Feature Story

Lake Eufaula Preview with John Pollard and Dallas Weldon
By Jason Duran

Lake Eufaula is the last stop of the Alabama Bass Trail South Division. After four events
around south Alabama fishing different lakes and patterns, it all culminates this week for
teams looking to make the AOY top 9 in points and qualify for the B.A.S.S. Team
Championship. Teams making the AOY top 75 will qualify to fish the ABT two-day
Championship for a $50,000 first place cash prize. Lake Eufaula is located on the
Chattahoochee River spanning 45,181 acres and formed by the Walter F. George Dam.
The team of John Pollard and Dallas Weldon, currently 9 th in AOY, are the last team in
for the B.A.S.S. Team Championship, so they are hoping a solid finish at Lake Eufaula
this week to secure their spot in the Championship.

The weather across the entire state has been very hot and dry which has encouraged
fish to move out to deeper water. John and Dallas shared, “typically this time of year it
is an offshore deal. The majority of fish have spawned out and have made the move to
the deep. Some teams will find a decent limit up shallow and could possibly win, but for
the most part, teams will be targeting fish out deep on the ledges and deep cover.”
Lake Eufaula has been the host to many national level events including Pro Tour Events
and the B.A.S.S. Team Championship making it no secret that Eufaula is full of deep
structure. John and Dallas “have a hundreds of those piles marked.” There are very few
secret places on Lake Eufaula due to recent tournament pressure. Teams will be
looking to capitalize on their experience on the lake and their ability to use their
electronics like Garmin Live Scope to locate fish on the ledges and in the piles.
“A key in this event is fishing your best areas early. Based on what we find in practice
we will fish our best stuff first. It is also important to fish areas at the right time. There
are a lot of offshore areas with fish on them, but sometimes they just won’t bite until the
right time.” Fishing behind other teams isn’t necessarily a disadvantage, but fishing a
spot at the right time is critical.

When fishing offshore John and Dallas feel like a few key baits could play into this
weekend’s event. The first being a Texas-rigged soft plastic. Teams will also be using
deep diving crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Teams making their first visit to Lake Eufaula
should be able to locate fish off the brush on the ledges and don’t be afraid to fish for
them too. Fish will not only be located on the brush piles but also key areas along the
ledges. Teams need to pay close attention to their maps and be careful running; it is
easy to tear up a lower unit on Lake Eufaula.

“We missed the B.A.S.S. Team Championship last year, and we really want to make it
back this year.” Dallas shared, “to stay in the top 9, we need to have a top 30 finish, and
to do that we will need 12 to 13-pounds. We, of course, want to win every event, but the
championship is also important to us.” The team predicted the winning weight for this
event to be around 19 pounds.

TOP 12 AOY CURRENTLY
PLACE ANGLERS POINTS
1 Rob Lee/Steve Winslett 842
2 Brian Stiffler/Wesley Gore 834
3 Chris Rutland/Coby Carden 829
4 Foster Bradley/Nick Harris 808
5 Josh Chapple/Paul Davis 807
6 Clay Harris/Joe Williams 795
7 Douglas Stephens/Jacob Wood 776
8 Adam Bain/Kris Colley 764
9 John Pollard/Dallas Weldon 759
10 Jeston Anderson/Scott Saucer 749
11 Brent Crow/Simon Morrow 748
12 Justin West/Cody Vickery 742

All anglers should make sure they have checked text messages and emails for the
latest information and changes made to keep everyone as safe as possible during this
time. There was a virtual meeting posted on the ABT Facebook Page earlier this week.
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. The Launch and Weigh In will be held at Lakepoint
State Park 104 Lakepoint Drive Eufaula, AL 36027.

The sponsors of the 2022 Alabama Bass Trail include: Phoenix Boats, Academy Sports,
Alabama Power, America’s First Federal Credit Union, American Trailer Rental Group,
BAJIO, Berkley, Big Bite Baits, Bill Penney Automotive, Black Rifle Coffee Company,
Buck N’ Bass, Anheuser – Bush, Inc., E3 Sports Apparel, Fish Neely Henry Lake.com,
Garmin, Jack’s, Lew’s, Mtn Dew, Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, Power-
Pole, Strike King, Sweet Home Alabama, T-H Marine, Wedowee Marine, Yamaha, YETI
Coolers.