2024 Bassmaster EQ Points and Classic invitation at stake on 50,000-acre Buggs Island Reservoir
PARK FALLS, Wis. (May 1, 2023) – The St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series rolls into Clarksville, Virginia this week for the first Division 3 Opens event of the 2023 season. A field of 225 boats, pros, and accompanying co-anglers will compete on the 50,000-acre Buggs Island Reservoir – a 70-year-old impoundment on the Roanoke River. At stake is a total payout of over $250,000, an invitation for the pro-division tournament winner to the 2024 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota, as well as EQ points that could result in an invitation to fish the coveted 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series. The competition will take place May 3-5.
Current conditions on Buggs Island – also known as John H. Kerr Reservoir – show water temperatures in the low-to-mid-60s and rising, with water levels at or near full pool. Look for anglers to target abundant largemouth bass on a variety of pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn patterns. Expect tournament leaders to weigh daily five-fish bags between 10 and 15-pounds comprised of two-to-four-pound green bass, with the opportunity for kickers up to eight.
McKinney on the March
After two events in the 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens season, St. Croix Pro, Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Illinois, sits 5th in Opens EQ Points with 381, 15 points behind leader Ben Milliken. The top nine anglers at the end of the season will earn a spot in the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series. McKinney finished 20th at Lake Eufaula and 2nd at Toledo Bend, where he was the only angler besides Milliken to weigh 20+ pound bags during all three days of competition.
“I was able to pre-practice at Buggs Island before it went off limits,” McKinney says. “It’s a pretty cool place and similar in many ways to some of my home waters in Southern Illinois.”
McKinney says while water temps are still in the low-to-mid-60s, he expects to find largemouth bass in every stage of the spawn once practice starts this week. “We’re going to have shallow fish, deep fish, staging fish… all that,” he predicts. “We’ll figure it out when we get there, but I think those mid-range depths and transition spots will be key for me. The lake is very spread out, but there will definitely be some key, popular areas. It’s really hard to say what I’ll focus on, but I do love throwing a jig on my St. Croix Victory 7’4” heavy, fast FULL CONTACT rod. Wherever they’re at and whatever they’re doing, I’m confident I’ll be able to catch them that way.”
St. Croix Rewards Program
St. Croix wishes to remind all pros and co-anglers fishing in any 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Open event that they can win even more with St. Croix Rewards, as long as they are fishing at least one St. Croix rod.
The St. Croix Rod Rewards Program pays an extra $1,000 to any registered pro angler who wins a St. Croix Bassmaster Open tournament fishing St. Croix rods, OR $500 to the highest-finishing registered top-10 pro angler fishing St. Croix rods.
Similarly, the program awards an extra $500 to any registered co-angler who wins a St. Croix Bassmaster Open tournament fishing St. Croix rods, OR $250 to the highest-finishing registered top-10 co-angler fishing St. Croix rods.
Anglers must register during the on-site registration prior to the tournament to be eligible to win St. Croix Rewards.
2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Schedule
Division 1
March 2-4, Lake Eufaula, Eufaula, AL
May 18-20, Wheeler Lake, Decatur, AL
Oct. 12-14, Harris Chain of Lakes, Leesburg, FLA
Division 2
April 13-15, Toledo Bend, Many, LA
June 15-17, Lake Eufaula, Eufaula, OK
Sept. 22-24,Lake of the Ozarks, Osage, MO
Division 3
May 3-5, Buggs Island Reservoir, Clarksville, VA
July 20-22, St. Lawrence River, Waddington, NY
Sept. 14-16, Watts Bar Reservoir, Kingston, TN
Follow all of the action of the 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series at bassmaster.com/opens.
