Josh Stracner of Vandiver, Ala. brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 22-03 to win the Lake Eufaula Southeastern FLW Series. Stracner’s three-day total of 64-15 gave him the win by a 2-pound, 2-ounce margin over wnd-place angler Ryan Ingram of Phenix City, Ala. and earned Stracner the top payout of $29,034.
It was Stracner’s fourth FLW win on Lake Eufaula – first in the FLW Series – but midway through the day, it didn’t look like he was going to be able to pull off the come-from-behind victory after starting the day in 3rd place.
Stracner began the day doing what he’d done the previous two days of competition – fishing deep ledges in the mid-lake area. But today, it just wasn’t happening. With 13 to 14 pounds in the livewell and a few hours left to fish, Stracner knew he needed to change up. Eventually, he shifted to fishing shallow brush – in this case 12 to 15 feet deep – which quickly proved to be the right move.
“I did not even think about moving shallow until about 12 o’clock, and the deep stuff wasn’t working,” Stracner said. “So I went shallow and started catching a few. I caught enough that I just stayed with it the rest of the day. And right before this storm came through, I caught three good ones on back-to-back stops.”
Stracner said he used about a half-dozen baits throughout the week to catch the winning fish. His main ledge baits on the first two days were a Strike King 10XD and 6-inch Scottsboro Tackle Co. Swimbait on a Scottsboro Recon Head. Saturday, fishing brush, he caught some on a Reaction Innovations Fat Flirt Worm and a Z-Man ChatterBait.
“I can’t believe it,” Stracner said. “I never really thought I could’ve won it. I was just hoping to stay in 2nd or 3rd. I just had to work real hard this week.
"You’ve got to be on the right stuff at the right time. Everything’s got to go right and today was just my day. That’s really all I can say. I feel very fortunate right now.”
Here are the final totals for the top 10:
1. Josh Stracner: 64-15
2. Ryan Ingram: 62-13
3. Bryan New: 61-08
4. Michael Smith: 61-02
5. Shane Powell: 61-00
6. Josh Butler: 58-00
7. Scott Montgomery: 56-08
8. Dustin Smith: 54-13
9. Austin Lang: 53-12
10. Kacy Mims: 53-11
