Lake Eufaula Midday Update – Day 1
Lots of bass caught, but still waiting on the bigguns
It’s pretty clear from what went down on Lake Eufaula this morning that this lake is plumb full of fish. Almost everybody we pulled up on was catching bass. Yet, the consensus was that the bite isn’t quite as good today as it was during practice. No one reported the kind of mega-weights everyone expects to see. But there’s still some time.
According to Clayton Batts, a local with a lot of experience here, the current isn’t supposed to start moving until almost 3. Anyone with a late boat draw who’s fishing offshore will probably benefit from the flow in the final hour or so of competition. Batts caught a wad of fish this morning and had a limit for about 14 pounds when we left him.
Upstream from takeoff, most of the pros were fishing shallow. Worming through lily pads and throwing topwater were the primary shallow tactics we saw.
In the middle and lower thirds of the lake, pros were almost exclusively offshore. A few boats crowded onto drops in the mouths of the creeks, but the main-lake ledges were getting the most attention.
Worms, deep-diving crankbaits and swimbaits were the most popular baits we saw today. It’s typical ledge fare, and a typical ledge situation, with boats jockeying for space on the best drops and pros trying to find the right rotation to get bit.
Scott Montgomery of Eufaula had the best bag of the morning. A 6 1/2-pounder caught from a ledge put his limit at around 20 pounds. He still thinks it’ll take about 26 to get the lead today, but he’ll be in the hunt for sure. Cal Lane had a limit for about 16 1/2 pounds, and he’s managed to do it fishing up shallow. Those were the biggest weights reported before noon. Another dozen pros checked in with limits in the 13- to 15-pound range.
Weigh-in begins at 2 p.m. CT and will stream live at FLWFishing.com. Tune in to find out how high the weights will go today.
Tournament details
Format: All boaters and co-anglers will compete for two days. The top 10 boaters and co-anglers based on cumulative weight after two days of competition will advance to the third and final round, with the winner in each division determined by the heaviest cumulative three-day weight.
Takeoff Time: 6:00 a.m. CT
Takeoff Location: Lakepoint Resort State Park, 104 Lakepoint Drive, Eufaula, AL
Weigh-In Time: 2:00 p.m. CT
Weigh-In Location: Lakepoint Resort State Park