Mix Of Tactics Caught Spawners, Post-Spawners

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

With the extended spring that much of the country has experienced, it came as no surprise that the bass at Lake Eufaula were scattered all through the lake, from the bank out to the ledges, where Randy Haynes intercepted the winning stringers.

The lake kicked out some pretty stout individual specimens and while it wasn't a big numbers tournament, most largemouth bites were consistently in the 2 1/2- to 4-pound range. While Haynes fished his strength out deep, those that finished immediately behind him had to mix and match their way to a Top-5 finish.

One key element for some was shallow grass, which was plentiful seeing that the water had been up all spring. That seemed to hold some post-spawners and fry guarders while others opted to comb pockets for late spawners. Docks and bare banks also came into play.

Below is a rundown of how the rest of the Top 5 went about their business at Eufaula.

2nd: Bryan Thrift

> Day 1: 5, 20-06
> Day 2: 5, 16-15
> Day 3: 4, 7-14
> Day 4: 5, 16-14
> Total = 19, 62-01

Bryan Thrift has had success at Lake Eufaula before – he won an EverStart Series there in 2005 and was runner-up in the 2010 Eastern FLW Series – but he knew things had changed since he last fished it.

"I try to relearn it every time," he said. "Before practice, I'd planned on fishing shallow. When I saw the lake the Saturday before practice coming over the bridge, the water was up in the grass and it looked like it'd be really good (shallow), but I couldn't get on a strong shallow bite. There were a lot of fish in that transition stage, recovering from the spawn and just hanging out."

For that reason, he devoted time to shallow grass areas and offshore during practice, probing both with a swimjig. The deeper haunts he fished were dotted with some sort of vertical cover like a stump, brush pile or standing timber.

"Most of the fish were suspending on that stuff," he said. "I'd throw my bait out and try to deflect it off the cover 4 or 5 feet up off the bottom. It wasn't that hard to figure out the right cast. It didn't matter the angle, as long as I hit it."

He committed to a run-and-gun strategy from the get-go, hitting dozens of spots each day. He started strong, catching one of three 20-pound bags on day 1 and assumed the lead on day 2 with nearly 17 pounds. The overcast skies and rain that moved in on Saturday made for a struggle as he came in with just four fish for less than 8 pounds. When the sun returned on the final day, the fish where he was turned on again.

"I think the sun was a key factor for just based on how bad (Saturday) was," he said. "It was the only day with considerable clouds and normally you'd think the fish would bite better when it's cloudy. Maybe it made them roam more and got them out away from the cover. I don't know."

> Swimjig gear: 7'6" heavy-action unnamed casting rod, unnamed casting reel (7.1:1 gear ratio), 20-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line, 3/4-ounce unnamed swimjig (shad), 4" Damiki Baits Anchovy Shad (pearl white), 4.8" Keitech Swing Impact FAT swimbait (white).

> Main factor in his success – "Having the confidence to know if I fished 60 to 70 places a day that I'd run into a couple good ones."

> Performance edge – "My Ranger/Evinrude combo worked flawlessly and the Humminbird electronics were a big key for me. I love those electronics."

3rd: Justin Lucas

> Day 1: 5, 22-06
> Day 2: 3, 11-03
> Day 3: 5, 13-10
> Day 4: 5, 13-13
> Total = 18, 61-00

Of all the tournaments on this year's Tour schedule, Justin Lucas was most concerned about his performance Eufaula. Despite his Alabama mailing address, he wasn't all that familiar with the venue. It's safe to say he surprised even himself with his 3rd-place showing, his second Top-3 finish in as many years.

"I think the more I live in Alabama, the more I'm learning how to fish these lakes," he said. "This was the one I was really worried about so it feels really good to walk away with 198 out of a possible 200 points. I'm very excited about what I did (last) week.

"I was most excited after the first 2 days because I knew most of my stuff was done. I was able to make a decision on the fly and commit to sight-fishing and it worked out. I was pretty pumped about that."

He took the lead with a massive 22-06 bag on day 1 doing a little of everything (one sight-fishing, one on a frog, two on a Lucky Craft LC 2.5DD crankbait and one on a swimjig), but saw his weight halved on day 2 when he came in with only three fish. His predominant pattern on the weekend was sight-fishing late spawners in pockets with finesse worms and dropshots, but he couldn't get any of the females to play along. Seven of his 10 fish over the final 2 days came off beds.

"After day 1, I knew some things really went my way," he said. "And after day 2 still being up there three fish, I knew after Randy took the lead, my top objective became to make as much money as possible."

He'd throw a swimjig through shallow grass in the mornings in a little bay off the main river, close to the main channel. When he'd sight-fish, he'd move down to the clear water toward the dam because it warmed up slower.

> Crankbait gear: 7'3" medium-heavy prototype Lamiglas Excel 2 casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo SX casting reel (6.4:1 gear gation), 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line, Lucky Craft LC 2.5DD crankbait (sexy shad).

> He hung #2 Owner Stinger treble hooks off the crankbait instead of the stock hooks.

> Shaky-head gear: 7'1" medium-action prototype Lamiglas Excel 2 spinning rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier 30 spinning reel (5.8:1 gear ratio), 8-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line, 3/16-ounce homemade shaky-head jig, various straight-tail worms (various brown-green/chartreuse patterns).

> Dropshot gear: Same rod, same reel, same line, 1/4-ounce Eco Pro Tungsten dropshot weight, 2/0 Owner straight shank hook, same baits.

