He wants to put Oklahoma's largest lake back on the map
Zac Bandy says 104,000-acre Lake Eufaula deserves more fishing-destination limelight
A vision of energy and enthusiasm he was not. Even his voice carried a tired, raspy, worn undertone.
This is what energy and enthusiasm look and sound like late on a Sunday afternoon in the right kind of folk. Anyone who has been around fishing tournaments long enough knows the voices to listen to are the ones that started hollering over boat motors and generators at 5 a.m. and barked directions and announced the victor’s names for the next 12 hours.
“Lake Eufaula is going to explode in 2023, wait and see,” Zac Bandy said as folks cleaned up and packed up after the inaugural Luck-E-Strike Sand Bass Extravaganza at the lakeshore pavilion at the town of Eufaula at the end of July.
He could be onto something.
He asked if I could hold on to the story for a while. Maybe until more announcements come to light, but fresh out of the mailbox, the Sept/Oct issue of Bassmaster Magazine inspired me to let it out. In its annual 100 Best Bass Lakes, Lake Eufaula is ranked No. 7 among the 25 Central Division lakes. Grand Lake hits that list at No. 17 and we Okies can claim half of Texoma, which landed at No. 19.
The Bassmaster writers noted: “... there’s no badmouthing this place when it comes to catching bass. Winning totals for one-day events this year have included sacks of 23-6, 22-4, and 22-8, as well as big-bass catches of 9-1 and 6-4.”
Lots to offer
As the new Sand Bass Extravaganza showed, the lake’s offerings are not just about the pure Florida strain and well-fed northern bass. Sand bass or sandies, I always point out, are common terms for the white bass, which happens to be Oklahoma’s official state fish.
Bandy, less than two years into ownership of Flamingo Fish & Marine, the new owner of The Bait Shack (formerly B & B Bait and Tackle) as of Aug. 1, and president of the Eufaula Conservation & Fishing Association is making it his mission to get Oklahoma’s largest reservoir (because we only claim half of Texoma) Eufaula some more considerable recognition.
He believes its 104,000 acres should be much higher on the most-talked-about and most-visited fishing destinations map—no disrespect intended toward all those other little lakes around the state.
Improving shoreline fishing opportunities, holding marquee events, enhancing habitat, boosting stocking efforts, and getting Lake Eufaula—as well as the namesake town on its shoreline—on everyone’s calendar is the goal, he said.
Both competitive and family fun fishing events are the priority.
“We want to sponsor or co-sponsor 13 or 14 events a year, one a month at least,” he said.
What’s coming up
Coming up this month, registration is open for the Toby Keith Fish Bowl, set for Sept. 17-18. The tournament is a benefit event for the OK Kids Korral in Oklahoma City, a Toby Keith Foundation cancer respite center for children and their families.
The two-day tourney will have bi-hourly weigh-ins and teams can sign up to fish one day or both at $100 a day. Folks who can’t make it down to fish can choose to make cash donations through the tourney website as well.
Turn right around on Nov. 11 and all are invited to jump into a 3-day big-fish crappie event with Crappie Masters sponsorship and more cash prizes. It’s a family-oriented event.
Fast-forward to autumn of 2023 and you’ll see the National Professional Fishing League has Lake Eufaula on its map. The league recently announced its calendar with Stop #5 on its six-event tour at Eufaula, Sept. 28-30, 2023.
Bandy hints at other big events in the works but cautions that nothing is official and to watch the Eufaula Conservation & Fishing Association Facebook page for event announcements and conservation news.
Much more to come
“We want to get people involved in the lake events, we want to be involved with the Wildlife Department and get conservation efforts going to make the lake even better and just really start showcasing everything this lake has to offer,” Bandy said. “We want to host major fishing events here. We can do that.”
With more than 400 people on the register and loads—and loads—of sand bass in the Extravaganza coolers, Bandy made no bones about that event as the first of many more to come. It’s a big fishin’ derby with the potential to become a communitywide mid-summer celebration, he said.
A true family-oriented event, people entered to fish for one day or two, fish from shore or a boat, or fish for just a few hours or two full days. Cash and prizes were plentiful, with $26,000 worth of prizes on the line and bi-hourly weigh-ins with $1,000 awarded to the largest sand bass or hybrid striped bass caught each period.
The overall largest sand bass of the weekend saw a $5,000 payday. Not bad for a fish that barely topped 2 pounds. Theories about where the 3-pounders were hiding abounded on Eufaula that Sunday.
“I’ve fished a lot of tournaments and I firmly believe the fish know when there is a tournament going on when it’s the weekend and there are hundreds of boats out here,” Bandy said.
Soon a lot more people may be aware of those tournaments, too.
Hybrid🤷♂️