Okeechobee is back in business

Thliveros and Burnett get to work under the Florida sun. Photo by Jeff Schroeder. Anglers: Peter Thliveros, Wesley Burnett.

January 22, 2002 • Rob Newell • Archives

The “Big O” is back in the bass business in a way big way. After more than a year of extremely low water levels, Okeechobee’s normal water levels have returned.

Along with the restored waters, a new crop of vegetation has surrounded the lake. When Okeechobee was semi-dry, a wide variety of vegetation took root in the lake’s bare, rich soil.

Now that the water has returned, large portions of the mighty lake look like flooded fields. Acres upon acres of Kissimee grass, alligator grass, bulrushes and reeds are inundated with 2 to 5 feet of water. Farther out in the lake, beds of eelgrass and hydrilla are returning.

Renewed vegetation and water has, in a sense, pushed the restart button for the famous Florida fishery. Many of the participants in this week’s upcoming FLW Tour season opener have arrived a few days earlier than usual to give themselves more time on the “new” water.

“The lake is completely different than previous FLW Tour events held here,” says 2000 FLW Tour Angler of the Year Clark Wendlandt. “This resurgence has opened up so much new water for bass – and anglers.”

But avid bass fishing fans who followed the Everstart event held on Okeechobee just a couple of weeks ago might be asking, “What resurgence?” After all, the results from that event did little to prove that Okeechobee was anything but stingy to bass anglers.

That was winter; this is spring. In just two weeks, the South Florida climate has gone from the deep freeze to sunny and mild. Key ingredients are currently coming together to make this week’s FLW tournament a big-bass bonanza. Sunny skies and light winds have warmed water temperatures into the 68- to 72-degree range.

Additionally, the next full moon is January 28, and bass are moving en masse to Okeechobee’s newly renovated shoreline to spawn. Along the way, they are eating everything in site.

Local tournaments held here over the weekend required limits of bass weighing between 20 to 25 pounds to win. Professional anglers practicing for the FLW tournament, normally reserved in their fishing demeanor, are grinning ear to ear. “If the weather stays like this, this is going to be an awesome tournament,” portends a smiling Gary Klein.

Typical Okeechobee fishing techniques will be popular during the FLW Tour event, which starts Wednesday. Swimming plastic worms, spoons, and spinnerbaits over Okeechobee’s flooded vegetation will produce fish. Also, flipping and pitching soft plastics into holes of vegetation will allow anglers to put together big limits.

But the word “sight-fishing” is resting quietly in the back of some anglers’ minds as the moon continues to wax. Abhorred by some and adored by others, sight-fishing is a technique that involves catching fish off of spawning beds by locating them visually and targeting their defensive mood.

The biggest advantage of the technique is that anglers can choose what size fish they want to fish for. They can essentially bypass small fish and “hunt” big fish, thereby making the culling process more efficient.

Sight-fishing ace Clark Wendlandt says there are fish on beds, but they are very vulnerable to wind or cloud cover. “This is not like Beaver or Murray (where Wendlandt has won two previous FLW events by sight-fishing) where you can get in a cove or pocket to block the wind,” says Wendlandt. “These fish bed out in the open vegetation fields and the bottom is very dark. A little breeze or cloud cover and you will not be able to visually monitor the fish’s behavior without spooking them.”

Now that the FLW Tour format has changed to a top-20 cut on Friday, and a top-10 cut on Saturday, the weight needed to make the cuts will drop slightly. Wendlandt predicts anglers will need 26 to 28 pounds to make the first cut on Friday. Klein says he would not be surprised if it took as much as 16 pounds a day (32 pounds total) to make the top 20.

A look through the record books reveals that in the 1999 FLW Okeechobee event (a tournament which featured warm weather and good fishing) 20th place after two days was 26 pounds, 12 ounces.

Regardless, FLW Outdoors viewers watching PAX TV at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26, are going to get a good look at some terrific Big O lunkers from a renewed Lake Okeechobee.