COLUMBUS, Miss. — Bassmaster Elite Series pro Justin Atkins has competed on some of America’s best bass fisheries in his five years on the tour, but never on the Tombigbee River, which he considers home water.
He had a chance this year as a Bassmaster Open will be held there Wednesday through Friday. But Atkins couldn’t fit this particular tournament into his schedule and, truth be told, he’s not happy about it.
“I’m really sick I'm not fishing it,” Atkins said. “I fished a lot of bass tournaments there when I was a kid. I mean, a lot. I saw my first wrapped boat running down that river. So, the nostalgia of it, and a tournament finally being back there, I really want to be there. But I would have to leave the (Elite Series event at the Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound in North Carolina) then hurry down to Columbus just to turn around and go back to the Elite at Hartwell (in South Carolina) the next week. I just couldn’t make it make sense.”
A full field of skilled anglers will be in Columbus, though, fighting for an Open victory on the 234-mile, man-made waterway connecting the Tennessee River with the confluence of the Black Warrior and Tombigbee rivers. It’ll be the first major B.A.S.S. event held on the Tombigbee River since 2004, when Paul Elias weighed in a 34-pound, 3-ounce total to win, with his final-day bag anchored by an 8-9 largemouth.
This year’s three-day tournament is the second of the four Opens events comprising the Division 1 schedule. The first was held in January on Georgia’s Clarks Hill Reservoir and two additional derbies are scheduled July 23-25 on Upper Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and July 31-August 2 on the St. Lawrence River in Upstate New York.
The Top 50 anglers from both the Division 1 and Division 2 series of the Bassmaster Opens will qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers (EQ), which consists of three tournaments scheduled for this fall. The Top 10 anglers in the EQ standings will earn invitations into the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2026.
Besides more than $300,000 in cash going to top competitors on the Tombigbee, including more than $50,000 to the winner, the champ also will clinch a berth in the 2026 Bassmaster Classic, to be held March 13-15 on the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tenn.
Atkins said the anglers who best manage the Tombigbee River lock system could have an advantage in the tournament.
“There's a game to it, and it’s a really awesome part of it all really, the strategy that goes into it,” he said. “When you lock and run a long way, you could have water to yourself. But it’s a major risk with barge traffic. You might (miss) a lock. A guy can do two locks, maybe, but if you lock three times, that would only leave you with about 45 minutes of fishing. And like I said, the timing is a thing because the locks open every other hour depending on if you’re going north or south.”
Atkins said, much like the event held there 21 years ago, 13 to 15 pounds per day could be enough to win now.
“I could be wrong, but what I usually see is someone catches 17 or 18 (pounds) but then catches 10,” Atkins said. “So, the person who has 40 to 45 pounds in the end will be really strong.”
Atkins said largemouth bass are typically caught on the southern pools of the Tombigbee River. There’s a mix of largemouth and spotted bass in the 25-mile stretch between Columbus and Aberdeen, with the number of spots increasing the farther an angler wends northward. As for lures, Atkins said he anticipates the best bites will come on spinnerbaits, frogs, wacky-style worms, shaky-head worms and the like.
“It’ll be an old-school fishing tournament,” he said. “In mid-April, you’ll have some fish still spawning and you’ll have a shad spawn going. It’s a good river for junk-fishing. I learned so much on that river living 10 minutes from it for 25 years of my life. Honestly, ever since I moved to Pickwick Lake, I don’t think I’m as good an angler as I was when I was having to figure out the different things happening (on the Tombigbee River).”
“Whatever happens, it’s gonna be an intriguing tournament,” he added. “And I really hope B.A.S.S. comes back. I won’t miss it again.”
Daily takeoffs are scheduled to begin at 6:15 a.m. CT, with weigh-ins set for 3:15 p.m., all from Columbus Marina. Only the Top 10 anglers will advance to fish on Day 3 of the tournament.
