Lowen’s 23-04 Sets The Pace At Eufaula

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Bill Lowen wasn’t sure about his shallow-water strategy coming out of practice.

Kyle Monti wasn’t sure of the potential of a few offshore spots he’d located.

Despite their uncertainty, they and many other Elite Series competitors have a much clearer picture of what’s happening at Lake Eufaula now with day 1 of the resumption of the Bassmaster Elite Series season in the books.

Lowen said he committed most of his day to his customary strategy – shallow – and his 23-04 topped the 86-man field. Monti, meanwhile, scrapped his ledge-fishing game plan in favor of shallow spots, too, and hauled in 22-15 to sit in second.

Thirteen other competitors cracked the 20-pound mark at Eufaula, which has been subject to intense tournament pressure over the past 10 days. There were 15 bags in excess of 20 pounds, a testament to the health of the fishery.

Chris Zaldain’s 22-02 has him in 3rd. Clark Wendlandt has 22-00 in 4th and Todd Auten sacked 21-15 to round out the top 5. The top 31 anglers all caught 18 pounds or more.

During the FLW Series Southeastern Division event at Eufaula last week, schools of bass ganged up on the river ledges drew the most attention from competitors. The prolonged fishing pressure through practice for that tournament and the competition days effectively dispersed many of those schools. While some still remain or new ones formed, they’re not as plentiful and timing is a big factor at Eufaula, where current flow produced by power generation can turn the fish off and on.

Hank Cherry, in his first tournament action since winning the Bassmaster Classic in March, caught 16-15 and is tied for 41st. The field was already missing Yusuke Miyazaki, who could not travel back to the United States from his native Japan. On Tuesday, Mark Menendez had to withdraw from competition due to a lower back injury.

For its first tournament since the Classic and first outdoor Elite Series weigh-in since the season opener at the St. Johns River in early February, B.A.S.S. changed up some procedures for the anglers in attempt to limit gatherings in any one area. Even the on-stage set up was altered to create distance between emcee Dave Mercer, tournament director Trip Weldon and the anglers. A stationary microphone was set up to allow anglers to interact with Mercer, who had a mobile mic across the stage.

Back stage, anglers stood one person to an oxygenated tub while they waited to go on stage. Once on stage, they put their weigh-in bags in a utility sink and stepped away toward the microphone. Meanwhile, Weldon weighed the fish as he typically does, then kept the fish in a tub of oxygenated water on stage while the angler finished up his interview.

Overall, the changes that have been implemented were carried out fairly well, Lowen said.

“It went really, really well,” he said. “We’ve been doing it one way forever and then all of a sudden we have to change. I was shocked at how well it went.”

On what is expected to be the first of four straight sweltering days along the Alabama/Georgia border, Lowen said his big day came as a welcome surprise compared to how his practice went.

“If feels pretty damn good,” said Lowen, who finished 47th at the St. Johns River back in February and 17th at the Classic. “I was really worried about catching 15 pounds and if everything went right, maybe 18. I only put my hands on one 4-pounder in practice, but I saw a few other good ones. I made a bait change today and every time I set the hook it was a big one.”

The best part for Lowen is that he said he was able to employ a pattern while hopping around the lake today.

“You don’t have days like this all the time when everything works and it’s all big bites,” he said.

His big fish was over 5 pounds and he said the action was pretty consistent from the morning through the afternoon, no matter if skies were sunny or overcast.

“Normally, when you’re fishing shallow you’ll feel like you burned them up (in an area),” he said. “Today, I never got on anything and stayed on it. I’d make a quick pass and then kept running down the lake. Later on, I found some new water I hadn’t fished in practice. I was running a pattern and for once, it worked.”

Monti was obviously pleased with his output today, but isn’t certain what he can scrape together moving forward.

“I’m on schedule for what I think it’ll take to win, but I didn’t fish much in practice so I don’t know the potential of some stuff I found,” he said. “I’m kind of ticked off to be honest. I weighed in a 2 1/2-pounder. I’ll take what I had, but I couldn’t get rid of him.”

He said his four big fish came out of the same general area and he caught 2 1/4-pounders elsewhere, but, “I didn’t want to risk beating them up,” he added. “They were almost too shallow to see them on the graph.”

He had to call an audible in the morning after intending to fish schools out deep. He had three spots scoped out and despite being boat number 13, he was unable to get to any of them first. On Thursday, he'll have a much less favorable boat number, so he'll almost assuredly get shut out of those spots again.

“I had to scratch the deep stuff and go fish shallow,” he said. “I’m not going to scratch it off all week. I have to check it to keep it honest.”

He’s convinced he’ll have to pull fish out of all segments of the water column if he hopes to stay in the race.

“I need to do that each day and make a decision quickly what to run with based on conditions and how things are going,” he added. "I'm not sure you can win it fishing shallow exclusively. The upside is I didn't get in the mid-depth today. I was either in a bad rotation or they weren't there today. In practice, I had a stretch where they were pretty active in that depth. Maybe they'll show back up tomorrow."

