Currie ignores conditions for Millers Ferry win
By Greg McCain

As flooding goes, the rise in water levels on the Alabama River was minimal for the second stop of the Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation (ABN) season.

The water was “up a little” in the words of various competitors in the event on Millers Ferry near Camden, heavy rains on Friday prior to the tournament contributing to the overall muddy nature of the water. Some anglers went searching for clearer water while others simply ignored it and went fishing.

Such was the case with overall boater winner Patrick Currie, of Satsuma, who found fish in practice on Thursday and returned to them on Saturday (March 16) despite the abrupt change in water clarity. His ability to ignore the conditions and focus on his practice finds allowed him to top a field of about 75 boats in the contest.

Currie (Gilbertown Bass Club) had a five-fish bag of 15.18 with Joey Mann (Wiregrass Bassmasters) placing second with 13.47. Kent McNaughton (Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters) was third with 13.30.

“The water was a little bit high,” Currie said. “I wouldn’t call it flooded but very, very muddy.”

Currie’s win marked a return for him to ABN tournaments and also to Millers Ferry. Currie won the 2014 ABN state championship on Lake Eufaula and had made the state team a couple of times, but he said he had not fished many tournaments with the organization in recent years. A move to extreme south Alabama also took him away from regular outings on Millers Ferry.

“I haven’t got to fish that lake as much as I used to,” he said. “Before last Thursday, I hadn’t been up there in a year. I fished Thursday and got a pretty good idea of where they were.”

Friday afternoon’s monsoon, however, created a different look to the water. Currie focused on pockets just off the main river between the takeoff at Bridgeport Landing and the dam.

“For somebody who didn’t know those fish were there, they probably would have gone right past them it was so muddy,” Currie said, noting that he had the area to himself most of the day. “But they were there and still biting.”

Currie, who said he located “better than average” bass during practice, had his greatest success swimming a jig around the grass with one fish in his limit coming on a frog. He primarily used a discontinued black-and-blue Santone model swim jig. He said his use of an FX Custom Rod was a key in his success with the swim jig.

“It was typical Millers Ferry in March, and you can catch them with just about any moving bait you want to throw.. I like swimming that jig.”

Currie said he had most of his weight by about noon with one key cull late in the morning bumping him up to his final total.

“After that, I didn’t catch much,” he said.

Mann, a Camden resident, moved to plan B after finding his primary spot “blown out” by the muddy water. He found some cleaner water nearby and flipped a beaver-style bait around grass and wood. He also threw a spinnerbait for some quality fish.

“I had a real good day as far as catching fish,” he said. “The rain killed what we were trying to do. I made some adjustments and got into some fish and made a few good culls.

“First of all, I ran to where I had found some fish. The rain, which I’m sure hurt everybody, hurt me tremendously. I found some ‘trap’ water and probably had a limit in 15 or 20 minutes. There was no flow through there and stayed a little clearer than the surrounding water.”

Mann, a relative newcomer to ABN competition after fishing the old Federation years ago, said he had a midday lull after catching his early limit but managed to find quality fish again in the afternoon with two key culls.

A pivotal late cull vaulted Weston Hollar (Wiregrass Bassmasters) to the win on the co-angler side. He weighed a three-fish limit of 9.11 for the win.

The former University of Montevallo angler, of Holtville, had caught a limit, including a 3½-pounder, very early in the day fishing behind boater Jon Oliver (Shotgun Sports Supply). They targeted a “little canal that ran into a backwater pond” about a five-mile run from Bridgeport at the start, and Hollar had three fish in the box after two passes down a “200-300 yard stretch of the canal.”

“There was one little section of it that had a little bit greener grass than the rest of the canal,” he said. “Most of the fish that I caught came off of one little point. I’ve always called it dollar grass, the kind that grows around Beeswax and all over Lay Lake”.

“I caught them swimming a ⅜ oz. jig from Crusher Lures, black and blue. I was swimming it right under the surface and letting it tick the grass, which was under the water since it was up a little bit. It would come to a little hole in the grass, and they would have it choked to the gullet.”

The key was the late cull only minutes before check-in.

“We had about 15 minutes left and ran back toward the ramp,” he said. “I saw some shad flickering and made a long cast to them. I pumped my swim jig maybe three times, and it demolished it, another three pounder right before we had to check in.”

The wins by Curry and Hollar highlighted an eventful day on Millers Ferry. Other winners included David Foshee, who caught the Academy Sports + Outdoors Big Fish with a 5.70 largemouth. Justin Nichols and Will Delaney won the team competition with a combined 17.42 total.

Other top 10 boaters were Foshee (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 12.06); Jeff Corley (Birmingham Bass Club,, 11.74); Joe Lay (Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters, 11.35); Scott Holmes (Birmingham Bass Club, 11.05); Nichols (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 10.92); Chris Pope (New Line Bass Club, 10.79); and Chad Boykin (LA Po Boys, 10.65).

Lay, who won the first 2024 ABN qualifier on Lake Martin, took the lead in the boater Angler of the Year standings after two events, just ahead of Jack White (Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters) and Noah Godwin (Pro Line Bassmasters).

Following Hollar among the co-anglers at Millers Ferry were Bradley Parnell (Monroe County B.A.S.S. Anglers, 8.92); Dale Westmoreland (New Line Bass Club, 7.47); Sam Jackson (W Alabama Bass Fishermen’s Association, 6.88); Jonathan Barnette (Carbon Hill Bass Club, 6.58); and Delaney (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 6.50).

Austin Kirk (Tiger Bassmasters) topped the co-angler of the year standings after two events with Chris Brown (New Line Bass Club) in second.

Seven teams qualified for the state championship in October on Lay Lake. Teams must sign up for that portion of each qualifier, and those not previously qualified get a chance to compete for the B.A.S.S. Team Championship in December. After Nichols and Delaney, the teams of Jeff Gilliam and Sam Jackson, Holmes and Jacob George, McNaughton and Andy Folds, Josh Dees and Alex Roberts, Danny Grantham and Chad Macks, and Matthew Hebert and Lee Fowler earned a spot in the state team tournament.

Other winners Saturday included Kelly Stephens, who won the Academy gift card drawing, and Jackson, who earned the Airport Maine Fishin’ 4 a Cure bonus. ABN competitors pay $25 per tournament or $100 for the year to participate in F4AC with the money going to support Children’s of Birmingham. Through the years, the ABN has contributed over $300,000 to help fight childhood diseases at the hospital.

President Eddie Plemons thanks all the sponsors who support the ABN schedule. In addition to Academy and Airport Marine, they include Impulse Lithium batteries, AmFirst BassCash, Fish Life Fish Care Products, 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. Plemons emphasized that ABN members must sign up each year to be eligible for contingency prizes from organizations that offer them. Impulse Lithium is the latest product to offer cash prizes to ABN competitors who are signed up with the company.

The 2024 ABN season continues in April at Lake Eufaula in southeast Alabama. The final qualifier is at Pickwick in June. The 2024 state championship will be held on Lay Lake in late October.