On Saturday, March 16, American Bass Anglers held its first Professional League tournament in Oklahoma, starting at Nichols Point in Eufaula.
For over a month now, no matter the body of water or the state we have visited, Mother Nature has been showing up and letting anglers know she is in charge.
Just two days prior, the sun was shining, and temperatures were in the low 80s. On Saturday morning, boats launched into a chilly 40-degree breeze.
The fish had been biting and biting well in the past two weeks, with reports of 25 and 28 lb. bags hitting the scales, but all that changed up.
Despite the weather challenge, Michael David Taylor from Oklahoma City found a way to get what he needed to take home the title five fish for 14.22 lbs. and Taylor certainly earned every ounce.
His prize was $3,500. Taylor explained his day, “I pre-fished the last two days far down South but didn’t have much to go on. I might have had 10 lbs. the first day and I caught 1 fish, maybe 2 1/2 LB spot yesterday all day in 10 hours.
“Today, they just loaded up where I wanted them to be. I was scoping some brush piles. When we took off this morning, I went South and every other boat that was taking off from here went North. I may have seen two or three other boats down there today. I probably caught 13-14 keepers, so I culled a lot. I caught my big ones in the last hour, about 1:00 to 2:00. All these fish were 20 feet, and I caught them on a jig.”
In second place, Darin Anderson of Sand Springs, caught his five fish limit weighing 14.21 lbs. That’s right, this is a game of ounces and sometimes hundredths of an ounce is all it takes. When the scales locked in, Darin was just .01 oz. off the lead. For 2nd Place, Darin took home a check for $1,800. The upside was his kicker for his limit. His largest fish locked in at 5.16 lbs. and took big bass honors for the event, earning an additional $470. Darin earned a total for the day of $2,270.
Anderson tells us, “90% of the day, I was throwing an A-rig. My back hurts, and my shoulders are sore, but you have to stay with it. I fished a total of four spots and didn’t catch nearly as many today as I did yesterday. I caught 60 fish yesterday. I knew they were there, but the weather really slowed them down. I culled twice today, only catching 7 keepers. I think I caught around 14 altogether, but this cold front really shut them down.”
With a 3rd place finish, Chris Jeffrey of Sedan, Kansas, had a solid bag of fish for 13.73 lbs. taking home a check for $1,200.
Jeffrey shared his strategy, noting the impact of the murky water conditions on his approach. “I adapted to the muddy water by junk fishing and moving around,” he explained. “Fortunately, I stumbled upon a school of keepers using a Yozuri trap and quickly reached my limit, which really helped me relax. By 9:15, I had them all. Initially, all my catches were in shallow waters, but I decided to try deeper areas to find larger fish. However, with no success there, I returned to the shallows. It turned out to be a wise decision; the two larger fish I caught were in 4 to 5 ft of water. I stayed in that zone for the rest of the day, tweaking my technique. I found that pausing the bait during retrieval provoked a stronger bite. Overall, I managed to cull quite a bit, ending up with 11 keepers.”
Finishing fourth, Bill Wiles of Arcadia, just 4 ounces behind Jeffrey. Bill had a final weight of 13.38, earning him $1,000. Finishing in fifth place was Kirk Washburn of Harrah, with a five fish limit weighing 12.39 lbs, earning $900.
The American Bass Anglers (ABA) North Carolina Division launched its Professional League season in Oklahoma on Lake Eufaula on Saturday, March 16. The second event is scheduled for Grand Lake on April 27 and the third event will take place on Lake Tenkiller, June 1. The Divisional Championship will be held on Grand Lake Sept. 21-22.