Weather Forecast

> Thur., June 11 – Mostly Sunny - 89°/66°
- Wind: Light and variable

> Fri., June 12 – Mostly Sunny - 89°/67°
- Wind: Light and variable

> Sat., June 13 – Mostly Sunny - 87°/65°
- Wind: From the NE at 5 to 10 mph

Day 1 Standings

1. Bill Lowen -- Brookville, IN -- 5, 23-04 -- 100
Day 1: 5, 23-04

2. Kyle Monti -- Okeechobee, FL -- 5, 22-15 -- 99
Day 1: 5, 22-15

3. Chris Zaldain -- Fort Worth, TX -- 5, 22-02 -- 98
Day 1: 5, 22-02

4. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, TX -- 5, 22-00 -- 97
Day 1: 5, 22-00

5. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 5, 21-15 -- 96
Day 1: 5, 21-15

6. Jamie Hartman -- Newport, NY -- 5, 21-13 -- 95
Day 1: 5, 21-13

7. Lee Livesay -- Gladewater, TX -- 5, 21-11 -- 94
Day 1: 5, 21-11

8. Jake Whitaker -- Fairview, NC -- 5, 21-02 -- 93
Day 1: 5, 21-02

9. Cody Hollen -- Beaverton, OR -- 5, 20-14 -- 92
Day 1: 5, 20-14

10. Chad Pipkens -- Lansing, MI -- 5, 20-13 -- 91
Day 1: 5, 20-13

11. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, AL -- 5, 20-12 -- 90
Day 1: 5, 20-12

12. Drew Benton -- Blakely, GA -- 5, 20-12 -- 89
Day 1: 5, 20-12

13. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 5, 20-06 -- 88
Day 1: 5, 20-06

14. Clent Davis -- Montevallo, AL -- 5, 20-05 -- 87
Day 1: 5, 20-05

15. Kyle Welcher -- Opelika, AL -- 5, 20-03 -- 86
Day 1: 5, 20-03

16. John Cox -- Debary, FL -- 5, 19-13 -- 85
Day 1: 5, 19-13

17. Gary Clouse -- Winchester, TN -- 5, 19-07 -- 84
Day 1: 5, 19-07

17. Garrett Paquette -- Canton, MI -- 5, 19-07 -- 84
Day 1: 5, 19-07

19. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, AZ -- 5, 19-04 -- 82
Day 1: 5, 19-04

20. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 5, 19-03 -- 81
Day 1: 5, 19-03

21. Brandon Lester -- Fayetteville, TN -- 5, 19-00 -- 80
Day 1: 5, 19-00

22. Caleb Sumrall -- New Iberia, LA -- 5, 18-13 -- 79
Day 1: 5, 18-13

23. Caleb Kuphall -- Mukwonago, WI -- 5, 18-12 -- 78
Day 1: 5, 18-12

23. Brad Whatley -- Bivins, TX -- 5, 18-12 -- 78
Day 1: 5, 18-12

25. Drew Cook -- Midway, FL -- 5, 18-10 -- 76
Day 1: 5, 18-10

26. Brock Mosley -- Collinsville, MS -- 5, 18-08 -- 75
Day 1: 5, 18-08

27. Mike Huff -- Corbin, KY -- 5, 18-06 -- 74 -- $1,000
Day 1: 5, 18-06

28. Shane LeHew -- Catawba, NC -- 5, 18-06 -- 73
Day 1: 5, 18-06

29. Keith Combs -- Huntington, TX -- 5, 18-05 -- 72
Day 1: 5, 18-05

30. Wes Logan -- Springville, AL -- 5, 18-03 -- 71
Day 1: 5, 18-03

31. Taku Ito -- Chiba, Japan -- 5, 18-00 -- 70
Day 1: 5, 18-00

32. Skylar Hamilton -- Dandridge, TN -- 5, 17-09 -- 69
Day 1: 5, 17-09

33. Greg DiPalma -- Millville, NJ -- 5, 17-09 -- 68
Day 1: 5, 17-09

34. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 5, 17-08 -- 67
Day 1: 5, 17-08

34. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, MN -- 5, 17-08 -- 67
Day 1: 5, 17-08

34. Matt Herren -- Ashville, AL -- 5, 17-08 -- 67
Day 1: 5, 17-08

37. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, Ontario -- 5, 17-08 -- 64
Day 1: 5, 17-08

38. Cliff Prince -- Palatka, FL -- 5, 17-05 -- 63
Day 1: 5, 17-05

39. John Crews Jr -- Salem, VA -- 5, 17-04 -- 62
Day 1: 5, 17-04

39. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 5, 17-04 -- 62
Day 1: 5, 17-04

