Eufaula, OK – The XFL – Extreme Fishing League presented by Skeeter Boats held its second event on sprawling, wind-swept Lake Eufaula on Sunday April 7, 2013. 194 teams entered this event making this the largest draw at Lake Eufaula in over 5 years! The anglers were greeted with decent weather conditions, albeit a bit windy at times, and a lake that had risen almost 3′ in the previous week due to heavy rains and a strong cold front that moved through the area. The rising water and cold rains which cooled the water temperatures significantly threw the anglers a curve ball. Many anglers that reported great catches in the week leading up to this event indicated the changing conditions made for very tough fishing. The tough conditions were evidenced by only 88 (49 limits) teams bringing any fish to the scales. On a brighter note, there were 8 fish over 6 lbs, 2 fish over 7 lbs and numerous fish over 5 lbs weighed. The average fish weighed in at a very respectable 3.14 lbs. 
Big bass of this event was a 7.72 lb largemouth weighed in by the team of Jason Danel and Matt Clouse. Jason and Matt took home the $1,000 big bass check for this fish. Topping the field was the son and father team of Luke and Tammy Palmer of Coalgate, OK. Luke and Tammy brought a 5 fish limit of 23.91 lbs, including a smallmouth that Luke estimated to be nearly 6 lbs., to take home the $20,000 1st place check.
The Palmers narrowly edged out the team of Paul Waner and Marvin Johnson who weighed in 23.21 lbs to take home the 2nd place check of $10,000. Paul and Marvin also won the Skeeter Customer Appreciation Bonus money of $5,000 for a total $15,000. Paul and Marvin have been long-time Skeeter owners and are very deserving of the bonus money. I caught up with Luke Palmer and he provided a bit of insight on how their tournament unfolded.
The week prior to this event the Palmers fished another tournament circuit on Eufaula and combined it as a scouting trip for the XFL. They finished 2nd in the event with over 23 lbs. They applied what they found the week before and concentrated on mainlake points and banks and the 1st points inside spawning pockets in the midlake and lower lake regions. Luke indicated he had as many as 10 rods on the deck at any one time but the primary baits ended up being jigs, jerkbaits and the Alabama rig with the biggest fish coming on the A-rig. Unlike the week before where they caught over 30 keepers, they managed only 10 keepers for the day. Most of their fish came between the hours of 10 and 3 with the final 4 lb. fish coming at 3:15. Being in the last flight made a major difference in winning the tournament versuse just getting a check. The Palmers wanted to thank their sponsors Rick’s Oil, C.C. Hardware and Byrd’s Enterprises for their support.
Once again on behalf of the XFL Skeeter staff and all the sponsors I want to thank all that participated in this event. As mentioned earlier this was the largest turnout at Eufaula in over 5 yrs. Thank you for support and we hope to see all of you at our next event on Grand Lake on May 5, 2013 out of Wolf Creek Landing.