EUFAULA, Okla. — Despite a lengthy weather delay, Tyler Chmelar and Kase Kramer from Tarleton State University made the most of the circumstances and caught a limit weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces to take the Day 1 lead at the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Lake Eufaula presented by Bass Pro Shops.
The Texas duo anchored their catch with a 5-12 largemouth they landed late in the day on a drop shot.
“It was a great day,” Chmelar said. “A little nerve-wracking, but it was fun.”
Connor Hall and Carson Belville and Auburn’s Brendin Simich are tied for second with 18-10. Simich landed the Big Bass of the Day, a 6-10 largemouth.
A squall line tore through eastern Oklahoma around the time anglers were originally scheduled for takeoff, bringing with it strong winds, severe storms and heavy rains. Tournament officials delayed the start of the tournament for nearly four hours before allowing teams on the water.
Quantity was hard to come by during the shortened day. Only 30 limits were caught by the 175-boat field on Wednesday, but the teams at the top found quality bass, and multiple 6-pounders crossed the stage.
Neither Chmelar nor Kramer have visited the massive reservoir in southern Oklahoma before, but several Texas lakes set up similarly to Lake Eufaula.
“It does set up a lot like Texas. When these bass are in the prespawn, it is my favorite time to get out on the water,” Kramer said.
Using Garmin LiveScope, Chmelar and Kramer targeted rockpiles that served as staging spots for largemouth waiting to spawn. They started on deeper piles in around 14 feet of water, but as the day continued the shallower rock (6 feet of water) became more productive.
Four different presentations produced key bites, including a Neko rig, a drop shot, a jig and a jerkbait.
“We knew these fish were thinking about pushing up to spawn, but they weren’t really wanting to because the weather is not great,” Kramer said. “The water temperature was still 57 degrees this morning. As the day went on, we moved up with them.”
Practice did not provide any indication that quality bass were present in their areas, so Chmelar and Kramer ran to the area where they caught the most bass in practice. Their first stop of the day was a rockpile in 14 feet of water, and it produced a 3 ½-pounder.
From there, the duo made stops at several more rockpiles and collected their limit within 45 minutes of fishing. While they caught plenty of bass, many of them did not cull. Then as the day was coming to a close, Kramer hooked into their biggest largemouth.
“I saw three big dots up there, threw my drop shot at them and shook it in front of their face,” he explained.
Chmelar and Kramer had a great start at Smith Lake as well, landing in fourth after Day 1, only to fall to 82nd on Day 2. The duo is hoping to find better success on Day 2 this time around and believe there are still plenty of bass hanging around their spots.
The full field of anglers will launch from Peters Point starting at 7 a.m. CT and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. More wind and storms are expected on Day 2, which will give anglers yet another hurdle to overcome. The Top 10 percent of the field after tomorrow’s weigh-in will punch a ticket to the 2025 Strike King Bassmaster College National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, details of which will be announced at a later time.
The City of Eufaula is hosting the tournament.