June 2, 2013, Eufaula, OK. – The XFL-Extreme Fishing League presented by Skeeter Boats held it’s 4th and final regular season event on Lake Eufaula. The week prior to this event saw the lake falling and subsequently stabilizing around 2.5′ above normal pool. The lake was setting up for a shallow water slugfest as big fish had moved into the shallow cover to gorge on spawning shad. However, Mother Nature decided she wouldn’t allow that to happen by sending violent, tornadic storms with torrential rains through the Lake Eufaula watershed. The resulting flash floods caused the lake to rise almost 2.5′ on Saturday before the tournament. This effectively blew out many contestants areas forcing the 179 teams to adjust on the fly. To make matters worse, tournament day dawned with typical post-front, high pressure, bluebird skies and north winds. The tough conditions were evidenced by only 71 teams bringing in fish to the scales. There were 43 limits weighed and the average fish was a little over 2.5 lbs. Total money collected for this event was $35,800. Total payout was $56,628 for a 158% payout. The team of Terri Henry and Hank Williams bested the field with 20.60 lbs to take home the $20,000 1st place prize. Terry and Hank also took home the Skeeter Owner Bonus money of $5,000 for being the highest finisher fishing out of a qualifying Skeeter boat. 2nd place and $10,000 went to the team of Sam Newby and Toby Hartsell for their 19.17 lb. stringer. Big Bass worth $1000 went to the 9th place team of Robert Dill and Don Durossette. I visited with the winners, Terri and Hank, and they provided a little insight on how their day went.
Terri and Hank struggled up until around 10:00 with only 1 fish but it weighed 5 lbs. Taking a gamble, they abandoned their area and ran into the area known as the “Chute” and started fishing flooded bushes on wind-blown banks. Boat control was big issue due to the north winds blowing into the bank. Both anglers mentioned they were “worn plum out” from fighting the wind and waves. The anglers used Glen Bostic Jigs and Gene Larew Biffle Bugs pitched into the flooded cover to catch the winning stringer. Congratulations to Hank and Terri for a hard earned victory.
On behalf of the XFL staff and all the sponsors we want to thank all that participated in this year’s events and to those that qualified for the year end event to be held October 12 & 13 on Grand Lake out of Wolf Creek. We look forward to seeing everyone then.
Capt. Rob