Godwin achieves goal with ABN state win
By Greg McCain

Noah Godwin has earned a reputation as one of the top anglers on the Coosa River.

Often teaming with his brother Cole on the Coosa – they won their major event when both were teenagers – Noah established an individual goal when he saw Lay Lake, close to his home in Clanton, as the final stop on the 2024 Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation (ABN) circuit.

Mission accomplished! Godwin captured the ABN State Championship Friday and Saturday (Oct. 25-26) on Lay, beating out a field of 77 boaters for the overall title with a two-day total of 33.75. Godwin (Pro Line Bassmasters) fell just short of another individual goal. Joe Lay (Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters) claimed the Angler of the Year crown with Godwin finishing second.

Godwin had never fished ABN events prior to this year. With his father, Mark Godwin, in the back of the boat, Noah Godwin put together a consistent season, culminating in the State Championship win. Sam Hanggi (Auburn University Bass Club) finished second among boaters with 31.08, and Lucas Lindsay (Auburn Anglers), the Day 1 leader, took third with 30.60.

Gene Townsend (Rumbling Waters Bass Anglers) put on a dominating performance in the co-angler division. He opened a sizable lead on Day 1 with a three-fish, 9.26 limit and piled on the competition on Saturday with 10.35. His 19.61 total was over four lbs. heavier than the next-closest competitor.

Travis Pugh (Wiregrass Bassmasters) had the Academy Sports + Outdoors Big Fish of the event. His Day 2 largemouth weighed 6.17.

For Godwin, the two days of state competition came after he and brother Cole fished another major tournament the previous weekend, finishing 7th. Noah Godwin said timing proved to be a key to improved fishing in the ABN championship. The waning moon, along with good timing each day, provided better fishing for him.

He caught early limits each day, but the quality improved on Day 2. He sacked the biggest limit of the tournament, a mixed bag of largemouth and spotted bass that weighed 18.00, by about 10 a.m.

“Last weekend, we fished the same places that we did today,” Noah said Saturday. “We had a full moon then, and with the full moon gone, they are starting to pick up a little better.

“We ran around a little (Friday morning) before we pulled up on a place where I caught the biggest fish I weighed in. I pretty much caught most of my weight there.”

Noah culled late Friday with a 3¼-lb. fish, which bumped him up the leaderboard to second behind Lindsay. The positioning proved to be pivotal entering the final day.

“I ran straight to that place today,” he said. “I had everything I caught today by about 10. I fished around the rest of the day and never got another big bite.”

Each day, Godwin ran “down the lake” and started off throwing a jerkbait, targeting mainly open-water fish that he spotted with forward-facing sonar. Later, he went after big bites with a frog in “super shallow” grass. He weighed one frog fish each day, including a 5.61 largemouth on Day 2.

He weighed four largemouths and one spot on Day 1.

“This was the one I wanted to win,” Godwin said. “It was the closest one to home. It was on the lake that we fish a lot. It feels good to win against great fishermen.”

Among the co-anglers, Townsend fished behind Ray Goodall for his decisive win. He said he used a shaky head and a Biffle (swing) head with most of his bigger fish coming on the shaky head. He paired it with a KVD finesse worm.

“I got off to a good start,” Townsend said. “Caught one over four on probably the fifth cast. That started the day off right. I thought it was maybe a striper because those four-lb. spots will fight.”

Townsend said he and Goodall targeted “humps close to deep water with some wood on them” in the mid-lake area. He said he caught one good fish off a dock, but the others came on the humps. He said they never fished around grass.

For Townsend, the win provides some momentum as he heads into another major tournament. He will fish the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship starting Nov. 6 on Grand Lake, OK.

“This is a good confidence boost going into that tournament,” he said.

Godwin and Townsend were the tournament winners, but the event also proved successful for others. Lay led the boater Angler of the Year standings through each of the four qualifiers but slipped behind Godwin on Friday. A stronger day on Saturday, however, allowed Lay to claim the AOY title.

