Devere ‘sights in’ lead at Eufaula

Race tightens for top-10 field at Stren Southeast event

EUFUALA, Ala. – The water continued to fall today at the Stren Series tournament on Lake Eufaula, wiping out previous leader Johnny Crews of Lakeland, Fla., and ushering in new leader Shannon Devere of Berea, Ky., who brought in five bass for 20 pounds, 3 ounces.

While Devere was happy with his lead, he was also disappointed, saying he had nothing to go to tomorrow.

“That’s it, I’m out,” Devere told tournament director Chris Jones while crossing the weigh-in stage Friday. “I’ve beat my place up for three days now, and that’s all it had left were those five right there. I’ve been back and forth, up and down through my area, scouring the bottom for more fish, but they’re all caught, and I don’t think any more are moving up.”

Devere, who mostly sight-fished deeper beds in one area all week, said the falling water level will likely keep his productive pocket from replenishing.

“Of course, I’ll check it again tomorrow just to see if by some miracle some more moved up,” he added. “But other than that, I’ll just be starting from scratch to find something else.”

Big stick revival for Bowen

Billy Bowen of Ocala, Fla., continued to pitch and flip in the upper-river portion of Lake Eufaula today.

His big stick and short line produced 19 pounds, 8 ounces today for second place.

“Instead of running up and down the river like I did the first day, I’ve settled down in one area,” Bowen said. “It’s a about a mile-long stretch that seems to be key.”

Bowen revealed that he is using a homemade softbait to catch his fish.

“It’s a softbait, and it’s heavily for the way I like to fish,” he said.

Ingram is one to watch

Ryan Ingram of Phoenix City, Ala., has the local advantage on his side right now, and it piled up to 18 pounds, 13 ounces for third place today.

After seeing the other weights, though, Ingram was disappointed in himself for pulling off his fish so early today. Both he and his co-angler, leader Mike Mahady, had their limits by about 8 a.m.

“I didn’t want to keep beating them up,” he said. “I starting culling up by just ounces at a time today, and I felt like I wasting the fish, so I left them alone to go look for spawners on the bank. Now that I see what’s leading, I wish I had pushed for a little more weight today.”

Ingram is fishing staging fish. He revealed that the falling water is helping him tremendously.

“If they weren’t dropping the water like this, my fish would be long gone to the bank,” he said. “The falling water is holding them out, but they’re dying to get to the bank and spawn. The first day I caught them in 15 feet; the second day I caught them in 8 feet; today, I caught them in 3 feet. So they’re moving up hard, and I just pray that another wave is moving up out of the river right behind them.”

Ellis fourth

Ken Ellis of Bowman, S.C., caught four bass weighing 17 pounds, 8 ounces for fourth place today.

Ellis is finesse fishing for giant bass with small weightless plastics and light line – real light line for Eufaula – in the 6- to 10-pound-test range.

“I’m not sight-fishing; I’m catching postspawn bass around some scattered hydrilla and docks,” he said. “I’m not getting many bites, but when I do, most of the time it’s a big postspawn female.”

As for the light line, Ellis noted, “When they come off the bed, especially when they’ve been fished for as hard as they have this week, they’re really picky, and that light line gives the bait a much more natural fall.”

Little fifth

The current Stren Series Southeast points leader, Timothy Little of Acworth, Ga., put more distance between himself and his pursuers today by moving up to his best position of the week, fifth, with five bass for 16 pounds, 14 ounces.

Little has had to fish differently every day, both in terms of area and technique, to keep up with the falling water.

He has been fishing shallow, but not sight-fishing. Today, while covering water, he stumbled upon an area that seems to be holding some better fish.

“If the water would just stop and stabilize, I think these fish will hold right where they are,” Little said. “But if it keeps falling, I’ll have to change up all over again.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros in the Stren Series Southeast on Lake Eufaula that will fish Saturday:

6th: Scott Hamrick of Denver, N.C., five bass, 14-12

7th: Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 13-4

8th: Michael Conley of Bainbridge, Ga., five bass, 12-5

9th: Thanh Le of Davie, Fla., five bass, 11-11

10th: Patrick Pierce of Jacksonville, Fla., four bass, 10-10

Mahady leads co-anglers

Mike Mahady of Kennesaw, Ga., leads the Co-angler Division of the Stren Southeast with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 11 ounces.

Mahady had the privilege of fishing with local pro Ryan Ingram, in third place, for the second day in a row.

“He’s just a fantastic guy and an awesome fisherman,” Mahady said. “First thing this morning, he requested that I let him get his limit first and then he’d let me get mine. And that’s exactly what he did. He got his limit in a matter of minutes. Then he told me exactly where to throw my Carolina rig, and I got my limit in about 10 minutes.”

Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., in second with four fish weighing 11 pounds, 1 ounce.

He reported catching his fish by casting, pitching and swimming a jig in shallow water.

Curt Fannin of Prestonburg, Ky., grabbed third place with four fish for 9 pounds, 13 ounces by fishing a Carolina-rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hog.

Jim Buchanan of Dothan, Ala., is in fourth place with three fish for 8 pounds, 9 ounces.

Matt Leavel of Hamilton, Ala., is in fifth place with 7 pounds, 12 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the Stren Series Southeast on Lake Eufaula that will fish tomorrow:

6th: Mike Birge of Florala, Ala., three bass, 6-4

7th: Garry Collins of Russell Springs, Ky., three bass, 6-3

8th: Shane Patterson of Alexander City, Ala., one bass, 5-14

9th: Steve Smith of Mariana, Fla., three bass, 5-8

10th: Matthew Parker of Whitesburg, Ga., two bass, 5-5

The final day takeoff begins at 6 a.m. at Lakepoint State Park at 6 a.m.