EUFAULA, Ala. – A semitrailer full of 14- to 16-inch keeper bass poured across the weigh-in stage on day one of the Stren Series Southeast event on Lake Eufaula.
In all, 366 anglers caught 1,065 bass weighing a total of 2,427 pounds. A solid 10-pound catch on the pro side put an angler in 70th place, and a 13-pound catch was good enough for 30th place.
Not bad fishing in terms of numbers, but the quality of bass did not live up to expectations for Eufaula for the month of March.
However, there is a biological force at work that may explain why this is happening.
While smaller male bass are eager to get up on the bank, make a bed and court females, female bass are not so rash. Females with eggs tend to be very cautious about where they deposit the eggs, especially on lakes where the water level fluctuates – such as Eufaula.
Since Eufaula’s terrain is so flat, likely nesting spots for bass might be up on dry land if the water drops 18 inches in a couple of days.
According to pros fishing the Eufaula Stren Series this week, the water has been dropping and the bigger females know that, hence they are staying at bay in deeper haunts of 3 to 6 feet of water, patiently waiting for the water to stop falling.
The result is a drastic size segregation: smaller males up shallow, attacking anything that intrudes their territory, and bigger females out deeper, waiting for the water to stabilize.
The top four anglers at the day-one weigh-in admitted to fishing out on secondary drops for their bigger bites to get into the 18-pound class while many of the 10- to 13-pound limits came from the shallow grass around the bank.
Anglers still contend, however, that at some point the lake is going to stop falling, 
and when it does, the big girls will move up in the shallows with the males.
“If that happens, this will be anyone’s ballgame,” said well-known local pro Ryan Ingram, who won the Eufaula Stren event in 2006. “But if they keep dropping the water and the females stay out, then guys who know where those key deeper staging spots are located will excel.”
The day-two weigh-in of the Stren Series event on Lake Eufaula will begin Thursday at 3 p.m. at Lakepoint State Park.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:53 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 46 degrees
Expected high temperature: 75 degrees
Water temperature: 63 degrees
Wind: SSW at 5 to 10 mph
Day’s outlook: sunny and warmer