Top 10 Baits from Lake Eufaula
What to throw on the South’s ledges in early June
June on Eufaula is ledge season. Well, mostly. Nine of the top 10 in the Toyota Series Southeastern Division event at Eufaula fished offshore, but targets included ledges, brush piles, standing timber and some “in-between” offshore structure where bass stopped in transition from the bank to out deep. One pro even fished exclusively shallow.
Here are the baits they used to make the cut.
1. Tournament champion Josh Stracner used about a half-dozen baits. His main ledge baits were a Strike King 10XD and 6-inch Scottsboro Tackle Co. Swimbait on a Scottsboro Recon Head. When fishing brush, he caught some on a Reaction Innovations Fat Flirt Worm, which he says should be on the market soon (click here to see the standard Flirt Worm.), and a Z-Man ChatterBait.
2. Local favorite Ryan Ingram’s key bait was a Lake Eufaula staple – a 2-ounce Strikezone Ledgebuster Spinnerbait with a magnum willow-leaf blade and a white and chartreuse or solid white skirt. He also used a buzzbait and a Strikezone Ledgebuster Sling Blade.
3. Though Bryan New’s front deck was littered with rods, he caught most of his fish with a Texas-rigged Zoom Ol’ Monster in the redbug color. He also caught some on a Zoom Mag Trick Worm in redbug and a Strike King Series 5 crankbait.
4. The tournament leader on days one and two, Michael Smith caught most of his fish on a Missile Baits D Stroyer on a 1/2-ounce wobble-head jig or a 6 1/2-inch Missile Baits Quiver Worm on a shaky head. Both were in the GP3 color, which is green pumpkin with purple. However, he caught most of his bigger fish with either a 6th Sense C10 crankbait or a 6th Sense 4.4-inch Divine Swimbait in pro shad on a 3/4-ounce 6th Sense Divine Swimbait Jighead.
5. Shane Powell’s go-to ledge bait was a natural shad Strike King 10XD. He also fished a plum Zoom Ol’ Monster in some brush piles in the afternoons, or dragged the worm on ledges where he knew there were better-quality fish that wouldn’t bite the crankbait.
6. A two-part approach got Josh Butler into the top 10. He fished offshore on ledges with a Strike King 10XD, a Strike King 6XD or a swimbait in the morning when the fish were active. Sometime around 8 or 9 a.m., he switched to dragging a homemade football jig with a Strike King Rage Craw trailer.
7. Scott Montgomery combined an 8-inch Big Bite Baits Finesse Worm on a shaky head and a Strike King 10XD to catch most of his bass from ledges. On the last day, he rigged the Finesse Worm on a drop-shot, too. The local pro says a key to his success with the 10XD was using the right tackle, including a 7-foot, 10-inch, extra-heavy Denali Lithium cranking rod and 14-pound-test Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon.
8. The only pro to fish shallow all week was Dustin Smith, who targeted bass around bluegill beds in dirt-shallow areas using a SPRO Bronzeye Frog and a Damiki D Pop.
9. Austin Lang camped on his shell bed and caught bass with a few baits, including a Strike King 6XD, a drop-shot and a Zoom Magnum Ol’ Monster, but his most productive bait was a 3/8-ounce Elk River Jigs Brush Jig in Alabama craw.
10. Rounding out the top 10 was Kacy Mims. The Alabama pro caught his fish slow-rolling a 1-ounce Strikezone Ledgebuster Spinnerbait with a Zoom Super Fluke trailer on the bottom or through brush. He caught a few on a shaky head, one on a silver jigging spoon and some smaller bass on a 1/2-ounce tail-spinner.