Logan Martin Bass Fishing

The lake draws much fishing pressure from Birmingham, Anniston, Talladega and surrounding areas. The I-20 Bridges sit almost perfectly as the lake’s halfway point. Logan Martin’s upper-end is a typical Coosa River reservoir as the upper 17 miles varies only slightly from the original river channel. But from that point downstream, the reservoir widens dramatically as sloughs, pockets, flats and incoming creeks dot the landscape all the way to the Logan Martin Dam.

Major and Secondary Creeks
The Lake is fed by several creeks. Choccolocco Creek, Clear Creek, Poorhouse Creek and Rabbit Branch are the most prominent and most widely fished. In the area above I-20 bridge, Ohatchee Creek, Cane Creek, Acker Creek, Alligator Creek, Broken Arrow Creek and Blue Eye Creek not only feed the lake but offer excellent largemouth fishing. Most of the grass is in this area of the lake.

Bass in the Lake
Largemouth bass and spotted bass are the main draw for anglers. Both species exhibit average to above average growth and are very plump. Largemouth bass are abundant in the 12"-18" size range. Spotted bass are also abundant with many spots in the 14"-21" size range. Due to the strong water current created from hydroelectric activity at the dams, these spotted bass are some of the most powerful and aggressive you will encounter anywhere. Bass club tournament results indicated Logan Martin was fourth in the state when evaluating catch data.

Striped, white and hybrid bass make annual spring runs upriver and have created quite a fishery at the headwaters (below Neely Henry dam). Fishing starts to pick up in March and can continue through the summer for stripes and hybrids when the power company generates water. Stripes and hybrids can also be found in cold-water springs located throughout the lake during summer months.

Fishing Hotspots
Anglers targeting the lake's lower end should check out the mouth of Clear Creek to find spotted bass. This creek, on the east side of the lake, also contains many sloughs holding largemouths. Rabbit Branch, just across the river's main channel, is also a great place to target if you like to skip jigs under docks. From Rabbit Branch down to the dam, you find a lot of docks and piers with spotted bass beneath them. Dion Hibdon used this "dock skipping" technique to win the 1997 B.A.S.S. Masters Classic on Logan Martin. This tactic is a way to take large numbers of fish, primarily spotted bass.

If you go upriver from Rabbit Branch, the next major creek on the left or west side is Cropwell Creek. This creek also has plenty of docks in it that are loaded with bass, but is best known for its proliferation of underwater structure. It is loaded with old roadbeds and underwater humps. One of the advantages of fishing Cropwell Creek is that is gets restocked almost every weekend. That "stocking" comes from the release of tournament catches from competitions held out of Pell City Lakeside Park, Lakeside Landing or Town and Country Food Mart.

Continue upriver toward Stemley Bridge and you find banks along each side that are good for spotted bass. Above Stemley Bridge you can find both largemouths and spots in the mouth of Poorhouse Branch on the lake's east side. Another area that holds largemouths on the east side of the lake is the mouth of Choccolocco Creek. This creek is a local favorite during hot weather. Even in August you often can find 70-degree water if you go all the way back in the creek to Jackson Shoals. The water in the main lake is so hot at this time of the year, shad school up in the back of Choccolocco. And of course the bass follow the shad. You can often "tear 'em up" on topwater, flukes, crankbaits or spinnerbaits. Find the cool water and you can catch bass in 1 1/2 to 2 feet of water.

Going north you will pass the I-20 bridge and the U.S. Highway 78 bridge. The sloughs in this area are full of big spotted bass. You will find some very productive stumprows, underwater islands, and deep dropoffs and ledges in the middle of Blue Eye Creek. A Carolina-rigged plastic lizard or worm, a lipless crankbait or a jig can produce some extremely good bass.

Beyond here the lake becomes more river-like with stump rows lining the edges. This is a great area to catch that big largemouth to anchor your stringer on tournament day.

Logan Martin Lake is world class when it comes to bass fishing. If you are only going to make one fishing trip this year, consider this terrific Alabama lake. You won’t be sorry.

Thanks for reading.

Good fishing.

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