St. Croix Bassmaster Opens

Top lures at Eufaula Open 2023

Posted on
Photography by
Andy Crawford
Captions by
Craig Lamb
Prespawn was underway at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Eufaula, prompting the anglers to intercept staging largemouth as they began migrating toward primary and secondary points. Crankbaits did the trick for the top anglers.
Justin Barnes found the winning formula, although his strategy was put on hold by a Thursday weather cancelation, to win the two-day event with 48 pounds, 9 ounces of largemouth, focusing on brushpiles used by the bass as staging areas. See his lure lineup and the choices of the top finishers, and get stocked up for prespawn success on your favorite lakes. 
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Jon Canada (9th; 39-15)
Jon Canada rotated between a bladed jig, spinnerbait and swimbait. 
A top choice was a homemade 1/2-ounce swim jig, with a Reaction Innovations Spicy Beaver 4.0 trailer. 
Canada also used a BOOYAH 1/2-ounce Covert Series Spinnerbait, with No. 5 gold and No. 4 silver Colorado blades. 
He also used a 3/8-ounce Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer with a Yamamoto Zacko trailer.
Logan Parks (8th; 40-0)
Logan Parks rotated through a deep-diving crankbait, swim jig and plastic stickbait. 
For reaching depths of up to 22 feet, he used a Berkley Dredger 25.5 Crankbait.
For finesse fishing he opted for a 3/8-ounce Berkley Swim Jig with a Berkley PowerBait Shape 108 for a trailer.
For covering various depths of the strike zone, he used a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General on a 4/0 hook, with a 3/8-ounce weight.
Brandon Lester (7th; 40-15)
Brandon Lester used a spinnerbait and shaky head to cover his strike zone. 
The choices included this Mullins Custom Tackle (Ardmore, Tenn.) 3/4-ounce spinnerbait with a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper for a trailer. 
Lester also used this Spanker Jigs 1/4-ounce ball-head jig, rigged shaky head style, with a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Hit Worm.  
Jack York (6th; 41-1)
Jack York chose a 6th Sense Fishing Crush 300DD crankbait to reach his strike zone. 
The Crush 300DD is 80mm, weighs 1 ounce and runs 14-19 feet. 
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Ben Milliken (5th; 41-5)
Ben Milliken used a 6th Sense Fishing Crush 500DD crankbait, fished on 15-pound test to reach his strike zone of 20 to 25 feet. He also used a 6th Sense Fishing Cloud 9 C15, fished on 10-pound test to make the bait reach 20 feet.  
John Garrett (4th; 44-1)
John Garrett alternated between a Strike King Pro Model 5XD and Strike King Pro Model 6XD. He used the latter bait for making long casts into the wind; using the 5XD for preferred wind angles. 
Brett Cannon (3rd; 44-11)
Brett Cannon rotated through a swimbait, crankbait and spinnerbait to cover a deep strike zone. 
For deep bass, he alternated between Strike King Pro Model 8XD and 10 XD crankbaits. 
For slower presentations, Cannon used this Strikezone Lures 1-ounce Ledgebuster Spinnerbait. 
Cannon rigged a Googan Lures Salty Swimmer 4.8 with a 1/2-ounce swimbait jig head. 
Shaine Campbell (2nd; 45-14) 
Shaine Campbell used two deep-diving crankbaits, including a Berkley Dredger for shallower strike zones.
For deeper areas, he used this 6th Sense Fishing Crush 300DD.
Justin Barnes (1st; 48-9)
Justin Barnes covered varied strike zones with deep-diving crankbaits, a spinnerbait and deep-structure jig.
The lineup featured this Z-Man 1/2-ounce CrossEyeZ Football Jig, with a Strike King Rage Bug. 
The Strike King Pro Model 10XD and 6XD crankbaits were primary lures. Barnes also relied on a Berkley Dredger 205 Crankbait (not pictured). 
For slower presentations, he opted for an Accent Fishing Products 3/4-ounce spinnerbait with a Big Bite Baits Pro Swimmer for a trailer.

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