By Vance McCullough, AC Insider

Going on a month now without any substantial rainfall at my house in North Florida. Our lakes and ponds have reacted by shirking the onset of summer heat, retreating into their own depths and revealing white sand beaches that beckon us to join them in the yet cool water. Might as well swim with the fish under the sun anyway as they are mostly feeding only beneath the moon now, their shoreline ambush points high and dry.

Such is not the case on Oklahoma’s Lake Eufaula where anglers participated in the Major League Fishing Toyota Series event this past weekend – well, one day this past weekend. The rains came down and the waters came up and the organization shortened the multi-day tournament to a one-day affair.

Three solid fish were enough to land three different anglers in the Top 10. Fourth place went to a man who only caught two, one of which took big bass honors at five pounds, twelve ounces.

A Texan by the name of River Lee took his first national level win with thirteen pounds, ten ounces, one of only five limits weighed-in among Top 10 finishers.

How he did it is a classic study in managing flood conditions during a tournament. Let’s have a look and learn along with Lee.

History tells us that bass go shallow and cling to hard cover such as wood under these conditions. They may also seek clearer water behind grass lines that filter out sediment. And the upper ends of creeks, oxbows or any place where water runs into the system should be the first places to clear up as the weather stabilizes. Keep this in mind as we read about Lee’s approach.

Spinnerbaits, jigs and plastics that feature a big profile and move a lot of water are all on deck for these tournaments. Lee used those time-tested classics, but he also threw a wacky rig to round out his bait selection.

A slow, thorough pace was important as evidenced by Lee’s frequent use of Power-Poles.

Here’s the story in Lee’s words as shared by our friends at our friends at MLF:

“In practice, before the water came up crazy, I was fishing the old bank line, where the bank grass was, and I was catching them,” said Lee. “We were getting a lot of bites on a wacky. So, going into it, I thought with the water still coming up that I still could do that. It would just have more water on it.

“I picked this area, and I put the trolling motor down in the mouth of it. Well, I just fished everything in front of me – flipped, wacky rig and spinnerbait. If I wasn’t flipping, I was doing one of the other two. And my first bite, it came flipping in an isolated bush by a walkway of a dock.”

As Lee eased around his chosen area, he made the decision of the day. Recalling a pond he hadn’t been able to get into a few weeks ago in a BASS Nation event, the Texas pro gave it another go.

“I tried to get in there a few weeks ago, but (the water) wasn’t high enough,” said Lee. “So, I was fishing in that creek and got all the way to the back, and I could hear the water running. I pulled up my phone and I looked at my Google Earth, and I was like, ‘I think we can get back there.’ It just looks like a wall of bushes, and the gap that I went through was probably like 4-foot wide – I had to force my boat in there. But once I got through that first wall of bushes, it was a little easier at that point. I guess that helped to kind of disguise it from everybody else.”

Once in the pond, Lee fished around the newest part of Lake Eufaula and didn’t catch anything until he got to a little spillway in the back. There, he plucked his second keeper of the day.

Then, Lee headed back into the regular lake and caught his third fish on a grass line on a wacky rig before returning eventually to his little pond. There, he caught the bass that pushed him over the top.

“I never caught anything in the pond itself; I caught them all where that spillway was running out,” he explained. “It was so shallow, but there was a little hole washed out in there that had just enough water for them to be there. The second time I went in there, I made 15 casts at it before I had a bite – I was fixing to leave it. I made one last cast up there and caught that fourth keeper. And I poled back down, because I had already picked my poles up – I was fixing to leave. I poled back down and made another cast and caught one the next cast. I don’t know what happened, what triggered it or anything, but they just bit back-to-back.”

For baits, Lee used a Rapala Crush City Bronco Bug, a Rapala Crush City Pick Stick and a chartreuse and white, double-willow War Eagle spinnerbait.

For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Toyota Series updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.