After long layoff for pandemic, Sumrall, other Elites renew campaign this week

Published 5:30 am Sunday, June 7, 2020

Where can a bass angler find bass on Lake Eufala big enough to make a difference in a major tournament the second week of June?

Caleb Sumrall’s goal, starting Monday, is to determine any areas that have bass like that. The New Iberia outdoorsman can’t wait to put the pieces of the puzzle together on the 45,180-acre lake that borders Alabama and Georgia.

Sumrall and the other Bassmaster Elites Series bass anglers, including six from Louisiana, are eager to cast an artificial lure in a meaningful tournament for the first time in nearly three months. The coronavirus pandemic restrictions have kept the majority of them sidelined since the opener February 8-10 on the St. Johns River in Florida.

“I’m ready for that. It’s been too long. It’s time to get going again,” Sumrall said late Monday night after getting off the water from a guiding trip on Toledo Bend.

Sumrall, 33, does have less down time behind him since he fished a B.A.S.S.-related tournament and it was a Classic, the 50th annual Bassmaster Classic held March 6-8. He finished 26th in the 53-angler field with 25 pounds, 10 ounces, and won $10,000.

After fishing a lot with his family on his hometown lake, Lake Fausse Pointe, and at Toledo Bend, making promotional appearances for sponsors and guiding as much as possible at Toledo Bend, Sumrall plans to get the season rolling again when he leaves town today towing his Xpress X21 Pro Series aluminum bass boat to Lake Eufala near Eufala in eastern Alabama. After that, according to the revamped schedule for the Elites, it’s on to Cayuga Lake, St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain, all in July, all in New York state; then west Aug. 20-23 to Lake St. Clair in Michigan; later on back-to-back weeks in October at Santee Cooper Lakes in South Carolina and Chickamauga Lake in Tennessee, before the regular-season finale Nov. 5-8 at Lake Fork in Texas.

Texan Keith Combs, a veteran Elite, called the schedule, with a deep dip into fall fishing, a “test of the best.”

“I’m just ready for it all. I’m ready to go,” Sumrall said.

Staying consistent in the stretch ahead is key to qualifying for his second straight Classic, he said after the long day on Toledo Bend. He wants to avoid “bad events” and consistently catch bass to become one of the Elites in the next Super Bowl of Bass Fishing, which will be held March 19-21 at Lake Ray Roberts in Texas.

With sports fans, particularly bass tournament fishing fans, starving for live action, Teche Area outdoorsmen can follow Sumrall and the other Elites three different ways after it starts at 7 a.m. Wednesday. In addition to Bassmaster LIVE cover on bassmaster.com and ESPN 3, the usual venues, multiple hours are scheduled to be aired live on ESPN2. A B.A.S.S. spokesman advised to check listings for times.

Sumrall wants to improve on his showing in the 2020 opener on Feb. 8-10 in the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River in Florida. He was 48th in the 88-angler field with 18 pounds.

Sumrall hopes to make headway with a solid showing at Lake Eufala, which won’t be easy, he said. The original date was scheduled for April 2-5 during the height of the spawn. Now early summer conditions take over.

“It’ll be a grinder. It’ll be tough this time of year. It’ll be offshore and inshore. I haven’t dumped my boat in the lake yet. We’ll see how it all works out,” he said, adding he was undecided if he would fish deep (offshore) or shallow (inshore) with the answers, hopefully, coming during prefishing Monday and Tuesday.

“I’ll fine tune what area of the lake I’ll spend my time and figure out what I’m going to do,” he said.

He has done his homework, like studying maps. According to LakeEufala.info, the border lake’s aquatic vegetation is limited throughout the lake, but areas of hydrilla exist. The backs of coves and creeks contain bulrush, cattails, maidencane and lily pads.

Fishing regularly like he has been for the past few months, especially as a guide, has helped keep him stay sharp and on his game. Tournament sharp? That remains to be seen.

“It keeps me fishing, different types of fishing, but it keeps me on the water and prone to what the fish are doing, for sure,” he said.

His wife, Jacie, and his children, Clélié and Axel, may be able to attend a few tournaments to cheer him on, he said. Perhaps they can make it to Lake Eufala and maybe to Lake Fork, which is east of Dallas-Fort Worth near Quitman.

Sumrall and other Elites were hopeful of hitting Lake Fork at its regular scheduled date in July.

“It is what it is,” he said.

Combs, who hails from Huntington, Texas, said he doesn’t mind going to Lake Fork in November.

“Of course, ending the campaign at Lake Fork doesn’t hurt my feelings one bit either. It reminds me a lot of Toledo Bend and Rayburn, where I’ve built my home. Unlike some of the summertime tournaments we’ve fished at Fork, there won’t be massive schools of a hundred fish that’ll bite anything,” he said. “You’re going to have to work even harder to find the winning bag. But whoever unlocks it is going to have an event worthy of a Century Club Belt. I fully expect it to take more than 100 pounds to win. Somebody is going to have two banner days and back it up with two pretty good days to fend off all of the competitors who get on a similarly good bite. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Louisiana’s other Elites gearing up for the 2020 restart are Quentin Cappo of Prairieville; Tyler Carriere of Youngsville; Derek Hudnall of Baton Rouge; Robbie Latuso of Gonzales; Brett Preuett of Monroe, and Tyler Rivet of Raceland.