The XFL-Extreme Fishing League hosted it’s third event of the 2012 season at Lake Eufaula out of Eufaula Cove. 157 teams entered this event with 88 limits brought to the scales with the average fish weighing a very respectable 2.6 lbs. Total payout for this event was $54,035 which yielded a very impressive 172% payout. Topping the field and taking home the $20,000 first place prize was the team of Rick Matthews of Checotah, OK and his cousin and long-time fishing partner Darren Clinton of Ada, OK. Rick and Darren weighed in 20.62 lbs anchored by a 5.39lb fish. I had a chance to visit with Rick about their day and he was very gracious to share their experience.
Prior to tournament day the two anglers established a pattern of keying on rocky banks with larger, chunk rock in the cleaner water in the lower end of the lake. They also found some fish in dirtier water in the mid-lake area. Drawing a first flight take-off position they decided to run to the lower end of the lake to start their day. As a side note, yours truly drew take-off number 4 and we stopped about 1/2 way to the dam at our first spot. We witnessed what appeared to be 90% of the field run to the lower end of lake. Rick and Darren made two key adjustments during the day that proved to be the difference makers. The first adjustment was after fishing a key spot with no bites Darren suggested that they fish a little further down the bank. This resulted in a quality fish in the livewell. The rest of the day whenever they fished a key spot they would fish a larger area and this ended up yielding the fish to win the tournament. The second key adjustment was to stay in the cleaner water due to the change in the weather. Several thunderstorms developed in the morning hours and the skies became cloudy over the lower end of the lake. Rick felt this kept the fish active and relatively shallow in the clear water. They reported catching all of their fish in 3′-6′ of water. However, it was not easy for them in that they had to cover a lot of water and they never caught more than one quality fish at a spot. Rick said “it was like we caught the only fish that was in the area”. Their lure of choice was either a 4″ A&M Baits Trick Stick on a 3/16 oz A&M Hooker Head jig head or a 5″ A&M Bait Trick Stick on a 1/4 oz A&M Hooker Head jig head. When the winds allowed they fished the lighter bait otherwise they fished the heavier lure. Colors ranged from black/blue in the morning to watermelon later in the day. One anxious moment occurred when Darren hooked a good fish and hollered for the net. Rick dropped his rod on top of the landing net and when he picked up the net he flipped his rod into the water and it promptly sank to the bottom. Despite this setback they managed to land the fish. Rick should have no problem replacing that rod with his share of the $20,000 first place prize.
On behalf of the XFL Staff I want to thank all the participants and the sponsors for their support of this circuit. Without them the XFL would not be the best paying circuit in region. We hope to see everyone at the next event on June 3rd at Grand Lake out of Martin’s Landing.
Winning lure’s for the year: Alabama Rig – 1, Jig/Chunk – 1, Hooker Head/Trick Stick – 1