The XFL-Extreme Fishing League held it’s first tournament of the 2012 season on Lake Eufaula. The weeks leading up to this event saw lots of big fish being caught with a major tournament the week prior taking over 25 lbs to win. What a difference a week makes. A major cold front moved through the area on Thursday bringing cold, windy and rainy conditions followed by typical springtime post frontal conditions of high pressure and bluebird skies. If that wasn’t enough Saturday night the front came back from the south as a warm front bringing dark skies and heavy rains on Sunday. Fortunately, the rains abated at take-off and the 155 boat field was able to blast off at safe light. The only good thing was that the wind didn’t howl 40 mph like it so often does this time of year. The strange weather and a full moon put the fish in a funk as evidenced by 93 teams failing to weigh a fish. Yours truly was one of those teams. We struggled mightily and only managed two dinks. Furthermore, I almost managed to throw my poor partner out of the boat when I hit a stump while idling out of a cove. It just wasn’t our day and I was glad to see it end. However, somebody always figures things out and takes home the Big Check. That team was the father/son team of Todd and Hunter Maynard of Purcell, OK. I caught up with Todd and Hunter and they graciously provided some insight as to how they caught the winning stringer.
The Maynard’s definitely did their homework and found several areas holding quality fish. They took home a 3rd place finish in a major tournament the week prior and won the big bass prize in that event. They indicated they were on a strong jerkbait bite on the day before the XFL event. However, the jerkbait bite never materialized and the switched to the Alabama Rig. Throwing a combination of A&M Baits they managed 7 fish, 6 of which were keepers, by running pre-spawn staging areas from Duchess Creek/Porum to Longtown. The only difference between this event, the previous event and practice was that they could only manage to catch a single fish from any one spot. One spot in particular was the difference maker in that it yielded a 7.11 lb fish. This spot was the same spot that yielded their big bass the week prior. As is so often the case the difference between winning a tournament and just getting a check is the kicker fish. Congratulations to the Maynard’s on a job well done. They certainly made it look easy (though it was anything but easy) on a very, very tough fishing day.
Chalk up one victory for the Alabama Rig. I will be keeping a tally of the winning lures/techniques during the year for comparison purposes.
The next event is April 1st on Grand Lake. We look forward to seeing everyone there.
Capt. Rob