Big things happened on Lake Eufaula in the infancy of B.A.S.S., and the fishery’s resurgence has officials once again touting its moniker as “Big Bass Capital of the World.”
Jack Tibbs is the mayor of Eufaula and chief promoter. The owner of StrikeZone Lure Co. and a tournament angler, Tibbs helped bring B.A.S.S. back for its 18th pro event on the lake and can speak of its history as he’s “watched every episode of The Bassmasters that’s ever aired.”
“B.A.S.S. started back in the late 60s, and their fifth tournament was at Lake Eufaula,” Tibbs said. “It was a 15-fish limit, and they whacked them.”
Four of the first 17 B.A.S.S. events were on Eufaula, each with the winner totaling more than 100 pounds. While that much green won’t be seen, the Bassmaster Elite Series resumes its revised schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic with this week’s DEWALT Bassmaster Elite at Lake Eufaula.
“There’s been some great wins over the years with big-name guys,” Tibbs said. “I think this is going to be a great event. It’s a little later in the year, but the lake is fishing really well.”
The 45,000-acre fishery on the Alabama-Georgia border was an early staple venue for B.A.S.S., which held several events there in each decade before the latest hiatus of 14 years. The most recent tournament was a Southern Open in 2006.
John Powell won the 1968 Eufaula National with 132 pounds, and Blake Honeycutt topped that the next year with 138-6, which has not been eclipsed in 700 subsequent Bassmaster events. In a 1969 team event, Bill Dance, Bobby Murray, Bob Ponds and Forrest Wood totaled 120-6 in winning, and the following year saw Bill Adair win B.A.S.S. event No. 17 with 116-6.
“That was the heyday. The lake had only been impounded for about six years — there was so much structure, and offshore cover and debris,” Tibbs said.
In the 1969 National, Rip Nunnery brought in a ridiculous 15-fish limit weighing 98-15. His boat partner, Gerald Blanchard, who had won the second ever B.A.S.S. event on Smith Lake, caught 81-7. The two plied their one spot with worms for 180 pounds, however, Nunnery faltered the next two days and finished third in his only tournament entry.
It’s been well chronicled that Roland Martin was investigating Scott’s tour and was practically scared off from joining after seeing the weights. Martin noted that the boat paddle used to carry in Nunnery’s fish broke, breaking his spirit a bit as well. Scott, however, caught Martin in his car about to leave and convinced him it was just a fluky day and that he should come compete. Martin did, and he went on to win twice on Eufaula, in 1972 and in 1981.
Bassmaster TV host Davy Hite won the Alabama Invitational there in 1994, and he added to his good feelings about Eufaula in 2002. In a tight race for Bassmaster Angler of the Year, Hite finished third in the season-ending event to pull away for his second AOY title.
Denny Brauer was a double winner on Eufaula, taking titles in 2002 and 2004.
“There’s some really great tournaments over the years,” Tibbs said. “Denny Brauer just put on a flipping clinic when he won here both times, one time flipping the lily pads and the other time flipping way upriver in some of those backwaters.”
The most famed angling resident of Eufaula is Tom Mann, a Bass Fishing Hall of Famer who won two B.A.S.S. events and competed in seven Classics. In 2008, Tibbs and Scott dedicated a 12-foot statue of a leaping bass in Mann’s honor, naming it Manny.
“Tom Mann moved here in the late ‘60s. He was a pioneer along with Ray Scott,” Tibbs said. “He helped develop the Humminbird depth finder; he actually named it. He came out with great baits like the Jelly Worm and the Little George, and just many, many others.
“Then there’s the legend of Leroy Brown, which is the fish that Tom had in his tank. That’s an interesting story. Tom and Ray were both great promoters. They knew how to get a big bang for their buck when it came to advertising. They decided to have a funeral for Leroy Brown. Talking to Ray recently, Ray delivered the eulogy at a funeral for a fish, had 800 people at it. He said the folks in the front row were actually teared up about it.”
Editor’s note: See Bryan Brasher’s article – Legend of Leroy Brown.
In his book Bass Fishing, Brown Dogs & Curveballs, Jerry McKinnis devoted a chapter to fishing on Eufaula with Mann. Using Mann’s Jelly Worms along the dam in the early 1970s, McKinnis wrote that he landed six largemouth topping 10 pounds, including a 13-pound kicker. McKinnis argued that they only fished the spot on his insistence because all the snakes along creek banks creeped him out.
Tibbs said the introduction of alligators more than 30 years ago decimated the overabundance of snakes. Eufaula boasts one of the largest populations of gators in the state, including some giants that are taken out during hunting season.
“For the most part, they’re pretty cool to see,” he said. “You don’t mess with them, they won’t mess with you.”
There’s only one alligator incident that Tibbs recalls, and that was an Auburn student conducting research out of a kayak, catching baby alligators at night.
“When threatened, they put out a distress signal for momma, and momma came,” Tibbs said. “I think it bit him on the hand. It didn’t really hurt him, but it scared him pretty bad.”
Tibbs offered his take on how the 2020 Elite will be won, noting both shallow and deeper tactics are in play on Eufaula. He said the lake is fishing great, with bags nearing 30 pounds a definite possibility. Small tournaments have required at least 20 pounds to win.
“There’s a lot of offshore schools of fish. The guys who get out there in deeper water, figure out that offshore bite, I think are going to prevail,” he said. “There’s still a pretty good shallow bite. Currently there’s a mayfly hatch going on and bluegill are on beds, and if that extends when they’re here, that could play strong.
“The guys who pull up on that mayfly hatch could catch a big bag right off the bat. It’s hard to plan that over a multi-day tournament, but it’s something they could include in their game plan.”
Eufaula has tons of vegetation, lily pads, shoreline grass and productive ledges. In 1963, the George F. Wilson dam impounded the Chattahoochee River that flows from northern Georgia. It created around 640 miles of shoreline for the lake that averages 15-18 feet deep with the deepest point at 100.
“The Chattahoochee, it’s a great fishery from one end to the other,” Tibbs said. “You got Seminole below us, Lake West Point, Lake Lanier, upriver, some great lakes. Lake Eufaula, really for the last three or four years, has been on fire.”
Tibbs said the Big Bass Capital name might have been a stretch for the past decade or so, but he’s seeing a resurgence as a lot of big fish are being caught, even by him. He’s won some derbies there in the past few weeks with 23 pounds.
“If an old mayor can catch, I know these pros can,” Tibbs said, adding he will serve as a Bassmaster Marshal to see firsthand how the pros approach his lake.
“That will be fun to experience, to watch some of these guys fish,” he said.
His only worry is tropical depression Cristobal in the Gulf of Mexico could affect the fishing.
“That’d probably be the icing on the cake of 2020,” he said.
It’s certain no matter what goes down, another chapter in B.A.S.S.-Eufaula history will be written.