By Jason Duran

The Alabama Bass Trail kicked off its 12th season at Smith Lake. Historically, this lake has presented challenges for teams, as Mother Nature often throws unexpected weather conditions just before tournament day. Some years, it has been extremely cold, while other times, the water has even reached the parking lot at the ramp. This year, however, Mother Nature delivered a week of summer weather right at the beginning of February.  With the warming trend, teams needed to adjust their strategies on Smith Lake to locate fish that seemed confused by the transition from shallow to deep water. Nevertheless, the 225 teams competing in the Alabama Bass Trail North Division always find a way to adapt. Blake Hall and Jeremy Lamb emerged victorious, leading the field by over two pounds and securing the first ABT North win of 2025.

Blake Hall and Jeremy Lamb managed to catch a mixed bag consisting of four largemouth bass and one nice spotted bass, with a total weight of 19.03 pounds. “Our practice didn’t go well at all. We spent a couple of days out here and only found a few spots with small fish. After exhausting those areas, we decided to explore new water today, and it paid off. We started deep in the morning, targeting spotted bass. Initially, we weren’t sure if we could catch a largemouth, so we focused on getting a limit of spots first before pursuing largemouth bass. Finding some good largemouths was crucial for us to even have a chance at a payout, considering our practice. We managed to secure a limit in about 30 minutes, including a nice spotted bass that weighed over 4 pounds. We caught it using a Rapala Mooch Minnow in green shad, fished on a ¼ oz head while utilizing Live Scope to guide our casts. The fish were really scattered, and most of the time, we were targeting individual fish. The four largemouth bass we weighed in were caught on a Rapala DT6 in Brown Crawdad. After completing our limit, we decided to revisit some areas we had fished in the past, hoping that the fish would be moving shallower due to the warm weather. We found some wind and muddy water, and we used the DT6 to target fish holding close to the bottom. We also fished around long points mixed with wood. After culling through about 15 fish, we put together our mixed bag.” This win earned them $15,000 plus a $8,000 Phoenix Boats Bonus.

Mark McCaig and Tim Hurst finished in second place with a total catch of 16.85 pounds. They practiced for two days, stating, “We caught fish, but we didn’t catch the size we did today.” They noted that recent weather changes had impacted fishing conditions at Smith Lake. Just a few weeks prior, the air temperature had been below freezing for several days. However, the week leading up to the event saw temperatures in the 70s. The team observed, “When it was really cold, the fish were locked on the bottom, but now, with the warming trend, they have started moving shallower.

The water temperature is currently in the mid- to upper 50s.” They explained that the fish were so shallow that casting would spook them and  they could see it on their Live Scope. By around 10:30 AM, they had already caught their limit. In practice, the area they fished contained a lot of spotted bass, but on the day of the event, they were able to locate more largemouth bass in the same area. Throughout the day, they caught a total of 20 fish, most of which were found in 12 to 15 feet of water within brush. Previously, the fish had been deeper than that. The warm front and windy conditions contributed to a better bite from the largemouth bass. They targeted these fish using the Rapala Crush City Mooch Minnow. Later in the afternoon, they noticed that they could typically scope the fish around the brush more effectively, but that changed. They decided to switch to using a jig in the brush, which led to them catching one fish and ultimately changing their strategy. This adjustment allowed them to cull up to the weight they achieved. They had expected to catch around 12 to 13 pounds and thought it would take about 16 pounds to win. However, being able to catch more largemouth bass significantly boosted their weight today. They expressed their love for this location, mentioning that they come here often. “This lake is full of fish, and it’s really fun when the spotted bass start spawning,” they added. With their second place finish they won $7,500.

Chad Hall and Ryan Hall’s team caught a total of 16.38 pounds, securing a third-place finish. They shared that practice was somewhat slow, noting, “The fish were trying to move up to shallow water. We think they are confused because it got so warm so quickly. We had a decent practice, but nothing really noteworthy.” Their day began with them catching their limit within about an hour in a ditch where they found fish. After attaining their limit, they moved on and culled the rest of the day, ultimately landing around 20 fish, which included a mix of spots and two largemouth bass. They used a ned rig and minnows, fishing in depths of 15 to 40 feet of water. They covered both the Ryan side and the Rock Creek side, emphasizing that covering a lot of water was crucial to their success. When asked about their goals for the year, they expressed, “We want to qualify for the Team Championship. It seems like every year we have one tournament where we perform poorly, and that’s usually this one. By starting off strong here, we hope to avoid that setback and have a great year.” For their efforts, they earned a $6,000 payday for their third-place finish. Plus a $1,000 AmFirst Bonus.

The top ten standings are below. For a complete list of standings please visit: https://www.alabamabasstrail.org/lewis-smith-lake/results/

Download and listen to the ABT Podcast on your favorite Podcast app by searching for “Alabama Bass Trail Podcast.”  The Podcast is released each week on Tuesday.

For Live coverage of this event and others visit https://www.youtube.com/@alabamabasstrailtv

The 2025 Alabama Bass Trail Sponsors Include: Phoenix Boats, AMFirst, Landers – McLarty Chevrolet, McGraw – Webb Chevrolet, Rapala, VMC, Crush City, Buffalo Rock, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Jack’s, Garmin, Alabama State Parks, Halo Fishing, Snag proof, NetBait, Bait Fuel, TH Marine Supplies, Power-Pole, Pro Guide Batteries, American Trailer Rental, Yamaha, Anheuser-Busch, American Baitworks, E3 Sports Apparel, FishAlabama.org, Sweet Home Alabama, and Alabama Mountain Lakes.