EUFAULA, Okla. Drenching overnight rains sent the lake up even more than it already was, which turned the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southwestern Division event on Lake Eufaula into a one-day tournament. Earning the win, pro River Lee of Diboll, Texas, weighed 13-10 on five fish on Day 1 and edged Wesley Baxley by an ounce. For his win, Lee earned $29,024 and locked in qualification to the Toyota Series Championship this fall on Grand Lake.

In the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race, Dakota Ebare held on to the top spot to earn an extra $5,000. The well-traveled pro managed two fish for 6-5 on Day 1, which put him in 16th and moved him 10 points ahead of runner-up Brody Campbell . Finishing third was Baxley, who put together three Top-25 finishes in an excellent season.

On Day 1 and only, Lee set out with a bit of a plan in mind, and as additional proof of his sound strategy, practice partner Cody Ross also finished in the Top 10. However, the unplanned part of the day turned out to be the key to his win.

“In practice, before the water came up crazy, I was fishing the old bank line, where the bank grass was, and I was catching them,” said Lee. “We were getting a lot of bites on a wacky. So, going into it, I thought with the water still coming up that I still could do that. It would just have more water on it.

“I picked this area, and I put the trolling motor down in the mouth of it. Well, I just fished everything in front of me – flipped, wacky rig and spinnerbait. If I wasn't flipping, I was doing one of the other two. And my first bite, it came flipping in an isolated bush by a walkway of a dock.”

As Lee eased around his chosen area, he made the decision of the day. Recalling a pond he hadn’t been able to get into a few weeks ago in a BASS Nation event, the Texas pro gave it another go.

“I tried to get in there a few weeks ago, but (the water) wasn't high enough,” said Lee. “So, I was fishing in that creek and got all the way to the back, and I could hear the water running. I pulled up my phone and I looked at my Google Earth, and I was like, ‘I think we can get back there.’ It just looks like a wall of bushes, and the gap that I went through was probably like 4-foot wide – I had to force my boat in there. But once I got through that first wall of bushes, it was a little easier at that point. I guess that helped to kind of disguise it from everybody else.”

Once in the pond, Lee fished around the newest part of Lake Eufaula and didn’t catch anything until he got to a little spillway in the back. There, he plucked his second keeper of the day.

Then, Lee headed back into the regular lake and caught his third fish on a grass line on a wacky rig before returning eventually to his little pond. There, he caught the bass that pushed him over the top.

“I never caught anything in the pond itself; I caught them all where that spillway was running out,” he explained. “It was so shallow, but there was a little hole washed out in there that had just enough water for them to be there. The second time I went in there, I made 15 casts at it before I had a bite – I was fixing to leave it. I made one last cast up there and caught that fourth keeper. And I poled back down, because I had already picked my poles up – I was fixing to leave. I poled back down and made another cast and caught one the next cast. I don't know what happened, what triggered it or anything, but they just bit back-to-back.”

For baits, Lee used a Rapala CrushCity Bronco Bug, a Rapala CrushCity Pick Stick and a chartreuse and white, double-willow War Eagle spinnerbait.

The win is Lee’s first at a national level, though he’s been very successful in Texas, especially recently.

“I mean, it's definitely not how I dreamed of winning my first big one,” he said. “But then again, I've also just got to be super thankful that I caught what I caught and just to be in that position, with how it went. So, I'm trying not to let it bother me that it turned into a one-day shootout, and I got the win that way. But I'm super thankful – I did not see it coming at all.”

The top 10 pros at the Toyota Series at Lake Eufaula finished:

1st: River Lee, Diboll, Texas, five bass, 13-10, $29,024
2nd: Wesley Baxley, Conroe, Texas, five bass, 13-9, $12,247 (includes $1,000 Phoenix Bonus)
3rd: Levi Thibodaux, Thibodaux, La., five bass, 12-10, $8,957
4th: Aaron Johnson, Shreveport, La., two bass, 10-11, $7,756
5th: Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas, five bass, 9-15, $6,530
6th: Shonn Goodwin, Moore, Okla., five bass, 9-10, $5,805
7th: Corey Calvert, Coldspring, Texas, four bass, 9-4, $5,079
8th: Paul Browning, Monahans, Texas, three bass, 8-4, $4,354
9th: Seth Kelm, Canyon Lake, Texas, three bass, 7-4, $3,628
10th: Cody Ross, Livingston, Texas, three bass, 7-2, $2,902

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.