LIVE BLOG: Lane Leads, 5-Pounders Aplenty in Eufaula

Randy Howell hunting for the right bite on Lake Eufaula. Photo by Phoenix Moore

February 7, 2020 • MLF Field Crew • Bass Pro Tour

EUFAULA, Ala. – Heading into the final two hours of Qualifying Day 1 of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One Presented by Power-Pole here are a handful of interesting numbers:

10 anglers have put at least one 5-pound fish on SCORETRACKER®, led by Brandon Coulter’s 7-14.
Current leader Chris Lane’s eight fish average 4-3.
Brandon Coulter has connected with just three scorable fish so far today, but they’re the right size: they average 5-6.
Eight anglers are still searching for their first scorable bass.

2:20 p.m. CST — A little over an hour and a half remaining in Period 3 and it has gotten tougher than tough out there. Only eight fish have been caught since 2:00 p.m. Lane remains in the lead after catching his first bass since the third period. Down near the Elimination Line, Dean Rojas is the first man out of the Top 20, only 9 ounces behind Scott Suggs.

1:20 p.m. CST — Two periods are in the books and Chris Lane maintains his lead although he didn’t catch a bass for the entirety of Period 2. Lane is fortunate because Faircloth wasn’t able to grab a scorable bass either. Lane’s lead over Faircloth remains at 14-9. Remember, that top spot is very important because the leader of each group after two rounds gets an automatic bid to the Championship Round.

12:10 a.m. CST — There’s a new Berkley Big Bass of the day. Josh Bertrand hooked into a 6-10 that pushed him into third place. We are working to get a photo of said fish, but have yet to have any luck.

11:10 a.m. CST — There are now 26 pros on SCORETRACKER® as we are into the second period. Jeff Sprague caught his first two fish of the day to crack into the Top 20. Sprague spent the entire first period in search of a bite but has finally put something together. Luckily for Sprague and the rest of the field, there are not a lot of fish being caught at the moment. One or two bites could be all it takes to get into a favorable position on SCORETRACKER®.

Brandon Coulter catches a 5-10 on Lake Eufaula in Period 2.

10:32 a.m. CST — That’s the end of the first period and Chris Lane is far out in front. The Florida pro has caught eight bass for 33 pounds, 9 ounces and is more than 14 pounds ahead of second-place Todd Faircloth. Lane and Faircloth continue to share the same area near a water pump but Faircloth is beginning to wonder if it is time for him to move on to a new spot. Fifteen minutes of rest and then back at it for Period 2.

10:05 a.m. CST — So far there are 21 anglers on SCORETRACKER® with a scorable bass. We’ve seen newcomer Bryan Thrift catch his first bass as an MLF pro with a 2-2. The clouds are beginning to break but don’t count on that to warm up the weather here in southeast Alabama. The water remains muddy and the bites are hard to come by. However, when the fish bite, they are of great quality.

This 4-pound, 6-ouncer has helped Chris Lane to a 6-pound lead so far on Qualifying Day 1.

9:51 a.m. CST — Leader Chris Lane continues to pick his way through floating tussocks of grass, flipping either a jig or punching. His tussock work continues to serve him well as Lane maintains a 6-plus-pound lead over Todd Faircloth.

9:15 a.m. CST — Lake Eufaula is known as the Big Bass Capital of the World, and it is living up to the hype so far. Four pros have caught fish weighing over 5 pounds, and three more anglers with fish over 4 pounds. Todd Faircloth remains your leader with four bass for 19 pounds while Brent Ehrler just caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day at 5-15.

9:05 a.m. CST — We just got an update from Rob Newell. These post-frontal. conditions are proving tough for a lot of guys, but the water clarity is the biggest issue. Thanks to the heavy amount of rain over the last few days, the water has the color of mud across most of Lake Eufaula.

8:35 a.m. CST — Todd Faircloth is putting on a 5-pound clinic. He just caught his third 5-pounder of the morning, a 5-8 that moves him 4 pounds ahead of Chris Lane.

8:25 a.m. CST – First 5-plus-pounder of the season: Todd Faircloth is on the board with a 5-3.

8:15 a.m. CST — Chris Lane has the honor of the first scorable bass of the 2020 season. He caught a 3-11 for his first bass of the day. We just saw Randy Howell have to throw back a 1-14 because it did not meet the scorable requirement of 2 pounds. Howell and Jacob Powroznik are sharing the same area to start the morning.

7:45 a.m. CST — I caught up with a few anglers this morning as they were preparing to put their boats into Lake Eufaula. John Murray had a rough two days of practice and plans to start his day up the Chattahoochee River because that was the only place he caught any during practice. Joining him will be Gary Klein who had a good first day of practice. As for his second day? “Sucked,” Klein simply said.

While Klein and Murray head north, Jeff Sprague plans to stay right where they put in near Lakepoint State Park. Sprague said he felt very confident about where he was starting and hopes that it translates to a great start to his morning. If he begins to struggle, look for Sprague to run south to the complete other end of the lake.

Jared Lintner is seeing Lake Eufaula for the first time this week. “This is one of the fishiest looking places I have ever been,” Lintner told me as he braved the cold weather inside his heated truck. “Everything looks so good I’m just not sure where to start. Hopefully, that turns out to be a good thing.”