Georgian Cody Stahl, who recently won the 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open Mississippi River presented by SEVIIN, vividly remembers the moment he committed to becoming a professional bass angler. This happened at age 7 after he fished a night tournament on Georgia’s Jackson Lake with his father Chad.
Prior to that event, he had been riding in his father’s bass boat since age 4and had grown big enough to cast a kid’s Spiderman rod sporting a push-button reel. He still has the outfit. On the night of the Jackson Lake tournament, his father rigged the rod with a Junebug Zoom Trick Worm weighted with a split shot.
“I’ll remember that tournament for the rest of my life,” Stahl said. “I caught four of the five bass we weighed in. I remember being in the passenger seat as my dad drove the dirt road coming out of Barry’s Boat Dock. That’s when I told him that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, to make it as a pro.”
Now, at age 26, he has never wavered from that commitment.
After his revelation at Jackson Lake, Stahl began fishing tournaments every weekend with his father. By the ripe old age of 10 they often fished three consecutive tournaments on weekends, beginning with a Friday night derby, traveling to a Saturday event and then on to a different tournament on Sunday.
“We burned a lot of rubber on the road,” he said.
In 10th grade, he and his fishing partner Tate VanEdmond initiated a B.A.S.S. affiliated high school fishing team. Over the next two years, they won a half dozen tournaments fishing Sinclair, West Point, Eufaula and Hartwell lakes and claimed back-to-back Georgia state championships. They also fished a Bassmaster High School Championship at Kentucky Lake.
After high school, Stahl took advantage of a fishing scholarship to attend Savannah College of Art and Design where he majored in industrial design.
“Before I got to college, I was strictly a shallow water guy who fishes in the mud all year around,” Stahl said. “I knew I had to expand my skill set to be competitive in all different kinds of fisheries.”
Collegiate tournaments took him to Smith, Bull Shoals, Chickamauga, Seminole and Kentucky lakes. And, the Savannah River was close. He learned things like how to “chase” bass schooling on blueback herring and graph ledges for offshore fishing. He qualified for five national college championships with four different partners.
“During college, I didn’t have time to fish anything except the actual tournaments,” Stahl said. “I wanted to do well in school, earn my degree and get a job in the fishing industry. I hoped to utilize my passion for fishing to make quality products and enjoy what I’m doing every day.”
After graduating from college in 2020 Stahl took a job at TDS Molds, a company that makes mass production molds for several companies that manufacture soft plastic fishing lures. He served as the mold shop supervisor and lead designer. He has recently become a fishing rod design engineer at Pure Fishing.
He competed in the Bassmaster Opens as a co-angler for two years to sample different bodies of water and to learn new techniques from the boaters he was paired with. It was also much less expensive than competing as a boater.
The first year as a co-angler, he fished the Southern Opens. He claimed fourth place in one event and “bombed” in the other two. The following year, he fished the Northern Opens and won the first event on the James River and the co-angler Angler of the Year title.
“The James River felt like home because I was used to fishing the Savannah River in college,” Stahl said. “Both are tidal fisheries.”
Winning the James Open gave Stahl the funds and the confidence to step up to the boater side of the Bassmaster Opens. He upgraded his 18 1/2-foot Ranger to a 21-foot boat and signed up for the Southern Opens. He finished a few ounces shy of a check at the first event on the Kissimmee Chain and faired poorly in the other two.
The following year ushered in the Bassmaster Opens Elite Qualifiers. He somehow managed to work a full-time job, compete in all nine events and do well enough to finish 17th in points.
With one event left in the 2024 EQ schedule, he holds 20th place in the AOY standings. Although he is too far down to qualify for the Elite Series, by winning the EQ on the Upper Mississippi, he has an invitation in his pocket to the 2025 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Ray Roberts, Texas.
“Qualifying for the Classic is incredible,” Stahl said. “I’ve been dreaming about being in that tournament all my life.”
Stahl’s goal is to become an Elite Series pro. Should that happen next year, he intends to maintain a regular job in the fishing industry.
Buckeye Lures and Bill Lewis Lures came onboard to support Stahl during his 2024 EQ campaign. His other sponsors include Cyclops Lighting, Waterland Sunglasses, State Line Marine, Phoenix Boats, Zink Duck Calls, Avian-X Decoys and Flextone Calls. He also mentioned he is thankful to Big Bite Baits and ALX Rods for being longtime sponsors prior to the upcoming season.
