I had the chance to fish Lake Eufaula a few years ago with Bobby Padgett. He knows the lake well since he grew up in Columbus and still lives there, fishing Eufaula about twice a week. He won a BASS tournament there in May, 1996, bringing 15 bass weighing 77 pounds, 9 ounces to the scales. That weight set a new record for a three day, five fish limit tournament.

My trip with Bobby was to mark ten places to fish for bass in December for a Georgia Outdoor News article. It was unbelievable the way he found fish. We could be riding down the lake and he would slow down, circle an area, throw out a marker and say cast there. We would be so far from the bank you could not have hit it with a rifle shot! Sure enough, we would catch fish.

Bobby fishes the ledges on Eufaula with Mann’s 20 Plus crankbaits and Cedar Shad crankbaits. We were fishing ledges that were shallow even though in the middle of the lake or its major creeks. When we cranked the plug down and hit bottom in about 12 to 15 feet of water, and then bumped a stump or brush, a bass would often grab the plug.

Although we did not catch any bass over 5 pounds and Bobby said it was a bad day, I was amazed. Fishing only half a day, we probably caught 30 bass, and had about ten 16 inch keepers. Several of them weighed better than three pounds.

According to Bobby, there are more 16 and 17 inch bass in Eufaula than he has ever seen before. He had been catching at least 25 keepers each trip, and had several over five pounds each time before I went with him. I can bring bad luck to anyone! He was nice enough to blame it on the cloudy weather rather than me.

You can catch bass like that at Eufaula now. Find shallow ledges on a lake map and crank a plug down to hit them. Concentrate on brush if you find any. The bass will also hit worms and jigs, but a crankbait allows you to cover more area quickly.

There were big bass there last week. As I said, if it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all. Late in the afternoon, I cranked my 20 Plus down and hit brush. A bass grabbed it and, when I set the hook, it pulled my rod tip to the water. I had just caught a three pounder that did not pull my rod tip down at all. Bobby said I had a grown one. About the time I agreed, the fish pulled off.

A little later I was cranking a Mann’s Loudmouth on a more shallow hump. It stopped like it hit a stump and when I set the hook, a bass almost pulled the rod out of my hand. It also pulled off after a few seconds. I was using heavy equipment with 20 pound line, and Bobby said I was tearing the hooks out of the mouth of the big bass. He uses 12 pound Stren Easy Cast line on all his reels. I guess I should have changed to lighter line after losing the first one.

In the BASS tournament, Bobby landed one weighing 10-1 for big fish. He caught it on a deer hair jig. He caught a couple on that jig while I was with him. He showed me a way to fish jigs that I will have to learn. It is different from the way I fish now but it definitely works.

Bobby finds a fairly smooth point or ledge, casts the jig out and lets it sink on a tight line. When it hits bottom, he holds his rod tip at about a 10:00 angle and cranks the reel handle two or three times to swim it off the bottom, then lets the jig sink back on a tight line. The rod is at the right angle to set the hook if a bass hits. He does not pump the rod tip.

The jig looks like a shad swimming up and then darting down to the bass holding off the bottom. You have to set the hook hard and fast when one hits. This method also works with a Mann’s George-N-Shad. Bobby gave me one to use, showed me how and I quickly missed several strikes. I do plan to learn this new method!