Story by Ken Duke | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
It’s dangerous — maybe even a mistake — to identify a handful of anglers you expect to do well in a national bass tournament … but’s also fun, and hopefully interesting, so here goes.
By now, you probably know that Lake Eufaula is high and muddy. The area has gotten a lot of rain in recently days, weeks, and months, so the high and muddy factor is not going to change.
We’re not talking about rain levels that might cause animals to pair off, but the lake is more than 7 feet above full pool, the water is in the bushes, and visibility is just a couple of inches. All of this seems to indicate that the tournament will be won in the shallows, by someone picking apart the bushes with a flipping stick or covering water with a spinnerbait, bladed jig or squarebill crankbait. Topwater baits could be a factor, too.
As for pre-tournament favorites, let’s start with the locals. There are nine Oklahomans in the field, and any one of them has a better than average chance to figure out the Eufaula puzzle and earn a six-figure payday, but let’s isolate a few whose odds are even better than that.
(1) I’ll start with Tommy Biffle. For a couple of decades—before he moved to nearby Wagoner—Eufaula was his home lake. He even held the lake record for largemouth for a while with a 10 pounder. Biffle has seen Eufaula under conditions like this and worse. He’s won dozens of smaller tournaments here, and he’s one of the most talented shallow water anglers the world has ever known. Does he have a shot?
You’d better believe it!
(2) Next up is Zack Birge. He’s one of the best bass anglers in the world, and he’s looking for a comeback after missing practice and the first day of competition at Stop 3 on Douglas Lake. Birge won a 2024 Bass Pro Tour event at Eufaula and absolutely no one will be surprised if he hoists the trophy this week. He should be on everyone’s short list.
(3) Jason Christie is another shallow water guru, and the conditions are right for his talents. He’s probably fine-tuning a spinnerbait or 10 to best appeal to Eufaula’s bass as I type this. The drama unfolding this week will not be over until he weighs in on Friday.
Six other Oklahomans will be vying for the trophy, a payday, and valuable Progressive Angler of the Year points, including Charlie Apperson (11th when the League was here in 2023), Lance Crawford, Harmon Davis, Darrel Robertson (16th in 2023), Mitchell Webb, and Alton Wilhoit.
(4) Speaking of 2023, that’s when the NPFL visited Eufaula in September. Louis Fernandes won that event, and he’s looking for his second shield this week. The Bass Warrior is known as a crankbait guru, and shallow cranking could definitely be a factor in the warm, dirty water.
(5) Patrick Walters was third here in 2023, and he catches them everywhere he goes. If there’s an angler in the field who deserves a permanent position on the short list of favorites on just about any body of water at any time, it might be Walters.
(6) Or it might be Kyle Welcher. No angler is hotter this year. Welcher was the NPFL Angler of the Year in 2024 and he leads that race again this year. He’s already won a Bassmaster Elite Series event in 2025 and did it with dominance never seen before.
Here’s an obscure stat for you: Welcher has competed for 26 days at tour level events in 2025 against the best in the business. On eight of those days (31%), he brought the heaviest catch of the entire field to the scales. Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen again.
(7) Drew Cook is due. He’s one of the most consistent anglers ever to compete in the NPFL, holds the league record for consecutive limits (25) and is another angler who catches ’em wherever he goes. He and Welcher don’t have a lot of experience on Eufaula, but when has that slowed them down?
(8) When you think shallow cover experts, your thoughts must go to Greg Hackney. He’s a master at picking that stuff apart with a flipping stick and jig. That should be a factor this week. Plus, Hackney’s hot. He won at Lake Norman and ranks third in the AOY race. If you don’t think he wants the NPFL AOY crown, you don’t know Greg Hackney.
(9) I’m going to cheat here and pick two anglers for this spot: Will Harkins and Tyler Williams. They’re both young and talented, and they’ve both struggled this year. One or both will break out this week.
Harkins tied Louis Fernandes in weight at the 2023 event here, losing on a tiebreaker (heaviest daily weight). After two stellar seasons with the League, he’s been middle of the pack in 2025. Does he miss forward-facing sonar? Maybe. But he’s too good to continue to struggle. Now would be a great time for him to turn things around.
Williams’s struggles have been mechanical, causing him to miss two of the first three events. In a June 2023 Bassmaster Open on Eufaula, Williams finished fourth. He should be a factor this week … absent any gear issues.
(10) Finally, I’m banking on Wes Logan to be a major presence at Eufaula. On Sunday, he won a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on nearby Lake Tenkiller by pitching a jig and chunk into flooded bushes. That sounds like a recipe for success at Eufaula, too. Logan’s off to a slow start with the League in 2025, but the tide is turning. the only problem is that his Tenkiller win has eaten into his Eufaula practice time.
That’s my list of pros to watch at Stop 4 on Lake Eufaula. I like their chances of winning or doing extremely well.
Who’s on your list of ones to watch?
