Canterbury kicks off EverStart Series with early lead
Two of Eufaula’s best lurking
EUFAULA, Ala. – Lake Eufaula is being a little stingy with her bass these days, but the EverStart Series Southeast Division has assembled some of the lake’s best bassmiths to crack the catching code.
An array of specialists went to work on the lake this morning and the findings are that bass are scattered from mere inches of water to 20 feet deep.
For some, there seems to be a little bit of a shad-spawn bite going on. Others were still able to sight-fish a few off beds. A handful of guys mentioned catching fry-guarders.
Several river ledge pros said the fish are “not quite out there yet,” while those fishing the 4 to 7 foot zone seemed to be the most consistent.
Fresh off a fourth place finish at the FLW Tour event on Lake Chickamauga, Straight Talk pro Scott Canterbury of Springville, Ala., carried his momentum to Eufaula to take the day one lead with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 12 ounces.
Canterbury started the day with a very long run where he tapped an early shad spawn bite.
“I really got fortunate with the right weather this morning,” Canterbury said. “The clouds and wind worked to my favor in terms of keeping the shad spawn going and prolonging that bite for while – it kept the fish shallow longer than I expected.”
Canterbury is pairing his shad spawn pattern with some fish that are still on beds and caught 10 keepers on the day.
“I’ve got few that I’m looking at, too,” Canterbury said. “If it gets high and bluebird (skies) tomorrow that shad spawn may end earlier, but I think I can adapt with some of the spawning fish.”
Ingram second 
Lurking in second place is Lake Eufaula local powerhouse Ryan Ingram of Phenix City, Ala., with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces.
Ingram has logged an EverStart win and two runner-ups on Eufaula as well as two BFL wins here. Needless to say, he knows a thing or two about where Eufaula bass live.
Though fishing out deep is Ingram’s game, his fish came shallow today.
“I was fishing way out offshore, but I was fishing shallow flats with stumps on them,” Ingram said. “The water is almost too shallow, though. I’m out in the middle of the lake, but my trolling motor was churning up mud to get to these stumps and that’s no good. Normally, with two or three more feet of water in the lake, I can sneak up on these big stumps before they know I’m there. But when you have to grind your way to them through the mud, they pretty much know you’re coming and it messes everything up. I still caught some off the stumps, but it wasn’t easy.”
Ingram said he also tried some of his deep places today but the fish just were not out there.
Hults third
Another Eufaula headliner, Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., is in third place with 15 pounds, 11 ounces. Hults’ limit was anchored by the big bass in the Pro Division weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces.
Hults is no stranger to success on Eufaula, either. He has logged two EverStart wins as a co-angler and he won the FLW Series as pro here last year.
Hults is still fishing shallow, but he noted he is fishing a completely different area of the lake than where he has found success in the past.
“The water is just too low and too clear to fish where I fished last year,” Hults said. “I’m fishing completely on the other end of the lake. I’m still fishing the same kind of shallow stuff, but it’s much farther away and much more scattered – I probably fished 10 or 12 different spots today.”
Hults did indicate he had some “fresh” water to go to tomorrow.
“I still have some water I have not fished yet and I think there are fish in it,” he said. “But I’m not as confident about being on the same amount of fish as I was last year.”
Gibson fourth
Troy Gibson of Eufaula, Ala., is in fourth place with 15 pounds, 2 ounces.
Gibson describes himself as a fishing “farmer” because he likes to plow through lily pads and grass in two feet of water to catch his bass on Eufaula. But this week, he has had to back out and fish secondary breaks.
“I drug around out deep with a Carolina rig a little bit today, but it’s just not happening out there for me,” Gibson said. “So I spent the afternoon in the 5- to 7- foot range cranking a Strike King KVD 2.5 squarebill for my bites.”
McGuire fifth
Curt McGuire of Paris, Tenn., rounds out the top five with 14 pounds, 14 ounces.
McGuire likes the deep-water game but he, too, is having trouble locating schools of fish out deep.
“It’s one here and one there,” McGuire said. “They’re not grouped up yet at all, and I don’t know why. I have not found a true school of fish yet. I had to hit about 20 places to catch the ones I caught, but it’s just one fish per place.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top-10 pros in the EverStart Series event on Lake Eufaula after day one:
6th: Clayton Batts of Macon, Ga., five-bass, 14-7
7th: James Grogan of Fort Mitchell, Ala., five-bass, 14-2
8th: John Skipper of Dothan, Ala., five-bass, 13-13
9th: Patrick Dobbins of Opelika, Ala., five-bass, 13-11
10th: Edward Gettys of Scottsboro, Ala., five-bass, 13-10
White leads co-anglers
Hale White of Thompsons Station, Tenn., leads the Co-angler Division with a five-bass limit weighing 14-4.
White fished with pro Anthony Goggans and struck early on a shad spawn spot, catching his first four keepers in 20 minutes.
Trathen Dollar of West Jefferson, N.C., is in second place with 12 pounds, 2 ounces. Dollar caught the big bass in the Co-angler Division weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces.
Joey Aderhold of Birmingham, Ala., is in third place with 11 pounds, even.
Bill Brown of Vero Beach, Fla., is in fourth place with 10 pounds, 14 ounces.
TJ Smith of Richmond, Ky., is in fifth place with 9 pounds, 13 ounces.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers in the EverStart Series event on Lake Eufaula after day one:
6th: Shane Douglas of Albany, Ga., five bass, 9-10
7th: Blaine Bucy of Follansbee, W.V., four bass, 9-5
8th: Jeffrey Hankins of Dothan, Ala., five bass, 9-3
9th: Steve Keller, Jr., of Bethel, Ohio, five bass, 8-10
10th: Charles Stevenson of Albany, Ga., five bass, 8-1
Day two of the EverStart Series Southeastern on Lake Eufaula will begin at 6 a.m. at Lakepoint State Park.