ala., three bass, 5-4, $260
Gary Marlowe of Montgomery, Alabama, earned the Big Bass co-angler award of $290, catching a bass that weighed in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
In addition to earning the win, Stihl Smith of Alexander, Alabama, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Bama Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Jeffrey Ford of Trion, Georgia, leads the Fishing Clash Bama Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points.
The next event for BFL Bama Division anglers will be held March 1, at Lay Lake out of Columbiana, Alabama.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-martin-2325.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News