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Well sorry guys I didn't keep up throughout the actual tournament days, crazy stuff around here …big bass flying out of the water all over the place…. Check this out, over 50 bags the first day of tournament over 20 pounds and the second day was virtually the same. I was fortunate enough to make the top 20 round or semi finals with a total weight of 44 lbs. 6 oz. for two days, that's over 22 pounds of bass a day and I was in only in 19th place. On the third day I knew I needed to catch a 25 pound bag of bass just to make the top 10 or final-round. I started the third day eager and excited about my opportunity, but was quickly let down after spending the first few hours not catching any good fish as I watched other anglers in the top 20 catching 6,7 and 8 pounds around me. Terry Scroggins and Glenn Brown were both catching them great, but I was getting the “Bobo” end of the deal as I call it. That's just how it goes sometimes… not as planned.
Well I just finished up three hard days of practice on Lake Okeechobee. I have been saying now for over six months that Lake Okeechobee is the best Lake in the country and this week proves it once again. The fishing here is seriously off the chart, every day in practice I could've had close to 30 pounds. But the problem is most of the other anglers are catching close to the same type weight every day as well. It's funny to see how whenever you go to a great Lake and good fishing how every body is enthusiastic and eager to get on the water, Lots of smiles around here. This tournament will end up boiling down to the guys that can make adjustments on the water based on pressure and wind direction, as this is the case every year on Lake Okeechobee. I feel good about this event but I feel like I'm a little too one dimensional going into this….. (sight fish sight fish sight fish), that's all I can put together. I feel like to really walk away to with this event I needed to develop another strong pattern like flipping the matted vegetation in the spawning areas. I have gotten a few bites doing this, but not a lot, so my confidence right now is mainly in sight fishing….. Scary!
The wait is almost over..... I have been chomping at the bit and can't wait to go fishing. The FLW tour event will start next week and practice will start on Sunday. The weather this week has been a little on the cool side, but it's looking like a warming trend is hitting Florida during the tournament. The extended forecast is showing that most of the days we should have a high chance of rain and cloud mix, which should make the top water bite on the Lake fantastic. During the Everstart event a few weeks ago the weather was nice on the first day and there was 20 bags over 20 pounds and and the leader had a five fish stringer that weighed over 35 pounds. But during the second and third day of the Everstart event the water temperatures cooled off a bit and slowed the bite down dramatically. The water levels on Lake Okeechobee are a little on the low side this year and when a cold front hits it really cools off the water much quicker. Lake Okeechobee is one of the best lakes in the country, it just gets a little tough when the water temperatures drop down in the 40s and 50s like any Lake.
