Lake Eufaula preview with Jeff and Mitchell Jennings
By Jason Duran
The ABT South Division concludes the 2024 regular season with stop number five. The 225 teams are headed to the “Big Bass Capital of the World,” Lake Eufaula. Lake Eufaula is on the Chattahoochee River and spans 45,000 acres and 640 miles of shoreline. The father and son team of Jeff and Mitchell Jennings have been practicing and looking forward to a competitive event on Lake Eufaula.
Summer has finally made it to Alabama. This weekend is going to be a hot one. Temperatures are predicted to be 97°. The team of Jeff and Mitchell have been practicing a couple of days this week. Mitchell shared that earlier in the week he was practicing, and said, “It was hot, and there was a lack of current” while he was there. “I think the current would really help the fishing.” He noted, “There are lots of fish offshore. They were almost everywhere I looked but it is hard to get them to bite. This weekend hopefully they will pull some current. There will be a lot of fish caught offshore and some of the local guys have some places off the beaten path. Those types of areas can be really productive in these types of events. I also think brim beds will play into this weekend’s pattern. While it might not be the winning pattern, I have seen lots of them, and teams could quickly catch a limit fishing them. The water temp is in the low to mid-80s. I found lots of schools of 3-pound fish. Some areas had 10 fish, and others had many more. However, they are kind of finicky without the current flowing. The current is going to play a big role in getting them to bite this weekend. This lake is full of brush piles, and the key will be finding the fresh piles. However, it’s hard to find piles that aren’t getting hit a lot. If a team gets in a bad rotation fishing behind someone, they could struggle.” Jeff noted, “Brush piles could be an early pattern, but I feel they will move deeper as the day goes on.” They feel that plays to their advantage since they have a later flight boat draw. “A lot of times on the Chattahoochee, they roll the current in the afternoon. However, it could also hurt because fish care is going to be important this weekend, and teams need to pay careful attention.”
The team shared that there will be lots of teams offshore, but teams don’t need to give up on the shallows. They suggested a few key baits this weekend could be a deep crankbait, a Ledge Buster Spinnerbait, a 10–12-inch worm, and possibly a frog when fishing the brim beds. Teams that are looking to come to Eufaula for the first time could easily catch a 5-pounder on the lake. We have caught them all over this lake before and even this weekend they could easily be caught up shallow still.
They are currently sitting in 7th place in the AOY and are looking to catch that 17-19 pound bag to help keep them in the hunt for the AOY top 9. Of course, they would love to have around 25 pounds and win it all. They predict the winning weight for this will be in the mid-20s and expect it to take 16-18 pounds to get a check. If they can hold on to their 7th place or at least finish in the top 9 AOY, they will go to the BASS Team Championship. Mitchell said that would be a great Father’s Day gift. They are thankful they get to fish together. Jeff said it’s been great to fish with his son and to see how successful he is.
The Pre-Tournament Briefing was held via Facebook and YouTube on Monday, June 10, 2024, at 5:30 P.M. Blast off and Weigh In will be held June 15, 2024 at Lakepoint State Park, 104 Lakepoint Drive, Eufaula, AL 36027. All friends and family are welcome to attend this event. Bring lawn chairs and see some of the best bass teams in the country cross the stage. Everyone can watch the live weigh-in and over 4 hours of on-the-water live coverage on the ABT Facebook page, YouTube, and the ABT website.
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