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Lake Eufaula Fishing Report
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Lake Eufaula
LAKE EUFAULA (WALTER F. GEORGE RESERVOIR)
CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER SYSTEM
ON THE ALABAMA / GEORGIA STATE LINE

By Reed Montgomery
Reeds Guide Service (205) 787-5133
Website: www.FISHINGALABAMA.com

Impounded 1963
Lake Level: Full Pool - June (could be down by mid-to-late summer due to drought like last year)
Water Temperature: Mid to upper 80's

Summer on Lake Eufaula

Lake levels have remained " at or near full pool " on Lake Eufaula, situated on the lower Chatahoochee River System along the southern Alabama / Georgia state lines. Lake Eufaula (all 70 miles of it), was actually one foot over full pool in late June. This created an unusual situation in Lake Eufaula...flooded, weedy waters and shallow bass!

Traditionally, most anglers head for deeper water when fishing Lake Eufaula during the hot days of summer - just like the bass do - when the mercury soars. And it has been near 100 degrees recently, with that being hot enough! But when lake levels rise aquatic weeds like milfoil and hydrilla (that have recently invaded the mid to lower lake region in the past 5 years) become flooded and suddenly the bass move right in.

Even Lilly pads, of which the lake has plenty of, are thriving very well. Last year around mid summer, these shady homes for both prey and predator alike were high and dry. Protruding high up out of the water supported by only a dying stem...like some dried up umbrella. When lake levels were low during the summer drought, the deep water bite was the only bite to be had unless you were fishing at dawn, late evenings or at night!

So for now bass can be found in both shallow water and in deep water, both during the day and at night. Still like any time of the year during certain seasons, it still takes certain lures, various retrieves and techniques and lots of tactics other anglers fail to try, to still fool these highly pressured bass.

After this past spring, when dozens of bass tournaments were held weekly on Lake Eufaula, a lot of bass got re-located. Bass tournaments, some featuring from 100-200 anglers, especially took its toll. This moved over 1000 bass every tournament. Relocation from all over the lake these 5 bass limits were culled down and then hauled off to the nearest boat launch to be released. Places like Lakepoint resort in Cowikee Creek soon held a lot of bass. Now night tournaments are held 3 - 4 times a week.

So keep it in mind, no matter where you fish. When you find yourself around any boat launch know that there are always plenty of re-located bass nearby. Bass that were given a new home by some fortunate angler that caught them and later released them, to live and fight another day and perhaps be caught again...by someone like you!

* Here's some tips for targeting bass this summer on Lake Eufaula in its shallow weedy waters. Along Eufaula's deep water drop-offs, ledges and offshore humps. Well, that's another fishing report all together. (Maybe next time)

FISHING SHALLOW WATER ON LAKE EUFAULA THIS SUMMER
If I had my choice - like most anglers - I would rather be throwing some type of topwater lure, a spinnerbait or some type of weedless lure in and among Eufaula's varied weed fishery. This means fishing in water generally less than 5 feet deep, targeting bass living among many types of weeds and a lot of various types of wood cover. But on Lake Eufaula when the lake is
" at or near full pool " this can mean having to eliminate a lot of shallow water, to even find the most pleasing bunch of weeds for these often picky bass to inhibit.

* Aquatic weeds that look very green are healthy weeds. These weeds come in all shades of green and are highly visible, clearly standing out among other "dead or dying weeds".
Dead or dying weeds, usually display a brownish hue and display a dying or withered look. This is usually the result of low oxygen content, exposure to bright sunshine during low water periods, or these brown-looking weeds could have recently been sprayed with poisons for weed control. Avoid these weeds, the bass usually do.

Also very green weeds have loads of oxygen produced by these aquatic weeds. Shade found in and around these weeds means ambush areas for big bass and always cooler water in the summer months. Baitfish of all kinds live in and among these weeds. They also provide homes for crayfish, minnows, insects, frogs, small mice, worms, eels and snakes. These are just a few of the prey these big, Eufaula largemouth bass dine on daily. Bass that often live out there lives sheltered in these weeds...until caught and re-located.

