EUFAULA, Okla. (April 18, 2024) – The Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour is set to visit Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Oklahoma, April 30 – May 5, for the fourth event of the 2024 season – the MillerTech Stage Four at Lake Eufaula Presented by REDCON1.
The six-day tournament, hosted by Vision Eufaula, will feature a field of 79 professional anglers, including Ott DeFoe , back-to-back Angler of the Year (AOY) Jacob Wheeler, two-time REDCREST Champion Dustin Connell, reigning REDCREST Champion Bryan Thrift and Oklahoma superstars like Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma, James Elam of Tulsa, Oklahoma and 2019 REDCREST and AOY champion Edwin Evers of Talala, Oklahoma. They’ll be competing for a purse of $659,000, including a top payout of $100,000 and valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship.
“We are thrilled to welcome Major League Fishing to Eufaula, Oklahoma,” said Andrea Oldham, Community Development Director for the City of Eufaula. “We invite all anglers, staff and their families to experience our small town’s unique charm and warm hospitality.”
The tournament will feature the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. The tournament is being filmed for broadcast later this year on Discovery.
“Vision Eufaula is excited that Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour is coming to Eufaula,” said Karen Weldin, President of Vision Eufaula. “As an organization dedicated to making Eufaula one of the best destination places in Oklahoma, we love that organizations like MLF agree that Lake Eufaula is a great place to fish and attract thousands of people to our city by their presence here.”
MillerTech pro Greg Vinson of Wetumpka, Alabama, who will be among the 79 anglers competing, said he feels like the timing of the event is spot on and this will be a tournament where the entire field will be able to fish their strengths.
“I’m really excited about this event and think the timing will make it interesting,” said Vinson. “It’s a new lake to me, but I started doing my homework as soon as it came out on the schedule. The first thing I noticed was that Lake Eufaula sets up for both shallow and deep-water fishing, especially this time of year. I expect the fish to be in late spawn, early post-spawn, which leaves the door wide open for a variety of techniques.”
Vinson said he expects to see anglers targeting offshore structure in the cleaner portions of the lake and utilizing shallow-water power-fishing techniques in the areas with more color.
“The quality of the fish should be really good,” said Vinson. “I also expect to see a good shad spawn in the morning and maybe even some bream starting to bed, which opens up those shallow-water techniques. Obviously topwater buzzbaits and spinnerbaits could be in play, as well as flipping and pitching around boat docks.
“In the deeper portions of the lake, I’ll be looking for some offshore structure,” Vinson continued. “I know Lake Eufaula has some good rock piles, humps, points, brush piles and even some natural timber in it. So, there are a lot of options for that offshore cover fishing as well.
“In typical five-fish tournaments, 18 to 20-plus-pounds is a good limit on Lake Eufaula, which sets us up to have to catch probably 25 pounds or more per day, just to make the cut, so it should be a good shootout.”
Local Bass Pro Shops pro Edwin Evers of Talala, Oklahoma, said Lake Eufaula has been fishing really good and had a lot of great spawning seasons over the past several years.
“It’s a monster lake, so being able to spread out on this fishery is going to be a lot of fun,” said Evers. “Anglers are liable to find an area and not ever see another boat the rest of the day.
“It typically takes 20-22 pounds to win most five-fish tournaments at Lake Eufaula,” Evers continued. “I don’t see it as being a big numbers event like we just had at Dale Hollow. I think if a guy can catch 10-15 scorable bass per day, he’ll be doing pretty well.”
Evers agreed that the event is hitting the fishery at an opportune time, when a variety of techniques will be in play.
“I think this will be a straight power-fishing event,” Evers explained. “I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of the jighead minnow-type stuff that we’ve been seeing. I think it’s going to be a lot of spinnerbaits, crankbaits, a jig – just your typical power-fishing type baits. There will probably be quite a bit of sight-fishing going on as well, so I think it will be a really fun tournament with plenty of options.”
Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. CT each day from the Peter’s Point-Nichols Point Boat Ramp, located on Dabbs Road in Eufaula. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the boat ramp, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Peter’s Point-Nichols Point for the MLF Watch Party and Kids Fishing Derby. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel from Pure Fishing each day. Additional fishing gear will be provided onsite for the fishing derby or kids can bring their own. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration on Championship Sunday to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.
The MillerTech Stage Four at Lake Eufaula Presented by REDCON1 will feature anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 79 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2025 championship.
The 39 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Tuesday and Thursday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers that finish first through 10th from both groups advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 20 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the MillerTech Stage Four at Lake Eufaula Presented by REDCON1 Knockout Round will air as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 12 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Oct. 19. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Rapala, StarBrite, Suzuki, Toyota and U.S. Air Force.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
