By MLF Communications Staff
EUFAULA, Okla. – The MLF Bass Pro Tour is set to visit Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Okla. this week for the fourth event of the 2024 season. Competition days are Tuesday through Sunday.
Greg Vinson of Wetumpka, Ala., who'll be among the 79 anglers competing, said he feels like the timing of the event is spot-on and this will be a tournament where the entire field will be able to fish their strengths.
“I’m really excited about this event and think the timing will make it interesting,” said Vinson. “It’s a new lake to me, but I started doing my homework as soon as it came out on the schedule. The first thing I noticed was that Lake Eufaula sets up for both shallow and deep-water fishing, especially this time of year. I expect the fish to be in late spawn, early postspawn, which leaves the door wide open for a variety of techniques.”
Vinson said he expects to see anglers targeting offshore structure in the cleaner portions of the lake and utilizing shallow-water power-fishing techniques in the areas with more color.
“The quality of the fish should be really good,” said Vinson. “I also expect to see a good shad spawn in the morning and maybe even some bream starting to bed, which opens up those shallow-water techniques. Obviously topwater buzzbaits and spinnerbaits could be in play, as well as flipping and pitching around boat docks.
“In the deeper portions of the lake, I’ll be looking for some offshore structure,” Vinson continued. “I know Lake Eufaula has some good rock piles, humps, points, brush piles and even some natural timber in it. So, there are a lot of options for that offshore cover fishing as well. In typical five-fish tournaments, 18 to 20-plus pounds is a good limit on Lake Eufaula, which sets us up to have to catch probably 25 pounds or more per day just to make the cut, so it should be a good shootout.”
Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla. said Lake Eufaula has been fishing really well and has had a lot of strong spawning seasons over the past several years.
“It’s a monster lake, so being able to spread out on this fishery is going to be a lot of fun,” said Evers. “Anglers are liable to find an area and not ever see another boat the rest of the day.
“It typically takes 20-22 pounds to win most five-fish tournaments at Lake Eufaula,” Evers continued. “I don’t see it as being a big numbers event like we just had at Dale Hollow. I think if a guy can catch 10-15 scorable bass per day, he’ll be doing pretty well.”
Evers agreed that the event is hitting the fishery at an opportune time, when a variety of techniques will be in play.
“I think this will be a straight power-fishing event,” Evers explained. “I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of the jighead minnow-type stuff that we’ve been seeing. I think it’s going to be a lot of spinnerbaits, crankbaits, a jig – just your typical power-fishing type baits. There will probably be quite a bit of sight-fishing going on as well, so I think it will be a really fun tournament with plenty of options.”
Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. CT each day from the Peter’s Point-Nichols Point Boat Ramp, located on Dabbs Road in Eufaula. Each day’s takeout will be held at the boat ramp beginning at 4 p.m.
The tournament will feature anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The 39 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Tuesday and Thursday, with the 40 anglers in Group B taking the water Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers who finish first through 10th from each group advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round.
In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 20 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round, where weights are again zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
