Eufaula, OK – The XFL-Extreme Fishing League presented by Skeeter Boats held it’s 2014 season ending championship on October 18 & 19 on sprawling, windswept Lake Eufaula. 123 teams were greeted with cloudy, cool, foggy, rainy and windy conditions for this event. Typically, these kind of conditions lead to good catches. However, Lake Eufaula proved one tough nut to crack for the field. The weeks leading up to this event were an omen in that it was only taking 25 lbs+/- to win two-day events. Despite the favorable “fish catching” conditions, Eufaula continued to be stingy with its fish. Only 22 two-day limits were weighed with only a total of 346 fish for the entire event. Many anglers were left scratching their heads wondering why fishing was so tough. However, as always one team figured out the tough bite and bested the entire field.
The team of Robby Guinn and Rick Woods figured out the tough bite in a big way by obliterating the field with an amazing two catch of 40.75 lbs. Their margin of victory of 12.22lbs was one of the largest in recent memory. They also took won the $1,000 Big Bass prize and took home a total of $31,000. Second place went the brothers Matt and Andy Carroll with a 2-day total of 28.53 lbs. Matt and Andy won $15,000 and also took home the Skeeter Customer Appreciation Bonus prize of $5,000 for a $20,000 payday. This was Matt and Andy’s second $5,000 bonus this year. As a testimony to how tough the fishing was, it only took 17.80 lbs to get in the money.
Robby and Rick were fresh off a recent victory at Grand Lake in September where they bested a large field. Drawing on their winning pattern at Grand they decided to apply those techniques at Eufaula and that proved to be the ticket. I caught up Rick and he graciously shared some insight into their tournament.
Rick said they concentrated on fishing in the 12-20′ range using Carolina rigged 10″ Power Worms and Zoom Brush Hogs. Another key bait was Zoom Magnum Trick worm rigged on a Mesu Baits Shakey Head. The shakey head combo accounted for one of their biggest fish. They concentrated on areas from the “Chute” to the Dam and fished extremely slow. Rick said they had to make repeated casts to a spot to entice the fish to bite. One Day 1, the team hit a hot stretch and were finished by 10:30 am. They went “scouting” the rest of the day and even shook off several other bites. Rick said sleep was difficult Saturday night even with an 8 lb. lead. Thoughts kept creeping into their minds about the possibility of blowing such a large lead. Day 2 arrived and started out slow for them. Finally, around 10:00 am they went to spot and caught two 5 lb. fish. This allowed them to settle down and by 1:00 pm they finished out their limit and they could breath easier. Congratulations to Robby and Rick on a well-earned victory!
The XFL-Extreme Fishing League continued to set the bar very high with prize money. This event took in $36,900 in entry fees but paid out an incredible $82,471 for a total payback percentage of 223%. The league paid out $5,000 in Customer Appreciation Bonus Money in each event. When I asked Rick if he had spent all his prize money yet, his answer was “Yes, I am buying a Skeeter boat because we have missed out on several of the bonus checks the past couple of years because we were not in a Skeeter”. So, if any of you are reading this and are contemplating buying a new boat, please consider Skeeter. It will pay some nice dividends.
In closing, we want to thank Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Motors, Brad’s Boat Sales, H&H Marine and Nichols Marine for their title sponsorship. Also, thanks go out to all the other sponsors for their generous support. Most importantly, on behalf of the entire XFL-Extreme Fishing League staff I want to thank all the participants in this year’s season. Without each and every one of you the league would not be what it is.
Take care, be careful and we hope to see all of you in 2015.
Capt. Rob