> He opted for the Premier 30 spinning reel because of its higher line-retrieve rate. "It's the same weight as the 20, but it has a larger spool and picks up 33 inches of line per turn, which is insane. It makes a big difference on a spinning reel. Some people don't realize it, but I'm able to pick up one more foot every two turns."

> He also threw some Texas-rigged plastics at some fish he could see on or near beds. He opted for white baits, not for visbility, but because "the fish seemed to like it," he said. "I started with green-pumpkin and flipped to a couple of females and they didn't seem interested. I changed to white and they locked onto it immediately."

> He said the key on his Texas rigs was using a 3/4-ounce Eco Pro Tungsten weight. "You could pop them in the face with it," he said. "When those were being stingy, if you hit them on the nose with it enough times it would make them made enough to eat the bait."

> Main factor in his success – "As much as I was sight-fishing, I couldn't have finished where I did without my Gone Fishing sunglasses. I've used every brand of high-dollar sunglass out there before and I used the Wahoo model with a brown lens. They're a $40 pair of glasses and I was able to see all the fish I needed to, hands down."

> Performance edge – "My Power-Poles. There's no way I could've made the Top 10 without them."

4th: David Dudley

> Day 1: 5, 16-02
> Day 2: 5, 13-11
> Day 3: 5, 16-11
> Day 4: 5, 14-04
> Total = 20, 60-12

David Dudley averaged a shade above 15 pounds a day to record his fifth Top-5 finish since the start of 2012 and he did it fishing grass.

"My favorite way to catch them is out on the ledges," he said. "It really doesn't matter what I'm faced with. I'd prefer to fish ledges, but not in a tournament setting because all of the bass get ganged up and with 150 boats, it sucks. This was a good tournament because everyone was able to spread out."

He'd found a couple of schools out deep during practice and was 50/50 before day 1 whether he'd chase offshore fish or head to the green stuff along shore. After catching 16-02 to start the tournament out of the grass, he opted to stay that course the rest of the way.

"It seemed like they bit a little better under cloud cover," he said. "In the thicker grass, they'd peak their nose out and roam a little more. When it was sunny, I didn't see as many roaming around or just swimming. They were mostly fry guarders. It was hard to tell if any were truly on beds because I was just casting."

He worked a Booyah Pad Crasher frog through the thicker grass and pitched a YUM Dinger into open patches.

> Frog gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Lamiglas Excel casting rod, unnamed casting reel (7.1:1 gear ratio), 60-pound Gamma Torque braided line, Booyah Pad Crasher (leopard frog).

> Soft stickbait gear: 7' medium-heavy Lamiglas Excel spinning rod, unnamed spinning reel, 15-pound Gamma Torque braided line, 10-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line (leader), unnamed 2/0 worm hook, 5" YUM F2 Dinger (green-pumpkin purple).

> He also caught some fish using prototypes of a new series of Lamiglas rods that will bear his name.

> Main factor in his success – "The biggest key was the action of the Dinger," he said. "A lot of baits like that just sink."

> Performance edge – "Just having total confidence in my Mercury motor getting me back and forth to my spots. The reliability of that motor is tremendous and it's absolutely incredible on gas."

5th: Stetson Blaylock

> Day 1: 5, 16-13
> Day 2: 5, 13-08
> Day 3: 5, 14-10
> Day 4: 5, 14-10
> Total = 20, 59-09

While others found consistent success jacking fish out of the grass from Eufaula's shallows, Stetson Blaylock couldn't duplicate it. Instead, he caught most of his fish off inconspicuous bare banks and docks with a Kinami Flash rigged on a shaky-head jig.

"Coming down here, I figured I could them in the grass on a frog or ChatterBait, but that just didn't happen," he said. "I had a few bites doing that, but on the first day of practice, I put together that deal on shallow banks. I was practicing with my brother (Keaton), who fished as a co-angler, and he kept getting bit doing it, so I gave it a try and stuck with it."

After bagging nearly 17 pounds on day 1, he averaged better than 14 pounds the rest of the way to steadily climb from 14th (day 1) to his first Top-5 Tour finish since his Lake Norman victory in 2009.

"It wasn't very easy," he said. "We had a good first day of practice, but after that it kind of slowed down. It just happened and those shallow fish just kept replenishing.

"I fished mostly main-lake flat banks the farthest away from the river channel when it flattened out. Not many guys were doing and I think that was the biggest key. The deepest side of the docks was usually 5 feet. On the bare banks, I'd have the boat over 5 to 7 feet and just pitch up to the bank and bring it back slowly. I think some of those fish were up on bream beds."

> Shaky-head gear: 7'1" medium-heavy 13 Fishing Envy Black spinning rod, unnamed spinning reel (5.4:1 gear ratio), 15-pound Seaguar Kanzen braided line, 10-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line (leader), 3/16-ounce Bass-X shaky-head jig (brown), 5" Kinami Flash (green-pumpkin).

> He said he tried dipping the tails of the bait in chartreuse dye during practice, but he didn't get as many bites.

> Main factor in his success – "Just doing something different from everybody else."

> Performance edge – "One of the biggest keys was the Flash. I really think that bait is why I caught what I caught. I think guys who were throwing a Trick Worm weren't catching the same kind of fish."

Much of the tackle referenced above is available at the BassFan Store. To browse the selection, click here.