Among the co-anglers, Chad Macks (LA PO Boys) overcame Dale Westmoreland (New Line Bass Club) in the state championship and claimed the co-AOY top spot. Macks finished 12th overall in the state event, 15 spots ahead of Westmoreland.

Behind Godwin, Hanggi, and Lindsay in the top 10 state boater standings were Zeke Gossett (Shotgun Sports Supply), 29.68; Layton Brown (Wiregrass Bassmasters), 27.66; Coby Carden (LA PO Boys), 27.54; Lay, 24.41; David Wesson (Neely Henry Bassmasters), 24.22; Hudson Choquette  (Headland Bass Team) 24.17; and Chuck Thurlow (Auburn Bassmasters) 23.09.

After Townsend in the top 10 of the co-angler standings were Drake Sturgill (University of Montevallo), 15.46; Curtis Gossett (Shotgun Sports Supply), 14.85; Donny Davis (Belgreen Bass Club), 14.71; Sam Jackson (W Alabama Bass Fishermen), 12.89; Bill Weathers (Wiregrass Bassmasters), 12.81; Jacob George (Birmingham Bass Club), 12.47; Aiden Macks (LA PO Boys), 12.36; Sherry Jacks (Tallapoosa River Anglers), 12.10; and Larry Franks Sr. (Coosa River Rats), 11.96.

The top teams in the state event advanced to the Bassmaster Team Championship, scheduled for Dec. 4-7 and recently moved to Kentucky Lake. Zeke and Curtis Gossett topped the team standings with a 44.53 total, followed by Sam/Matt Hanggi, 34.20 and Jeff Gilliam/Sam Jackson, 30.20.

Other winners included:

• Zeke Gossett, AmFirst BassCash bonus
• Curtis Gossett, Airport Marine Fishin’ 4 a Cure bonus
• Layton Brown, Nitro bonus

The following anglers qualified to fish the 2025 B.A.S.S. Nation Championship (the location will be announced next week):

• Lay and Mark Black, Martin winners
• Patrick Curie and Weston Dollar, Millers Ferry winners
• Zeke Gossett and Tim Fox, Eufaula winners
• Bill Spencer, Pickwick co-angler winner (as an B.A.S.S. Elite Series angler, boater winner Logan Parks is ineligible for the championship)
• Godwin (off AOY list because Lay double qualified)
• Jeff Gilliam (off AOY list in place of Parks)
• Macks (co-AOY winner)
• Hanggi (second-place boater at state championship)
• Lindsay (third-place boater at state championship)
• Brown (fifth-place boater at state championship because Zeke Gossett double-qualified
• Townsend (first-place co-angler at state championship)
• Sturgill (second-place co-angler at state championship)
• Curtis Gossett (third-place co-angler at state championship)
• (If any of these qualifiers cannot go to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, he will be replaced by the next person on the respective AOY list .)

President Eddie Plemons thanks all the sponsors who support the ABN schedule. In addition to Academy and Airport Marine, they include Fish Life Fish Care Products, Impulse Lithium batteries, AmFirst BassCash, Office Partners, Halo Rods, Radicull Culling Devices, Davis Bait Co., George Paint and Body, BassCats Boats, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Mercury, Motor Guide, Lowrance, NetBait, Shell, Hammer Rods, Shelby County, Strike Zone Lures, Charlie’s BBQ, the Rod Glove, T-H Marine, Power-Pole, and Alabama Hosting.

The State Championship wraps up the 2024 season for the ABN, which kicks off the 2025 season in February on Lake Martin. After Martin, other qualifiers follow at Eufaula, Neely Henry, and Wheeler. The 2025 state event returns to Lake Eufaula.

Greg McCain is a freelance writer from Russellville, AL, and a member of the Belgreen Bass Club. In addition to producing content for this website, his credits include articles in Georgia Outdoor News, the ACC Crappie Stix blog, the Cornfield Fishing Gear website, CrappieNOW online magazine, and Great Days Outdoors.