Lake Eufaula Fishing Report – March 2010

Eufaula: Level: 0.1 feet above full pool. Temp: 48 to 52 degrees. Clarity: Muddy.

Bass: Slow. Stephen McCord said the water has been rising and falling, and it’s muddy. It’s been hard to nail down a consistent pattern. He is excited that the fish are getting ready to move up, though. He’s been catching some fish on an XCalibur XR50 rattlebait fishing flats adjacent to the main river. The best colors have been red or lemon-lime (a chartreuse bait with an orange belly). There has also been a decent flipping bite up the river on blowdowns. Stephen likes to Texas rig either an 8-inch lizard or a Zoom Ol Monster, and he’s gotten a few bites on a little Gambrel B.B. Cricket. The dark colors are working better in the muddy water. Stephen likes red-shad green, red-shad or black/blue. Another bite that’s been working for big fish but not numbers is on the edges of the timber, on rocks and seawalls with a weightless bubble-gum Trick Worm. “They’ll be busting egg sacks by mid March,” Stephen said. Once the fish move up, Stephen likes to fish beds, and he also likes to catch fish transitioning to and from the beds. For bedded fish, he’ll be sight fishing shallow in the backs of the creeks wherever he can find some dead water out of the current. He’ll throw either a white lizard or a bubble-gum Trick Worm. The rattlebait or a buzzbait will also work around bedded fish. To catch prespawn and postpawn fish moving in and out of the creeks, Stephen likes to find them where they stop to rest on boat docks at the creek mouths. He prefers docks in 4 to 8 feet of water, but he’s caught them on both deeper and shallower docks. “Really tear apart that boat dock,” Stephen said. “You know they’ll be there, but you’ll have to hit them in the face in this muddy water.” Start by fishing fast around the outsides and corners of the docks with a rattlebait or a spinnerbait, and then slow down with a Texas rig. Stephen will work all the posts and up under the middle of the dock flipping at 10-inch intervals with a big lizard or worm. Capt. Sam Williams said, “Bass are shallow and hitting large jigs fished very slow. Watch for any action on the surface or birds working the baitfish. The birds still have to eat even while the water is so muddy.”

Crappie: Fair. “Crappie are hitting minnows on the drops in creeks,” Capt. Sam said. “Colorful jigs tipped with minnows are getting a few limits for the fishermen fighting the cold.”