Lures can vary, for each and every type of weed deserves giving the bass several lure choices, especially when targeting these weedy homes in highly pressured areas. Places where many anglers fish the same types of lures. So mix it up and give them choices they normally do not see. Or lures that look and act so real they just cannot refuse them!

TOPWATER LURES
Anytime you target big bass living in and among various types of aquatic weeds a topwater lure or two comes to mind. As with any lure type, there are many topwater lure choices on today's lure market to choose from. At times certain lure styles, lure colors and even professional lure promotion, can aid an angler in his / her choice even with so many types of topwater lures to choose from.

There are literally over a thousand well known topwater lures to choose from. So each and every angler, after some experimentation with the most popular lure choices, soon discovers his / her favorite topwater lures. But suggestions - by someone who knows from years of topwater fishing experience - always helps!

FROGS
By now, of all the anglers that fish Lake Eufaula's weedy waters on a regular basis, most have tried fishing with some sort of plastic frog or a rubber frog imitation. For those that know, these bass have been eating frogs for a long time and imitation frogs have fooled some of Lake Eufaula's bigger bass, since just after it first opened in 1963.

While practicing for an old Redman bass tournament on Lake Eufaula in the spring many years ago, I caught and released a 10 pound 4 ounce largemouth bass, caught in 2 feet of water on a chartreuse colored Scum Frog. During the tournament I had a smaller one, a 7 pounder, that nailed the frog on the 3rd cast of the day. That bass and 4 other nice "frog caught" bass totaled a little over 24 pounds, giving me fourth place in the tournament.

Choosing a frog imitation to fish among Lake Eufaula's tough-stemmed Lilly pads, thick stringy milfoil and hydrilla weeds and its miles and miles of scummy looking backwaters, means choosing a real looking frog, a durable frog, and a frog these bass must strike out of instinct. Simply because it looks and acts so real. Despite the lure choice, the lure color or how much the lure costs, these factors are what gets the strikes. Then its up to you to put the bass in the boat.

That is, If you do not miss the bass when it attacks your frog imitation. Frogs are notorious for missed strikes. But that problem can be remedied with a little practice. Always wait until you see the frog lure disappear or when you actually feel the pull of the bass, then set the hook hard. Long rods, like a flipping rod, help for a better hook set and you can more easily horse a big bass out of Eufaula's thick, weedy cover. These rod types also aid an angler in very long casts, getting their frogs far back in places other anglers fail to try.

* Short steady hops, retrieving the frog in a manner where the bass can easily track it down, results in more hook ups, than when fishing frogs too fast or with erratic actions.

Popular colors for frogs vary. Some of today's frogs are such a work of art, you really hate to fish with them knowing the bass will eventually destroy them! So have plenty of frogs on hand. But stick with easy to see colors like white, lime, chartreuse, yellow, pumpkinseed, red, green and even gaudy colors like orange or bubblegum, during bright, sunny conditions.

Darker colored frogs like black, brown, dark green or even purple can be seen better by the bass, as they look up at these frogs during low light conditions. Times like early light at dawn, late evenings, or often a rainy day are all good days. On a very cloudy or rainy day bass in the weeds will hit frog imitations all day.

* Long casts, utilizing stought rods, strong line, good reels and sharp hooks are a must when fishing with any frog imitation. Always pay very close attention on every cast. Distractions can cause you to lose fast striking bass. A wandering mind can leave the bass, wandering off with your frog!

BUZZBAITS
Why bass hit these lures, I don't know. They do see a lot of buzzbaits on Lake Eufaula. Maybe buzzbaits look like a fleeing shad or a minnow skipping across the waters surface. Or maybe a buzzbait even looks like a frog hopping as fast as it can go, in fear of its life, after carelessly falling in the water. These bass do eat a lot of frogs! Or could it be that irritating sound, clattering right through the basses living quarters time after time, until it eventually explodes on the lure in sheer anger?

Whatever buzzbaits imitate or whatever is they simulate, just like frog imitations, they always generate some vicious strikes. But you have got to throw them to get bit!

