EUFAULA, Ala -- David Caylor and Allen Hayes can think of at least 10,000 reasons to use jigs made by Hayes the next time they go fishing. Caylor and Hayes earned $10,000 Saturday for winning the Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series South Division event on Lake Eufaula with five bass that weighed 25.19 pounds.Among the baits they used to catch their fish were black and blue jigs Hayes made at home. Their catch was anchored by a 6.12 pounds largemouth.
Caylor is from New Brockton and Hayes is from Pell City.
The father and son team of Paul and Jeff Aul finished second with 24.58 pounds. Luke Kyle and Arch Cornett were third with 24.58 pounds. Caylor said he and Hayes fished in deeper water than other anglers who fished the area where they caught their fish.
“There were a lot of people fishing around us, but their boats were one top of the fish,” Caylor said. “When these bass in Eufaula start getting a lot of pressure, they will pull out into deeper water. They will still bite, but you have to fish a little deeper to catch them.”
Hayes said he and Caylor were not the only anglers throwing homemade jigs.
“One of the fish we caught, had another homemade jig in its mouth. Someone else had hooked it, but it broke them off,” Hayes said.
He declined to reveal specifics about the jigs he makes, but did say they have helped him win at least 15 tournaments. Jeff Aul said he and his father caught most of their fish using white StrikeKing spinnerbaits around wooden cover.
“We fished blowdowns and some brush piles,” Jeff Aul said. “They were all holding right up next to the wood..”
Kyle said most of the bass he and Cornett caught came from offshore staging areas.
“We started out shallow and caught mostly smaller fish, then moved out a little deeper and started catching bigger fish that were staged away from the shore getting ready to move up on the bank to spawn,” Kyle said. “We ended up culling all the fish we had caught shallow except one.”
Ronnie Ray and Alton Stillwell finished in fourth place with 24.16 pounds. Ray said they caught their fish in water 8 feet to 12 feet deep on the south end of the lake.
Scott Montgomery and Lester Bratcher finished fifth with 23.46 pounds. Rounding out the top 10 were Ralph Moseley and Terry Stevens with 23.39 pounds, Jonathan Perritt and Jason Krasnosky with 21.74 pounds, Ronnie Mask and Jimmy Harrison with 21.43 pounds and Shaye Baker and Ben Weldon with 20.33 pounds. Bill Pool and Zach Ranew had big fish, an 8.43 pounds largemouth.
The next tournament for the South Division is April 19 on Lake Jordan in Wetumpka. The next tournament for the North Division is March 22 on Pickwick Lake in Florence.