Ryan Ingram of Phenix City, Ala., has an enviable record in Walmart Bass Fishing League tournaments on Lake Eufaula, but he says the playing field is about as level as it could be for Saturday’s Bama Division BFL tournament Saturday.

“Fishing on Lake Eufaula got in such bad shape last year it’s anybody’s game now,” said Ingram who has 11 top 10 finishes, including three wins, in BFL and EverStart tournaments on Lake Eufaula in the past decade.

The problem is a decline in the population of quality bass, he said, an assertion backed up by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources which has acknowledged a problem with the largemouth bass fishery in the lake.

A report released by the agency cited electro-fishing samples taken in 2011 which indicated a change in the largemouth population. Bass from 13 to 16 inches long were relatively abundant, but larger bass were fewer in number than in recent years.

The report said 461 largemouth bass were weighed and measured during the spring sample. The largest bass was six pounds, and only 38 bass (8%) were over 3 pounds. Most of the bass less than 3 pounds were in relatively plump condition, but the larger fish were mostly skinny.

Fall sampling indicated that bass below 3 pounds were still very abundant along shoreline structure, but bigger bass were still skinny and scarce. The report said much of the change could be attributed to the persistent drought south Alabama experienced in 2011.

Biologists cited several other factors for the decline in larger bass: the dramatic reduction in aquatic plants such as hydrilla which caused the bass to move to deeper structure and shift from foraging on sunfish species such as bluegills to shad, and even the catch and release ethic of tournament anglers which causes overcrowding.

“Like the housing industry bass fishing skyrocketed from 2005 to 2010 and then it crashed,” Ingram said. “It took from an 18-pound average up to a 25-pound average to win a tournament. It went from taking 25 to 27 pounds to win a BFL in July 2010 to January 2011 when it only took 11 pounds to win. I don’t really know what happened, but I know something bad happened to the bass.”

As a result, he said, he has not had the kind of success recently that he has enjoyed in previous years.

“I have probably caught 600 to 700 fish since I started back fishing this year. I have not caught a 5-pound fish all year and I generally have a 4.5-pound average. The biggest fish I’ve caught all year was last weekend and it weighed 4.44 pounds. There are just not very many big ones in there but there are a lot of 2 1/2-pound fish.”

Ingram said the majority of the bass in Eufaula are on the beds right now.

“I am not a big bed fisherman. Usually there are also fish out deep when some fish are bedding. As soon as those fish spawn another wave will come in and the bedding fish will move out and you can catch them deep,” he said.

“But this year it looks like all the fish are on the bank and there is no wave of fish behind them. There was a tournament down there Saturday and the boy who won it had 21 pounds and some change. He caught one fish off the bed that weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces, and he did not have but 21 pounds total. You take that 9-pounder off and put a regular fish back on his stringer and he would only have 13 to 14 pounds.”

The only way to win now, he said, is to try to catch one, maybe two bedding fish and then get in the grass and throw a swim bait or go upriver and throw a Chatterbait to try to catch a bunch of fish.

“I will probably try to find one bedding fish and then sit out there with a small crankbait and a big spinnerbait fishing 4 to 5 feet deep and try to catch a limit to go with it. You just have to get lucky,” he said.

 

Walmart BFL – Bama Division

Sat, Mar 17, 2012

Lake Eufaula

Lake Point State Park

www.flwoutdoors.com