The stretch run of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech season takes the pros to a pair of wildly divergent fisheries: Lake Eufaula and Lake Champlain. Up first, Stop 5 Presented by K&N Filters will challenge anglers, as Eufaula is a tricky fishery, and the weather and water levels could dramatically alter game plans.
Last time
MLF hasn’t had many events in June at Eufaula, though the May of ’24 Toyota Series event could provide some solid guidance. Won by Chris Jones with a little better than 15 pounds a day, it featured a wide variety of patterns. Jones won running south, power fishing shallow, and others caught fish on finesse tactics on cover, offshore, and on a shad spawn.
There have been two Bassmaster Opens on Eufaula in June, and both of those events took 17 pounds a day to win. In both, forward-facing sonar and offshore targets were a big deal, but not the only game in town.
What to expect this time
The key to this event will be the water level, but that’s impossible to know until much closer to the event – or perhaps even during the event. Still, given a fishable range of conditions, there are plenty of possibilities.
“It’s very much transition, it’s definitely postspawn 100%,” said Oklahoman Shonn Goodwin. “It will depend very much on the water level. If it is up in the bushes, they’ll still be up in the bushes; you can win it or compete very well in the bushes.”
Of course, as of now, the water is not in the bushes. So, anglers can expect some good shallow fishing, but there’s not much likelihood that we’ll see a jungle tournament.
“A big thing is the shad spawn, I stopped at Eufaula once in early June, and the shad spawn was incredible, like I had never seen it,” Goodwin said. “That time of year, it can be very muddy, so it can make it difficult to get much of a deep bite. If the water is low, it’ll be cleared up, and it will be postspawn, and there will be good offshore stuff – rough spots, small drop-offs, brush, places that will hold them really well.”
Forward-facing sonar is a powerful tool at Eufaula to fish brush and small targets with shaky heads, Neko rigs and drop-shots. Though there’s a good chance the winner fishes in the dirt the whole event, there’s also plenty of room for modern technology to heavily influence the outcome, despite Oklahoma mud.
Headlines to watch for
Eufaula is now a pretty common stop for tournaments, but not long ago, it was an unknown. Three days of MLFNOW! live in June could be fascinating, and, if the water is high or the shallow bite is on, it might be a ton of fun – big fish and short string are a good combination.
- Rubber meets the road in the points race – This event is a wild card for many, and every fish is going to be critical. While there will be plenty of focus on the winner, the 7 Brew Angler of the Year race and the Bass Pro Tour chase will also be of premier importance.
- Watch for something new – Though Eufaula is now a well-known tournament fishery, there are vast stretches of water that haven’t seen a live camera and maybe not even a trolling motor. With more pressure on the juice than ever in the last few years, this could be an event where someone shows off the unknown.
- Expect some power fishing – There are no guarantees in fishing, but there should be something fun happening shallow somewhere in this one. If the water is high, it might be really fun, and if it isn’t, there is still likely to be a pro or three in the Top 10 on the strength of a frog or a jig and the bank.
Follow along
You can follow the action at Stop 5 Presented by K&N Filters at Lake Eufaula during all three days of competition, June 5-7, on MLFNOW! and stay locked to MajorLeagueFishing.com for on-the-water galleries, daily stories and more.