Something for everyone on Alabama’s Eufaula
EUFAULA, Ala. — Lake Eufaula is primed to host the fourth tournament of the season for Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Bulldog Division anglers on June 6. The lake is fresh off hosting a Toyota Series event in mid-May, and while the postspawn funk made its presence felt at that event, the lake is back to fishing well. With bass shallow, deep and everywhere in between, the tournament, presented by Suzuki Marine, should offer something for everyone’s favorite fishing style.
What to expect
Alabama native Michael Smith is a noted Eufaula expert with two BFL wins and a bunch of Top 10 finishes on his home lake, including a seventh-place showing in the recent Toyota Series event. He’s been on the water since that event wrapped up and said things have progressed quickly. He foresees several potential ways to win.
“I’d say quite a bit has changed on the lake, in my opinion,” Smith began. “During that Toyota, there were still a lot of fish up shallow, and the shad spawn was going on pretty decent. A lot of anglers, myself included, took advantage of that. But that’s all done now.”
While the shallow bite will still play, Smith says many of the fish have migrated to mid-depth locations, with some completely moving to their offshore haunts for the summer.
“There will still be fish caught in the mid-depths on the brush that Eufaula is known for, but with the water in the low to mid 80s now, a lot of the fish are in their more traditional summertime places,” he said. “That could be deeper brush and the ledges, but they won’t all be out there. So, I think you are going to see a variety of ways to catch them, and you can really fish your strengths.”
One wild card is the shallow bite, especially with the water level being high.
“For the guys that like to fish shallow, you have that option as well, especially with all of the rain we’ve gotten recently,” he said. “You are going to have a ton of water up in the grass. That coinciding with the mayfly hatch and bream starting to spawn means someone who commits to fishing the grass all day with a frog, buzzbait or swim jig could bust a big bag.”
Baits to bring
For those sticking shallow, Smith says a popping frog like the 6th Sense Vega is a great way to imitate bluegill. If you are going deep, there are a multitude of ways to catch them, including a drop-shot, Carolina rig and deep cranking. Smith’s go-to deep crankbait is a 6th Sense 400DD that can get down to 20 feet. Several baits can work in the mid-depth range, too, but Smith says a deep-diving jerkbait around brush is a great approach.
What will it take?
Smith said the recent Toyota Series event wasn’t a good indicator of the top-end weights, as nobody hit the 20-pound mark on any day. He thinks both the winning weight and the 10th-place mark will be higher.
“That was a pretty tough event, honestly. I could see this BFL taking 21 or 22 pounds to win,” he predicted. “I also think you’ll see several weights around that 17-pound mark, and it might take that to make the Top 10.”
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