Lake Eufaula Fishing Report October 2014

Eufaula: Level: 2.7 feet below 190 full pool. Temp: Falling into the 70s. Clarity: Clear to slightly stained.

Bass: Shad are the key to October bass on Eufaula, according to tournament anglers Wayne and Lisa Cox. The baitfish move into the creeks as the water warms, and bass follow them, feeding on the drops leading into the creeks early in the month and then farther back in them later in the month. Grassbeds near these drops also attract the bass where they feed on shad and bluegill. Use search baits like a Red Eye Shad or a Flash spinnerbait, and make a lot of casts to find active bass. Slow down when you start catching good fish, but until then move fast, hitting a lot of spots quickly. Early in the morning, fish the spinnerbait and a Big Bite Baits swimbait around grass, and use those baits again later in the day if they see activity. Also, Wayne says to always keep a Spook ready in October to throw to schooling fish. When they slow down, they will fish a big Ol’ Monster or Kriet Tail worm behind a 3/8-oz. tungsten sinker. Depending on the depth they are fishing, they also try a weightless fluke, a Carolina-rigged Trick Worm and a football jig. For a full feature article on October bass fishing at Eufaula with 10 GPS location, see page 20. Guide Sam Williams reports, “Bass have been hitting dark jigs near cover on the banks. The topwater bite is still working very early. Try buzzbaits, flukes and frogs, and when they don’t want to eat on top, try a spinnerbait. The shad hatch report is good. The biologists have conducted the shad count, and the hatch was great.” Les Bratcher reports, “The fishing on Eufaula has been hit or miss lately. The ABA Couples National Championship was here last week with Chandler Ray and Kayla Bratcher winning with a two-day total of 32.58 pounds. There are some good catches being made on two patterns. The fish are being caught in shallow water around the pads using frogs and swimbaits. There are some fish in deep water around 25 to 30 feet that are being caught on football jigs and big worms. Some of the more productive baits right now are Spro frogs, Big Bite Fighting Frogs, worms and Cane Thumpers with a variety of football jigs. The next few weeks the lake should roll over and start the fish feeding up for the winter. I think the fish will begin to move to the flats with all the new hydrilla playing a big role for the fall. You will still be able to catch fish in the pads and deep, but moving baits around the grass will get lots of bites.”