EUFAULA, Ala. – It was three days of rinse and repeat for Blake Davenport. And a stressful rinse and repeat, at that.
Step 1: Fish shallow grass.
Step 2: Go offshore during the forward-facing sonar period.
Step 3: Have a moment where he doubts any chance he has.
Step four: Catch a clutch kicker within the last 10 minutes of the day, with the last one sealing his victory at the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Central Division event on Lake Eufaula.
“It’s been a week of last-minute clutch catches, is all I can say,” said Davenport, who caught a late 4 1/2-pounder on Day 3 to cull out a 2-pounder, giving him 15-12 for the day and a 1-pound victory over Dylan Quilatan’s 50-0.
Considering how tough the fishing on Eufaula was this week, it seems only fitting for the winning pro to have a tough time doing so. Even Davenport, who fishes Eufaula regularly, mentioned there was only one tournament he can remember ever being as tough, and it also happened to be around this time in May.
“Honestly, I think if this tournament was two weeks earlier or later, it’d take 20 to 25 pounds a day to win,” Davenport said. “I guess they picked a good week for me, though.”
It certainly was, thanks to both his late heroics and his game plan.
As mentioned prior, Step 1 was getting to the far back reaches of Chewalla Creek to target shallow, isolated clumps of grass. His tool of choice to do so was a 3/8-ounce Nomad Design Badlands Heavy Cover Swim Jig (candy grass) with a white Zoom Z-Craw trailer.
Of course, he only caught one fish doing that the first day, and it didn’t come in the morning. Instead, it was his first clutch catch – a 4.4-pounder at the end of the day.
Day 2 saw him catch three fish up shallow to start his morning before shifting down towards Barbour Creek to start his FFS period. On Day 1, his FFS period did the heavy lifting, but Day 2, it fizzled as he feels the fishing pressure got to it. So, with a mediocre limit and little time left in his day, Davenport ran to fish a shallow stretch of grass known to produce big bites. Sure enough, he got one – a 5.5-pounder – that lifted him up to first.
Finishing it up
On the final day, Davenport got everything he could out of Chewalla, which equated to two 2 1/2-pounders and a 3-pounder. From there, it was down to Barbour to ‘Scope.
“I thought it was going to go down today,” Davenport said of his FFS period. “My first brush pile, I caught a 3-pounder, but after that I only caught a couple small ones.”
With about 30 minutes left in his FFS period, he told his co-angler he was going to make a run to a place where he’d caught a good fish in practice. Turns out, there was another one there that ended up sealing him the victory.
“Every day after lunch, I’d have a moment where I felt I didn’t do enough,” Davenport said. “And then I’d get those clutch bites. It’s like I told my co-angler, it was just meant to be. There’s nothing else to say.”
Neece Jr. takes Central Angler of the Year by 1 point
Jimmy Neece Jr. has earned the reputation of being one to watch in most any tournament. Now he has the title to back it up.
By making it to the final day and catching a lone 4-2, he was able to finish 24th at Eufaula. That gave him just enough points to be crowned 7 Brew Coffee Angler of the Year for the Central Division. And by just enough, we mean just enough: Neece Jr.’s 739 points edged Cal Lane by a single point.
Top 10 pros
1. Blake Davenport – 51-0 (15) – $33,977
2. Dylan Quilatan – 50-0 (15) – $13,069
3. Parker Guy – 48-11 (15) – $10,118
4. Buddy Benson –46-15 (15) – $9,432 (includes $1,000 Phoenix Bonus)
5. Brad Stalnaker – 46-5 (14) – $7,589
6. Kaden Mueck– 30 – 12 (10) – $7,245
7. Michael Smith – 44-10 (15) – $5,902
8. Tyler Malone – 44-4 (15) – $5,059
9. Justin Barnes – 43-8 (15) – $4,216
10. Hayden Marbut – 42-6 (15) – $3,373