ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. — Culling up could turn into a celebratory moment at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Martin presented by SEVIIN.
Culling up is the act of catching a heavier bass and releasing the next smallest of five bass in the livewell. Doing so adds overall weight to a limit. Fishing conditions are more than favorable at Lake Martin, where catching up to 40 spotted bass a day is doable. The hitch is those fish average in the one-pound range, making anything over two pounds most desirable.
Breaking into the double-digit daily limit weight is therefore the goal for Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers within range of the nine invitations to the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series.
“It’s going to come down to a game of ounces,” said Garrett Paquette, 12th place in EQ points as of takeoff time on Day 1. “There could be 100 anglers within 1 1/2 pounds of each other.”
Paquette said average weight per fish is between one and 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 pounds. Break the two-pound mark and the chances improve of rising on the leaderboard. A three pounder is reason to celebrate.
The outlier in this game of ounces and pounds are largemouth. The bites will be fewer but the reward greater for Opens EQ anglers needing a points boost.
Faced with the choices, the anglers have two options, one of those being to target the biggest bass in the lake.
“You can go through the numbers and hope for the best, or go for five, eight bites a day and hope those fish are on the higher side of two pounds,” Paquette said. “A three-pounder is a kicker fish for a limit.”
The consolation prize in this game is all tactics and lures are in play for spotted bass.
“You can catch them from inches of water to deeper water offshore,” Paquette said. “You’ll hook a spotted bass and multiple fish will be following it, keeping in mind those are all that lower size weight.”
The Michigan angler and former Elite pro added that timing of the bite is critical.
“The water temperature is mid-70s so it’s still a late summer, early fall fishing scenario,” he said. “The first two hours are crucial and then it slows down.”
Emil Wagner, fourth in EQ points going into Day 1, is targeting a Top 50 finish to preserve his chances of qualifying for the Elites.
The Georgia angler is confident in achieving that goal, given his three-tiered pattern is productive throughout the day.
“The bigger bass are on the shoreline and smaller sizes out deep,” Wagner said. “I start shallow when the bite picks up there and then move out.”
Wagner’s segmented pattern begins shallow and improves as the sun casts shadows where bass hold along the shoreline. Later he moves to a brushpile pattern and ends the day fishing offshore.
“It’s junk fishing redefined,” Wagner said. “It takes multiple baits to make it work.”
Matt Adams is one of the 15 fortunate Alabamians who could transfer their entries to the relocated Lake Martin site. In the spirit of fairness, the tournament was closed to anyone not already registered for the original location at Hartwell.
Adams, 9th in EQ points on Thursday morning, noted that largemouth will be the most prized catch of the week.
“Whoever wins will catch one or two that will carry them all three days,” he said. “Those are harder to catch but for the win, or maintaining points the risk is worth considering.
“Most of the Top 10 on Saturday will have a kicker largemouth or spotted bass in the three-pound range.”
Adams add that recent weekend tournaments with winning weights in the 13-pound range had at least one kicker largemouth in the bag. Targeting spotted bass and largemouth on the same day is doable given both species cohabitate the same area.
“You can catch both in the area where I am fishing, which is critical for saving time,” Adams said.
Above all else, the season finale will be the most level playing field ever in Opens competition. The off limits and no information rule went into effect immediately when the relocation was announced on Sept. 30, just five days before the start of the official practice that began on Oct. 5.
Of special note, Bassmaster LIVE will air all three days of competition beginning at 8 a.m. ET.
