Lake Eufaula Fishing Report – July 2010

Eufaula: Level: 0.9 feet above full pool. Temp: Upper 80s to low 90s. Clarity: Good color; clear down the lake.

Bass: Excellent. Sam Williams said it’s been taking more than 24 pounds to win a tournament the past two weeks. “We had 169 teams fish the annual Lee King Benefit Buddy Tournament, and it took the father-and-son team of Tom and Mike Pierce 24.93 pounds for five fish to cash in on the $1,500 first-place prize. Thank you to all the fishermen who toughed-out the hot weather to support another successful event for Niemann-Pick disease research,” Sam said. “The bass are very active in the tight cover early, hitting the Top Toad from Big Bite Baits in the tight cover. The Emerald Strike gold lizard and black-neon floating finesse worm rigged on the Nuckle Ball jig are the next go-to baits in the same water, just a few inches deep when the topwater action slows down. When it is time to go deep, the 3/4-oz. Zone-R jig from Fin-Tech rigged with the black-neon Emerald Strike finesse worm is doing good. Also, the deep-diving Emerald Strike big-lipped Droopy Iker is a go-to crankbait. It will get to 25 plus feet on a hard crank and will easily stay in 18 plus feet on a slow roll, which they seem to prefer right now. Carolina rigs with the Sale Soft plastics are also catching good bass. Any cover you locate on the 18- to 30-foot drops is holding bass. The absence of the hydrilla is bringing the old-time ledge fishing back into play. The good ol’ days on Lake Eufaula are coming back. Last week when the mayfly hatch finally occurred, the bluegill action was huge, causing the shallow bass fishing to be crazy. The tournament anglers were loaded with action while the bass were feeding on the ’gills. Shad have been schooling for the longest periods fishermen can remember. I had a client with me a few days ago, and we witnessed the action in the shallows and deeper water all at the same time. One customer was in the store telling me he was in schooling fish for more than an hour and a half at one time.”

Bream: Good. Sam said you have to do some searching to find the bluegills, but they are biting well on red worms and crickets. “You must work the cover on the banks for a period of time, and you will hit a pocket and pick up 10 to 20. When it slows down, start the trek again until you find the next pocket.”

Catfish: Good. “Some nice ones are coming on tight lines. For the fisherman who wants a little faster action, jugs are the answer, baited with cut bait.”

Linesides: “Trolling deep for hybrids is picking up now,” Sam said. “The deep-running Emerald Strike Droopy Iker crankbaits and the 1 1/4-oz. Emerald Strike lipless crankbaits are really working on the big boys trolled under power, especially in the late afternoons in the river and creek mouths. The action at the dam is still on fire. Big surf rigs using 5-oz. lead on a three-way swivel and a 1/4-oz. Fin Tech Title Shot jig threaded with a pearl or white fluke or a shad are bringing in some really big stripers.”