Often, when most anglers have laid down their topwater lures, like during the hot midday period, is when these bass will explode on a buzzbait or frog. So occasionally pick it up and fish it in midday shady spots, places where you see fish activity or shad fleeing for their lives. Always make it a point to throw the buzzbait at least a dozen times to likely looking cover nearby.

* As always, include a trailer hook...before you encounter short strikes and miss a few good bass.

* Colors on buzzbaits can be mixed up for a variety of choices. You can have colored blades, various choices of skirt colors and even trailers in all colors, to mix or match your buzzbaits.

FLOATING WORMS AND LIZARDS, SOFT JERKBAITS AND SENKOS
All of these types of lures come in so many shapes, colors and configurations that its very possible Eufaula's bass could not have possibly seen them all. These are all good lures for times when other lures fail to entice a strike. Often you can slow it down and catch bass on these lures while fishing right behind other anglers fishing conventional lures.

* Floating Worms - come in all colors, lengths and actions. Some floating worms are air injected to slow their fall when fished weightless in the shallows. Or they can be very enticing when used on a Carolina rig setup in deep water applications. Either way, slow is the key. The slower you can stand to fish them, the more strikes you will get.

Brighter colors of bubblegum, red, methiolate, lime, yellow or white can be seen better when worked on 10 -15 pound test line and a 3/0 hook. Fished weightless in and around aquatic weeds and wood cover like stumps, brush, lay down trees, logs and piers these are deadly lures.

* Lizards - Most anglers fish these lures either Texas rigged, Carolina rigged or on a jig head. Fishing lizards weightless on a 4/0 hook, retrieved slowly just like a buzzbait, is also a deadly tactic on Eufaula's lure conditioned bass. A tactic most anglers do not employ. Insert rattles and use 14-17 pound line and sharp hooks on weightless lizards.

* Soft jerkbaits - look like injured shad. There are long ones, short ones, fat ones and flat ones and loads of colors to choose from. When fished in and around aquatic weeds utilize soft erratic jerks of the lure. This dipping and darting action looks a dying shad and it triggers vicious strikes from even the most weariest of bass.

Oversized hooks of sizes 4/0 to 5/0 will help you get better hook sets and big, sharp hooks penetrate the thick bodies of most soft plastic lures like soft jerkbaits. Use 14-17 pound test line and always pay close attention when fishing these lures.

* Senkos - these lures are made by Gary Yamamoto. Senkos have fooled lot of big bass and Senkos have helped a lot of professional anglers win a lot of money in major bass tournaments held on Lake Eufaula. Appropriately named, they sink very slow.

You should fish them as slow as you can stand it, simply cast along weed lines and around the edge of wood cover and allowed to sink on a slack line. Senkos (or one of the many lures that simulate a Senko) can be fished weightless, Texas rigged or wacky rigged on 3/0 to 4/0 hooks. Line of 14-17 lb. tests are suggested.

Senkos can have a added bullet weight and be fished Texas style. They can fished on a jig head, just cast them around cover or flipped or pitched into thick cover with a heavy weight.

* Senkos can also be painstakingly fished slowly along shallow to deep water drop-offs, where big, lazy bass hold along these shallow weed lines, fished Carolina rigged.

These are just a few suggestions for going after Eufaula's big bass in the shallows this summer. Develop a few of your own. Or call on Reeds Guide Service (205) 787-5133 for fishing Eufaula year round. " Over 40 years fishing, guiding and exploring Lake Eufaula and other Alabama Lakes. "

* See my website www.fishingalabama.com for more info, fishing links, fishing tips, lake reports and seasonal articles.

* Looking for a new or used boat ? See www.airportmarine.com

* Looking for a great bass tournament trail? See www.airportmarineteamtrail.com

* Looking for the worlds best bass boat? See www.rangerboats.com

* Looking for fishing rods, reels, fishing tackle and hunting items? See www.marksoutdoors.com

Be safe on our very crowded lakes this summer!

Practice catch and release year-round especially this Spring. You won't regret it!
Good Fishin'...
Reed Montgomery / Reeds Guide Service
Website: www.fishingalabama.com

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