Lake Eufaula Fishing Report – December 2009

Eufaula: Level: 0.7 feet above full pool. Temp: 62 to 66 degrees. Clarity: Muddy.

Bass: Very good. Stephen McCord is on a couple of very good patterns right now at Eufaula. He’s won the last two tournaments he’s fished there with weights of 19 and 22 pounds. The first thing he’s been doing to get a limit is fishing the backs of the creeks, where he said the resident fish are moving up shallow and tight to the docks. He’s been concentrating on docks with their ends in 4 to 10 feet of water, and he’s been catching bass with either a crankbait or a spinnerbait. He likes a Strike King Series 5 in sexy shad for this bite, or he’ll fish a small Fat Free Shad. He goes with a 1/2-oz. Terminator spinnerbait. Stick to the natural-shad colors, but throw in a little chartreuse in the muddy water. Follow your faster baits with a jig. “Pick and choose your docks, and fish them thoroughly,” he said. “Cover every likely holding spot.” Stephen likes a 1/2-oz. black/blue jig for this, and he trailers it with a Zoom Chunk. He’ll fish a black chunk in muddy water, but he’ll go with blue when the water clears up a little. Once he’s got his five fish, Stephen has been moving out onto the main lake to catch bigger fish. He said they’re holding on the main-lake points, at the mouths and into the first third of the creeks on secondary points. He’s looking for blowdowns and grass, and he’s getting bit on the same spinnerbait he uses on the docks. Also, Stephen has had some luck fishing a Rat-L-Trap in the mouths of the creeks and around bridge pilings. He likes Tennessee shad for water that is clear or slightly stained, but in the muddy water a chartreuse or red Trap works well.

Crappie: Good. A Crappie USA tournament was held recently. Taking first place was the team of Charles Sightler and Richard Williams. They had 8.36 pounds and earned $1,000. “Sightler and Williams were long-line trolling in 5 to 30 feet of water with their fish suspended 12 feet deep in Rood Creek. They were using black-and-chartreuse AWD Charlie Brewer Sliders and Southern Pro baits,” a press release stated. “The team caught nearly 60 fish with most of them on ledges. Second place went to the team of Charlie Cantrell and Robert Huff Sr. with a weight of 6.35 pounds. They earned $600. Charlie and Robert were downlining with Jiffy Jigs tipped with minnows in 15 feet of water. Their fish were on the bottom. The team caught more than 300 fish during the day of competition. In third place was the team of Danny and Beth Williamson with a weight of 6.07 pounds, and they earned $400. Danny and Beth were pushing gold Showdown jigs tipped with minnows. They caught their fish suspended over brush in 8 to 20 feet of water. The team caught 50 to 60 fish.”