41. Hank Cherry Jr -- Lincolnton, NC -- 5, 16-15 -- 60
Day 1: 5, 16-15

41. Rick Clunn -- Ava, MO -- 5, 16-15 -- 60
Day 1: 5, 16-15

43. Buddy Gross -- Chickamauga, GA -- 5, 16-14 -- 58
Day 1: 5, 16-14

44. Paul Mueller -- Naugatuck, CT -- 5, 16-12 -- 57
Day 1: 5, 16-12

45. Bill Weidler -- Helena, AL -- 5, 16-09 -- 56
Day 1: 5, 16-09

46. Rob Digh -- Denver, NC -- 5, 16-08 -- 55
Day 1: 5, 16-08

46. Ray Hanselman Jr -- Del Rio, TX -- 5, 16-08 -- 55
Day 1: 5, 16-08

48. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- 5, 16-07 -- 53
Day 1: 5, 16-07

49. Brandon Card -- Knoxville, TN -- 5, 16-07 -- 52
Day 1: 5, 16-07

50. Chris Groh -- Spring Grove, IL -- 5, 16-06 -- 51
Day 1: 5, 16-06

50. Jason Williamson -- Wagener, SC -- 5, 16-06 -- 51
Day 1: 5, 16-06

52. Seth Feider -- New Market, MN -- 5, 16-05 -- 49
Day 1: 5, 16-05

52. Chris Johnston -- Peterborough, Ontario -- 5, 16-05 -- 49
Day 1: 5, 16-05

54. Rick Morris -- Lake Gaston, VA -- 5, 16-01 -- 47
Day 1: 5, 16-01

55. Frank Talley -- Temple, TX -- 5, 16-00 -- 46
Day 1: 5, 16-00

56. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 5, 15-12 -- 45
Day 1: 5, 15-12

57. Bernie Schultz -- Gainesville, FL -- 5, 15-11 -- 44
Day 1: 5, 15-11

58. Carl Jocumsen -- Queensland, Australia -- 5, 15-09 -- 43
Day 1: 5, 15-09

59. Tyler Carriere -- Youngsville, LA -- 5, 15-05 -- 42
Day 1: 5, 15-05

60. Jesse Tacoronte -- Kissimmee, FL -- 5, 15-04 -- 41
Day 1: 5, 15-04

61. Derek Hudnall -- Baton Rouge, LA -- 5, 15-02 -- 40
Day 1: 5, 15-02

62. Bob Downey -- Hudson, WI -- 5, 14-09 -- 39
Day 1: 5, 14-09

63. Shane Lineberger -- Lincolnton, NC -- 5, 14-06 -- 38
Day 1: 5, 14-06

64. Micah Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 5, 14-00 -- 37
Day 1: 5, 14-00

65. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 5, 13-14 -- 36
Day 1: 5, 13-14

66. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, Ontario -- 5, 13-13 -- 35
Day 1: 5, 13-13

67. Luke Palmer -- Coalgate, OK -- 5, 13-12 -- 34
Day 1: 5, 13-12

68. David Fritts -- Lexington, NC -- 5, 13-11 -- 33
Day 1: 5, 13-11

68. Jay Yelas -- Lincoln City, OR -- 5, 13-11 -- 33
Day 1: 5, 13-11

70. Randy Pierson -- Oakdale, CA -- 5, 13-10 -- 31
Day 1: 5, 13-10

71. Brett Preuett -- Monroe, LA -- 5, 13-04 -- 30
Day 1: 5, 13-04

72. Ed Loughran III -- Richmond, VA -- 5, 12-15 -- 29
Day 1: 5, 12-15

73. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, ID -- 5, 12-13 -- 28
Day 1: 5, 12-13

74. Tyler Rivet -- Raceland, LA -- 5, 12-01 -- 27
Day 1: 5, 12-01

75. Chad Morgenthaler -- Reeds Spring, MO -- 5, 12-00 -- 26
Day 1: 5, 12-00

76. Brian Snowden -- Reeds Spring, MO -- 5, 12-00 -- 25
Day 1: 5, 12-00

77. Hunter Shryock -- Newcomerstown, OH -- 5, 11-13 -- 24
Day 1: 5, 11-13

78. Quentin Cappo -- Prairieville, LA -- 5, 11-11 -- 23
Day 1: 5, 11-11

79. Robbie Latuso -- Gonzales, LA -- 5, 11-10 -- 22
Day 1: 5, 11-10

79. Randy Sullivan -- Breckenridge, TX -- 5, 11-10 -- 22
Day 1: 5, 11-10

81. Koby Kreiger -- Alva, FL -- 5, 11-09 -- 20
Day 1: 5, 11-09

82. Dale Hightower -- Mannford, OK -- 5, 09-11 -- 19
Day 1: 5, 09-11

83. Destin DeMarion -- Grove City, PA -- 5, 09-04 -- 18
Day 1: 5, 09-04

84. Harvey Horne -- Bella Vista, AR -- 4, 08-12 -- 17
Day 1: 4, 08-12

85. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 3, 08-03 -- 16
Day 1: 3, 08-03

86. Kelley Jaye -- Dadeville, AL -- 0, 00-00 -- 0
Day 1: 0, 00-00

86. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, KY -- 0, 00-00 -- 0
Day 1: 0, 00-00