After an exciting week on Lake Eufaula May 2, 3 and 4, the Bass Pro Tour, more excitement is in store for anglers this weekend, May 16-18, when The Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats comes to town.
The three-day tournament, hosted by Vision Eufaula, is the third and final event of the year for Central Division anglers.
The event will feature a roster of the region’s best bass-fishing pros and Strike King co-anglers competing for a top prize of up to $100,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 Pro boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor plus $5,000 in the coangler division. Local pro Chris Jones of Bokoshe, Oklahoma, said he hasn’t been on the fishery since his seventh place finish at the Phoenix Bass Fishing League event there in March, but is looking forward to an exciting tournament.
“We were able to see the current condition of the fishery last week when the Bass Pro Tour was on Lake Eufaula,” Jones said. “Nearly 70% of the lake is still flooded, so it’s probably going to fish a lot smaller than what it would normally fish.”
The Oklahoma native grew up on Lake Eufaula and said he’s had a lot of good and bad tournaments on the state’s largest lake.
“Eufaula’s been really good to me over the years,” Jones said. “I’ve had a lot of top-five and other good finishes out on that lake. I don’t know if it will show its true potential next week, with the recent weather and how tough it’s been, but it will still be a great event.”
Back-to-back weather systems and daily rain has pummeled the fishery over the past week, but Jones said he’s hoping the water will come down some before the start of the tournament.
“I expect to see guys flipping and fishing a lot of flooded bushes, as well as throwing a spinnerbait and a ChatterBait – just think we’ll see a powerfishing kind of deal throughout this tournament,” Jones said. “The event is really going to depend on who can find the right little areas that can maintain fish and continue to replenish for three days.
“I think it’s going to take about 15 to 17 pounds per day to win the event,” Jones said. “A lot of the bass were trying to spawn last week, so I think the majority of the bass will be postspawn by the time we get there. That means they’ll potentially be a little lighter in weight and probably won’t be feeding as much. There may be a shad spawn going on by then, so there might be a few with some ‘meat on their bones’, but I think it will fish very similar to the Bass Pro Tour event.”
Jones said Lake Eufaula is a bit unique and reminds him of Lake Texoma.
“There’s a lot of sand towards the dam, but the majority of the lake is a mix of a little bit of clay and a lot of rock – slate rock, big boulders and bluff banks,” Jones said. “The good thing is you can typically fish clearer water towards the dam, or go north or south and fish stained water, so guys can really pick their poison on which area of the lake they want to fish.”
Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. CT each day from the Peter’s Point-Nichols Point Boat Ramp, located at 400 Lakeshore Drive in Eufaula. Weighins will also be held at the ramp and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend and encouraged to follow the event online through the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily coverage at MajorLeagueFishing. com.
