2024 Tackle Warehouse Invitationals preview: Lake Eufaula
EUFAULA, Ala. – The back half of the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals season begins in the South before turning sharply north for the final two events. After a smallmouth spawn event on Kentucky Lake, it’s time to hit the postspawn with Stop 4 Presented by E3 Sport Apparel on Lake Eufaula.
Lake Eufaula
Eufaula, Ala.
May 10-12, 2024
Hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce
About the fishery
Lake Eufaula is a Chattahoochee River impoundment sprawling more than 45,000 acres along the Alabama/Georgia border. The fishery offers a variety of cover, structure and habitat where fish dwell.
Winding backwater sloughs and swampy, gator-infested run-off canals filled with emergent vegetation are found throughout the north end of the lake and the riverine portion. In the main lake, bank grass is usually easy to find, but the focus shifts offshore. One of the original ledge lakes in the South, at the right time, Eufaula is an offshore haven. With brush piles all over the place, standing timber, shell beds and standard ledges, there’s a lot of offshore territory to explore.
Last time
The waters of the Chattahoochee run deep with tournament history, so there’s no need to look very far for good data on what may happen this go-round. Last year at about the same time, the Toyota Series Southern Division hit lovely Lake Eufaula for its second event of the year, which was won by Justin Lucas. Lucas tallied 51-13 over three days to win by a pretty decent margin.
For his part, Lucas did a lot of his damage at the crack of dawn on a shad spawn; and shad spawns, brush and old-school junking worked for everyone else in the Top 10. Notably, the weights were not too impressive, which tracks with Eufaula in May (see also, the 2021 Pro Circuit event).
What to expect this time
Going into the event this year, the conditions could be difficult again.
“From what I can tell, just driving over the bridges, the shad spawn is in full swing now, and the shad spawn was going before off-limits started,” said Eufaula native Ethan Greene. “So, we’re at the tail end of the shad spawn, which is bad news. When you’re at the tail end of the shad spawn, you can start at one end of the lake and go to the other and find piles of shad, but they’re not going to play, because the bass just aren’t really on them.”
That said, though a popping shad spawn on the bank might not be the way to get right, an offshore or brush-based shad spawn could be. Or, a shad spawn up the river, like how Jason Abram won in 2021.
“This time of year, with the lake being in the funk, the river could be a big player,” Greene said. “The shad spawn up there could be going on, and you’re more apt to get on a shad spawn with bass on it.”
Of course, Eufaula’s plentiful brush piles are also expected to be a factor, both because they’re good cover for bass and because of the shad spawn.
“The shad spawn in brush on this place,” Greene said. “A jerkbait, any reaction bait, first thing in the morning, you’re going to fish brush, and if the shad are spawning in it, then that’s going to be a good pile. The bank shad spawns are going to be few and far between. The brush shad spawns, that was a player last year, that’s why a lot of people were throwing jerkbaits and moving baits.”
In May of 2015, Bryan Thrift won an FLW Tour event with 69 pounds by running isolated brush and other targets, although he actually caught some on a frog on the last day. With Jeff Gustafson also in the Top 10 throwing a topwater, it was an example of just how interesting Eufaula can be in May.
Weather and bass depending, the event could be pretty tremendous. Though Greene thinks it will “100% be won on brush,” he’s open to the idea of a true offshore bite developing.
“If fish start pulling out to the ledges, it’s going to be an absolute slugfest, because they’ll be just getting out there,” he said. “When those fish get out on the ledges, first of the year, you can throw a bare hook and catch ‘em. It would be a slugfest, but I really don’t think they’ll be in that stage yet. I don’t think we’ve had enough warm weather yet. They’re gonna be in that postspawn funk, moving from shad to brush, brush to ledges — the fish are just going to be in a transition.”
Come game day, we’ll see what’s up. One thing is for sure, the first hour or so of MLFNOW! should be must-watch for some shad spawn action.
Headlines to watch for
In every event, there are a few factors that can really shape the outcome. Here are some possible storylines at Eufaula.
- An AOY shakeup – The leaders for Fishing Clash Angler of the Year have remained pretty steady thus far, and it’s hard to see them faltering. But, Eufaula is not an easy place to fish, and we’re headed there at a tricky time. Getting out of town in good shape will go a long way for pros’ AOY and Bass Pro Tour hopes.
- Early action – Oftentimes, the first couple hours of fishing are super key in the postspawn in the South. Expect the same here – pros don’t want to get behind the eight ball early.
- Big changes day to day – You see it a lot in BPT or other longer events, but this one has the same sort of potential. Because of the quickly progressing conditions this time of year, we could see pros successfully fishing a shad spawn on Day 1, and then fishing ledges by the afternoon of Day 3.
Follow along
You can follow the action at Stop 4 Presented by E3 Sport Apparel on Lake Eufaula on MLFNOW! and stay locked to the website for on-the-water galleries, daily stories and more.