Story by Hunter Baughman | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Have you seen the 2025 schedule? We’re still a few months away from kicking off the 2025 season—in fact, there’s still the make-up event at Lake Murray next week—but this time of year I get excited. As the schedules come out, I like to put everything on a calendar and see how it lays logistically. Then the work begins almost immediately. I book lodging, study maps, look at past results, and become as familiar as I can with each lake.
Let’s take a look at each of the six stops on next year’s schedule. As we examine each stop, remember there will be no forward-facing sonar allowed.
March 6-8: Santee Cooper – Clarendon, SC
We will start the year off with some fireworks! There will be multiple large bags of fish weighed in during this event. When we were there in late May of 2023, Quentin Cappo weighed the single largest bag in NPFL history—30 pounds even! Patrick Walters won that event averaging just over 22 1/2 pounds per day. Believe it or not, most of the fish were in a post spawn funk and it was an incredibly tough event to generate bites. After a rough start, I finally figured it out and weighed in 21 pounds of frog fish on the last day.
It was easily one of the top five tournament days of my life watching them eat the frog. I believe going back in early March will see a large increase in weights throughout the field. With the exception of some crazy cold front, the fish should be set up in pre-spawn patterns and chewing. There might even be a few on beds if it warms up quickly. The B.A.S.S. Opens were there at the same time this year and it took over 27 1/2 a day to win and 18 1/2 a day to get paid. That’s stout! I expect there will be a wide variety of baits used by the top finishers. ChatterBaits, lipless crankbaits, Senkos and maybe even a few topwaters should lead the way.
April 16-18: Lake Norman – Mecklenburg, NC
Back to the Carolinas for stop number 2. I’ve got lots of homework to do on this venue. I can honestly say I know nothing about it. What I do know is April in the Carolinas means large numbers of spawning bass. I fully expect at least nine of the top 10 will be focusing on bass that are spawning. There might be one angler that figures out an oddball pattern with some staging fish, but that won’t be the norm. Without much knowledge, I’m expecting it to fish similar to Lake Hartwell when we were there in mid-April of 2022. Baits of choice will be lots of soft plastics for sight fishermen and maybe a glide bait mixed in.
May 22-24: Douglas Lake – Dandridge, TN
Another venue I have very little knowledge about. I believe it will be primarily a rock-related bite. I don’t think there is much vegetation in the lake. This should fish similar to the Ozark-type lakes around Arkansas, which I’m pretty excited about. Smallmouth may be somewhat of a factor, but I think it takes largemouth to win normally. This will be a post-spawn event that will probably have a shad spawn mixed in, too. I expect lots of topwater baits to shine in this event. Dragging points and fishing brush should also be a factor.
June 18-20: Lake Eufaula – Eufaula, OK
We were there in September of 2023 when Louis Fernandez won fishing brush piles. The bite was tough, and the weights were low. While I don’t believe the weights will be near as low for this event, it could still be a little tough. It’s another lake that is rock and brush-centric with no vegetation. Docks could also play here. The fish should be in their summer patterns by the time we get there, but those patterns could be on different ends of the spectrum. If it’s a dry spring, the water will be fairly clear. There will be an early topwater bite until the sun gets up, then the fish will move to rock veins, brush and docks. If it’s a wet spring, the lake could be high and muddy. If that happens, expect lots of topwater, flipping in the bushes, and squarebills on shallow rock. One thing about Eufaula … theres always a population of fish that live shallow year-round.
July 9-11: St. Lawrence River – Massena, NY
Two words … bucket list! This has been one of my bucket list places for a long time and I’m excited to check it off. Smallmouth will rule this event. Drifting in the current will be the main gig. Typical smallmouth baits like dropshots will be the lure of choice. The wildcard for this event will be the largemouth. I hear there are some big ones that live there. I don’t believe it can be won on the green fish, but a top 10 could be a possibility.
September 25-27: Logan Martin – Oxford, AL
I think lots of fish will be caught, but those quality 3-pound-plus fish will be very hard to find. We were there at the beginning of this year, and it was a grind. I expect more of the same. But hey, we all need a grinder from time to time! One difference will be water willow on the banks. This year we were early enough that the water was still at winter pool. Next year it will be summer pool, and the grass will be in the water. I’m sure it will produce topwater bites early, before the majority of the fish move to docks and brush as the sun comes up. While unlikely in September, if we get a substantial amount of rain the current will flow, and the bite will improve dramatically. Bait choice will be all over the place. A true “junk fisherman” will shine.
I hope you have enjoyed getting my take on next year’s schedule. We can look back as the year goes by and see how close I was on each event.
This week I’m packing to head to Lake Murray. We’ll start practice on Sunday, and I’m looking forward to providing you with a practice report next week!
Hunter Baughman – Angler Profile
