Fishing News - 6/15/00
Alabama's Legendary Lake Eufaula Gears Up For B.A.S.S. Regional Championship
EUFAULA, Ala.- Strange but true: This legendary bass fishery with a storied past in the annals of Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) history has never hosted a tournament like the one happening here next week.
The B.A.S.S. Federation, B.A.S.S.' grass-roots arm of bass fishing clubs, will hold its first regional tournament on Eufaula next week with anglers from seven states converging on the Chattahoochee River fishery. The B.A.S.S. National Federation Southern Divisional is June 21-23 out of Lake Point Resort State Park in Eufaula. The competition will be preceded by a two-day official practice.
The tournament is one of five regional championships held nationwide. Contestants qualify by outfishing anglers in their local clubs and advancing to their 12-man state team. Represented in this competition are the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
Winning the team competition is important, but there is more on the line. Ultimately, each angler wants to be a state champion, the best fisherman on his team. These state champions advance to next spring's B.A.S.S. Federation National Championship and compete for the Southern Division title. The champion from each of the five divisions goes to the BASS Masters Classic®, the world championship of bass fishing. There, he will compete against the sport's top forty pros for the most prestigious title in fishing, BASS Masters Classic Champion. (Note: This year's Classic is July 20-22 in Chicago on Lake Michigan. The five divisional qualifiers have already been chosen.)
The rules allow each contestant to keep a maximum of five bass per day. Each fish must be at least 16 inches in length. Only artificial lures are allowed and the anglers must return to the weigh-in scales with their catch alive. Each dead fish results in a 4-ounce deduction.
Bass fishing on Eufaula in summertime can be just as hot as the daytime high temperature. Impounded in 1963, Lake Eufaula has 45,181 acres, boasts 640 miles of shoreline, and stretches for 87 nautical miles.
Lure legend Tom Mann invented his Little George tailspinner in the late 1960s for the conditions that could prevail for contestants during this tournament, that is, bass holding deep on ledges lining the main river channel and creek mouths. If power is being generated, that will likely be the ticket for anglers who can find the offshore spots. If the water is not moving, the lake's upper end offers dependable river patterns. Such conditions exist from its tailwaters to Florence Marina. From that point to the dam, a fish-rich network of sloughs, creeks, flats, and of course, ledges, dominate the lake's underwater landscape. Shallow or deep, this lake is where the textbook of summertime bass fishing tactics was written.
For B.A.S.S. history buffs, the sixth tournament held by the organization occurred during the same week as this upcoming tournament. At the Eufaula National held June 20-22, 1968, John Powell won the tournament with an incredible 15-bass catch weighing 132 pounds. The following year, Blake Honeycutt fared even better, winning with 138 pounds, 6 ounces. Honeycutt's catch stands today in the 30-year-old B.A.S.S. record book as the heaviest winning weight for 15 bass. (Note: In the interests of conservation, B.A.S.S. now maintains a five-bass maximum in all its tournaments.)
Daily weigh-ins for the Southern Divisional begin at 2:30 p.m. local time at Lake Point State Resort Park in Eufaula.
Sponsors of the B.A.S.S. National Federation Central Divisional Championship are Ranger® Boats, RangerTrail® Trailers, Mercury® Marine, Chevy Trucks, BIG Kmart®, Humminbird®/Zercom® Electronics, Pennzoil® Marine, ACDelco® Batteries, Flowmaster® Exhaust Systems, MotorGuide® Trolling Motors, Quantum Rods and Reels, Berkley Trilene®, Berkley Power Bait®, Eagle Claw Fishhooks, Worldwaters.com and First USA.
