Parks bests boater field, crowded lake at Pickwick
By Greg McCain

Logan Parks, even though he is from Auburn, has plenty of fishing hours on Pickwick Lake in northwest Alabama.

As a high school competitor and later as a highly competitive college performer, Parker has experienced just about everything the Tennessee River reservoir has to offer. Rarely, however, has he seen Pickwick so crowded as it was Saturday (June 3) in the final Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation (ABN) qualifier of 2023.

Parks (Auburn Anglers) said his first four spots were occupied on his initial run Saturday morning. Only when he got to a fifth location did he have it to himself. Perhaps the crowded lake was a good thing because Parks soon had a limit that overwhelmed the field of 84 boaters. His five bass, four largemouth and one smallmouth, weighed 25.13, well over six pounds heavier than second-place boater John Thornton (Belgreen Bass Club). Thornton had 18.63. Zeke Gossett (Shotgun Sports Supply) claimed third among boaters with 18.42.

(Photos from the tournament can be found at the following link: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAGtp4.)

With another tournament featuring over 300 boats out of the lower end of the lake, plus other local tournaments, over 400 bass teams crowded Pickwick, and the pressure was constant, particularly below the Natchez Trace Bridge, located about mid-lake. Parks made the most of his stops and finally got a school of bass fired up on his first stop.

“I came out here with a game plan that I was going to catch them offshore,” Parks said, “no matter how little the schools were out there. I’m going to graph to find them. I graphed from daylight to dark three days in a row.”

The ledge fish were noticeably absent for Parks through his first two days of searching, but he began to find schools on Friday.

“I ran to my first spot, and there’s three boats on it,” he said. “I ran to my second-best spot, and there’s five boats on it. I get to my fifth-best spot in my opinion and caught 25 pounds.”

“It took a little bit to get them fired, but when they fired, it went down.”

Fishing below the Trace, Parks said he caught most of his bass on a Berkley Hollow Belly Swimbait bait but also added two key fish on a dropshot rig. His limit included the Academy Sports + Outdoors Big Bass of the tournament, a 6.21 largemouth.
“One of my goals is to make the Elites,” Parks said. “I’m fishing the Opens and sitting good there, but this is just another route to get to the Elites. By winning this one, I’m going straight to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship next year.”

Contrasting the ledge action of Parks, Thornton caught all of the fish he weighed in swimming a worm through shallow grass. He started on a topwater spot not far from the McFarland Park launch area in Florence and managed only one small keeper. The action picked up after a short run downriver.

“We had a good day,” Thornton said. “I caught more fish today than I have caught in the last month combined. I don’t think my area would have produced 25 pounds if I had fished until dark, but it had a lot of three-pounders in it.”

Thornton, in fact, culled at least four three-pounders during an early-afternoon flurry. His big largemouth weighed almost five pounds.

Among the co-anglers, Curtis Gossett (Shotgun Sports Supply) exacted some revenge on Pickwick with a three-fish limit weighing 11.75. Gossett lost in the first-ever ABN fish-off on Pickwick in 2022, but he had no such concerns this year. His weight dominated the back-of-the-boat field. Chris Brown (Wiregrass Bassmasters) took second with 8.92.

Gossett fished with his son, Zeke, and they caught fish on ledges “between the Trace bridge and Bear Creek.”

The Gossetts caught their fish on plastics, “swimming them real slow across a little point. (Because of the crowd), we stayed on the same place all day long except for the last 15 minutes.

“It wasn’t a giant school on it, but we chased them all over that point all day.”

Curtis Gosset labeled his day “a grind.” He caught his first keeper about 8 but didn’t land his third until about 12:30.

“I would like to thank Zeke for coming out here and pre-fishing,” Gossett said. “All I do is come out here (on tournament day) and catch them. Without him, I wouldn’t do what I do. The attribute I do have is I don’t quit. I grind.”

Brown also said he and partner Jarrett Brown (Wiregrass Bassmasters) endured a tough day of fishing but found quality bites on one spot. Jarrett finished fourth among boaters with 17.90.

For Curtis Brown, a key moment came late in the day when he boated a 3.94 largemouth on a shaky head. His only cull of the day bumped his weight up to second place in the co-angler standings. In addition to the shaky head, Brown said they caught their fish on a swimbait and a Damiki rig.

“We stopped on a spot (in the Bear Creek area) and caught four or five fish,” Brown said. “We fished another hour or so and left. That was a mistake. We probably should have stayed.

“For two and a half or three hours, we ran around looking for fish. We came back to where we started but couldn’t get on it.”

The location finally opened up for the Browns, and they managed to boat a few more fish. They finished second behind the Gossetts in the team competition.

Rounding out the top 10 among boaters were Francis Beard (Neely Henry Bassmasters, 16.85); Caleb Swaim (Belgreen Bass Club, 15.09); Sean Lee (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 14.43); Keith Glasgow (Winfield Bassmasters, 13.95); Doug Goodall (Rumbling Waters Bass Anglers, 13.91); and Luke Glasgow (Winfield Bassmasters, 13.08).

In the co-angler division, other top finishers were Chris Curvin (Neely Henry Bassmasters, 8.87); Trey Mitchell (Shoals Fishers of Men, 8.83); Jonathan Barnette (Carbon Hill Bass Club, 8.68); McCain Merchant (Winfield Bassmasters, 8.65); Nick Glenn (Hamilton Bassmasters, 8.05); Dylan Hatton (Belgreen Bass Club, 7.91); Joseph Batton (Coosa Valley Bassmasters, 7.10); and Burt Lancaster (Wiregrass Bassmasters, 7.03)

Following the Gossetts and the Browns in the team category were Beard and Curvin. Also qualifying for the team portion of the state tournament in the fall were Keith Glasgow and Merchant, Jim and Jonathan Barnette, Thornton and Greg McCain, Luke Glasgow and Dolan Lyle, Lee and Jimmy Inman, and Goodall and Gene Townsend.

Curtis Gossett was also the top registered entry among the Fishin’ for a Cure (F4AC) competitors. ABN anglers pay $25 per tournament or $100 for the year to participate in F4AC, which supports Children’s of Birmingham. Through the years, the ABN has contributed over $300,000 to help fight childhood diseases.
A final winner Saturday was Ferlin Weeks, who claimed the Academy drawing. ABN anglers submit their Academy receipts prior to each event, and the $100 winner is drawn at weigh-in.
ABN president Eddie Plemons thanks all the sponsors who support the season-long tournaments. In addition to Academy, they include Airport Marine, 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.

The ABN season concludes November 3-4 with the state championship, also on Pickwick. In addition to the individual and team competitions, Angler of the Year races will also be determined then. After the Pickwick event, Bruce Sargent (Birmingham Bass Club) leads a tight boater race ahead of Donald Griffith (Wiregrass Bassmasters), Bo Quinnie (Wiregrass Bassmasters), and Beard. Curvin tops the co-AOY standings after four events, followed by Hudson Choquette (University of Montevallo), Joe Dudewicz (Bluff City B/M of Eufaula), Jonathan Barnette and Richard White (Alex City Bassmasters).

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 recent credits include articles in Georgia Outdoor News, the ACC Crappie Stix blog, the Cornfield Fishing Gear website, CrappieNOW online magazine, and Great Days Outdoors.