opens

Top lures at Norfork Lake Open 2025

See the top lures used in the weather-shortened St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Norfork Lake presented by SEVIIN.

Posted on
Photography by
Craig Lamb
Captions by
Craig Lamb
Mother nature didn’t play nice at the 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Norfork Lake presented by SEVIIN. Massive storms pushed through North Arkansas, causing the event to be a one-day shootout on Thursday.
The White River is a special place to B.A.S.S., and despite the shortened event, Norfork showed out with impressive springtime weights.
Casey Scanlon’s 18-5 was enough to get the win. Prespawn tactics like jigs, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and jighead minnows were major players.
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Austin Cranford (33rd; 13-12)
Cranford fished over suspended fish in open water with bites occurring within 20 feet of the surface. 
To catch them, he used a 6th Sense Strobe Shaker 3.8 that he rigged on a 3/16-ounce jighead with a 3/0 hook. 
Tyler Campbell (23rd-T; 14-3)
Campbell fished chunk rock banks with a jig. 
His setup featured a 1/2-ounce Greenfish Tackle Brandon Cobb All Purpose Jig, rigged with a Zoom Z-Craw for a trailer. 
Josh Butler (17th; 14-9)
Butler searched for suspended bass, targeting individual fish with a minnow bait. 
He used a Driftwood Custom Baits Driftshad, rigging it on a Cipher Fishing Tungsten Mid-Stroll Ball Head. 
Chase Carey (10th; 14-14)
Carey fished over suspended bass and baitfish in a water column spanning 5 to 15 feet of water. 
His chosen lure was a 1/8-ounce Dirty Jigs Guppy Head with a Strike King 3X ElazTech Baby Z Too soft jerkbait. 
Michael Corbishley (9th; 14-15)
The North Carolina pro had a ‘speed up and slow down’ approach at Norfork.
Corbishley rotated through two different spinnerbaits – a 1/2-ounce Nichols Lures Pulsator Spinnerbait and a 1/2-ounce Dirty Jigs Compact Spinnerbait.
When targeting fish with his forward-facing sonar, Corbishley switched up to a 4-inch minnow style bait paired with a 3/16-ounce Dirty Jigs HD Tungsten Guppy head.
Jace Lindsay (8th; 15-0)
Texas pro Jace Lindsay notched his first Top 10 in Opens competition at Norfork using a finesse approach.
A Rapala Crush City Freeloader paired with a jighead was his main bait of choice.
Riley Nielsen (7th; 15-4)
Nielson used the strolling technique to catch his bass over bass suspended in brushpiles. 
His top bait was a CrushCity Mooch Minnow, rigged on a Dirty Jigs Guppy Swimbait Jig. 
Keith Tuma (6th; 15-9)
A Crush City Freeloader paired with a 3/16-ounce VMC Hybrid swimmer head was used for the “easy fish.”
Tuma used a Spro RkCrawler for covering water when things slowed a bit offshore.
Tuma used a 13 Fishing Whipper Snapper for enticing reaction bites.
Tuma’s workhorse was a Supreme Lure Co. Slugg. He used the worm for the fishing in and around cover. 
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Stephen Browning (5th; 15-12)
Browning covered water with a bladed jig, using a crawl retrieve across rocky shorelines featuring colored water. 
His top lure was a Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer with a Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ for a trailer. 
Trey Schroeder (4th; 16-7)
Schroeder targeted shallow water areas to catch his bass early during the tournament. 
Schoeder modified a 3/8-ounce spinnerbait by cutting the skirt collar to make it run like a finesse jig for a smaller profile to match the shad. The spinnerbait featured double willow blades with a split-tailed trailer. 
He also used a RAID Japan Osakana Slide 170 Swimbait.
Another top lure was a 3/8 homemade jig, alternating trailers between a Missile Baits Chunky D and 6th Sense Congo Craw 3.8. 
Bailey Gay (3rd; 16-11)
Kentucky angler Bailey Gay notched his first Top 10 in Opens competition and heavily relied on a spinnerbait and a jighead minnow.
Gay’s spinnerbait of choice was a 3/4-ounce Accent Lures Spinnerbait paired with a Zoom Split Tail Trailer.
For targeting suspended fish, Gay relied on a Deps Sakamata Shad paired on a 1/8-ounce jighead.
Doug Chapin (2nd; 16-13)
Wisconsin angler Doug Chapin brought in 16-13 to the scales to secure a second-place finish at Norfork Lake.
A 6th Sense Strobe Minnow paired with a 6th Sense jighead was a major player for Chapin.
Additionally, Chapin used a 1/2-ounce 6th Sense Divine Spinnerbait for covering water.
Casey Scanlon (1st; 18-5)
Scanlon fished a spinnerbait around shoreline runoff areas featuring isolated wood. Alternatively, he fished a tube jig where channel bluff banks transitioned to boulders and laydowns. 
Scanlon used a 4-inch Bass Pro Shops Magnum Flipping Tube on a 4/0 Hayabusa WR959 Wide Gap Offset Heavy Duty Hook, with a 5/16-ounce Bass Pro Shops Tungsten Weight. 
He also used a self-designed and made 1/2-ounce Trophy Bass Company with a 2/0 Hayabusa WRM929 Trailer Hook

Related