EUFAULA, Ala. — Had you told Fred Roumbanis he’d catch over 28 pounds of largemouth on Day 1 of the 2026 Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Lake Eufaula presented by Battery Tender, he wouldn’t have believed you. But that’s exactly what happened.
The Russellville, Ark., pro nicknamed “Boom Boom” claimed the Day 1 lead with a limit weighing 28 pounds, 5 ounces, anchoring his total with a 7-1 and a 6-14. Roumbanis holds a 5-ounce lead over second-place Pake South heading into Day 2 while the gap between him and third place Chase Clarke is almost 5 pounds.
“It is so enjoyable to be back fishing Bassmaster tournaments. I just had a smile on my face all day,” he explained. “I ran (around) all day and fished little staging areas where I felt there could be a couple of big ones, and I was doing what I like to do.
“It was a special day.”
This week has been an emotional week for many in the bass fishing industry as they mourn the loss of long-time Humminbird service crew member Joby Smith. Roumbanis attended Smith’s funeral on Tuesday and dedicated his Day 1 performance to his memory.
“I wanted to catch them for Joby, and it happened,” Roumbanis said. “I couldn’t tell you I was going to catch them like that, I just did. It was pretty magical.”
Roumbanis and South were in a class of their own to start this tournament on the Chattahoochee River impoundment, but the weights throughout the field were impressive despite a drop in water levels. Of the 186 anglers, 50 caught limits weighing 15 pounds or better, with 11 of those bags weighing 20 pounds or more.
During his three days of practice, Roumbanis saw almost the entirety of Lake Eufaula, but one bite gave him the clue he needed to find success during the opening round of this event.
“I shook off a big bite in practice, and I made a crazy run to this one bite today,” the two-time B.A.S.S. winner said. “I knew it was going to happen right there, and that was that 7-1.”
The four-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier is running a very specific shallow water pattern, with one bait producing the entirety of his Day 1 limit. Roumbanis hit as many of those spots as he could find, running until he found what he liked.
He only caught nine keepers during the day, but they were the right size.
“There is one key thing I am looking for when I’m running, and when I see that, that’s when I stop,” he said.
Summer-like air temperatures and a full moon, Roumbanis said he was expecting more bass to be guarding nests. The water has dropped over a foot since the start of practice, however, making some spawning habitat unreachable.
“If the water was up, it would be wide open for everyone. Because it’s not, I spent my time trying to find the little nuances where the big ones might be,” Roumbanis said. “They want to come in. The water is so shallow, and the cleaner area I saw some in, none of them were sitting on a bed. It is a really weird deal.”
With an earlier boat draw tomorrow, Roumbanis hopes to capitalize on a shad spawn bite before moving to his run-and-gun pattern later in the morning.
“I feel like I have a lot of water to myself, which is a really good feeling,” he said. “Did I catch them all? I’m not sure. I’m still kind of in practice mode.”
South, who won the Division II opener at Sam Rayburn, only had a day-and-a-half of practice after making the Day 3 cut at the Elite Series event at the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, but made the most of his limited practice.
The Texan finished Day 1 with 28-0 and feels right at home in southeastern Alabama.
“I’m fishing free, taking some risks and doing what my gut tells me,” he said. “This is the most similar thing I’ve seen to east Texas so far.”
Staying between 6 and 12 feet of water, South is targeting flats and drains that lead into spawning areas. These areas have a mix of cover, including brushpiles, stumps and rockpiles. All the bass he caught were postspawners.
Several of the same baits he used to win at Sam Rayburn are playing this week at Lake Eufaula, including a dice-style bait and the 6.5-inch Berkley Lab Series Minnow.
After landing his two biggest bites in a flurry first thing in the morning, South bounced around the rest of the day looking for new areas, essentially using Day 1 as another practice day.
Despite early morning struggles, Clarke rebounded nicely to finish the day in third with 23-0. The 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour qualifier learned the nuances of Lake Eufaula as an Auburn University angler, which helped him make the needed adjustments on Day 1 of this tournament.
Clarke’s first three spots didn’t produce a bite. As he was trolling around in his fourth spot, he noticed a bass on a brushpile but was moving too fast and ran over the pile before he could make a cast. An hour later, he returned and landed a 5-pounder, his first keeper of the day.
From there, he landed several more quality bass with a rotation of five baits before using the last three hours of the day as a practice period. The bass he caught had similar builds, which has Clarke hopeful for the next two days.
“That (5-pounder) got the ball rolling,” he said. “That fish was really fat. The next couple I caught were really fat too. I hadn’t seen that in practice, which leads me to believe there is a new wave of bass pulling up where I’m fishing.”
Piketon, Ohio’s Colt Blanton caught the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day, a 7-4 largemouth.
The full field of anglers will launch from Lakepoint State Park beginning at 6:30 a.m. CT and return for weigh-in starting at 2:30 p.m. The Top 10 anglers after Day 2 will compete on Championship Friday and the winner will earn a spot in the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
Full coverage, including select live angler cameras, will be available on Bassmaster.com all day long.
The event is being hosted by the Eufaula Chamber of Commerce.
2026 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: Turtlebox
2026 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: Battery Tender
2026 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Progressive, Toyota
2026Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mountain Dew, Nitro Boats, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2026 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Lew’s, Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, VMC, Yokohama
