EverStart Eastern Division set for season opener
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – In front of a crowd of eager anglers at the KOA Convention Center in Okeechobee City, Fla., Charlie Evans kicked off the EverStart Series with an announcement that the Okeechobee EverStart would include an expanded field and an expanded payback.
“We are expanding the field and payback to accommodate the enormous demand we have had for the EverStart Series this season,” Evans said. “Except for the Western Division, we are going to expand the EverStart fields to 200 boats wherever the facilities will allow us to do so.”
A payback increase will be applied to both the Pro and Co-angler divisions of the EverStart Series where the fields are expanded.
The pro side will enjoy a $12,750 addition to the existing payout. The extra cash will be spread down through the bottom three-quarters of the field as follows: places 16 through 40 will all receive an extra $200; places 41 through 45 will receive an extra $150; places 46 through 50 will receive an extra $100; and 10 more places will be added to the payout giving 51st through 60th each $650.
On the co-angler side, $4,750 will be added: 16 through 25 will receive an extra $50; 26 through 40 will receive an extra $100; 41 through 50 will receive an extra $25; and 10 more places will be created, each paying $250.
Wintertime at the Big O
In order to cash in on the extended payout, anglers are going to have to find a way to trick Okeechobee’s frigid bass into biting.
The water is cold and rising at the Big O. Lake Okeechobee guide and former FLW Tour winner Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., says that an earlier-than-normal winter has dropped water temperatures down into the middle 50s and that a recent influx of water has the lake rising.
“The water is about 2 feet higher than it was last year, and you can get way back into backwater marsh and never see another boat all day,” Martin says. “This lake is going to fish much bigger than it has in past EverStarts.”
Martin says the good news is that Okeechobee had a resurgence of vegetation over the summer. The dense plants give the bass cover in the colder water.
“In the last several years, when these fronts would come through, it would really shut down the bite because these fish had nothing to relate to,” Martin says. “Now there are plenty of hydrilla and hyacinth mats for the fish to bury up in.”
For that reason, Martin thinks a lot of anglers will have flipping sticks in their hands this week. He predicts that the predominant pattern for the EverStart event will be flipping heavy mats of vegetation with plastic baits that are anchored down by 1-ounce bullet weights.
Martin’s main concern is a blustery 30 mph, northwest wind that pummeled the southern end of the lake today.
“A lot of that water down there turned into chocolate milk today,” he says. “Some guys are going to be in for a real surprise Wednesday morning.”
Another past FLW Tour winner, Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., said Okeechobee bass are not cooperating for him because of the cold water.
“The water temperature here is 57 to 60 degrees,” Powers says. “That might not sound too bad elsewhere, but here in Florida, that’s wintertime.”
Despite the local “dock talk” that is calling for huge weights, Powers is not buying into it.
“This very thing happened last year,” he remembers. “All the locals were saying it was going to take 30 pounds to make the cut, a brutal front hit, and it got tough as nails – I think 11 pounds made the cut.”
Part of Powers’ skepticism comes from the timing of a front that just cleared South Florida. Tonight’s lows are supposed to be near the freezing mark.
“That water temperature struggles all day to reach 60, and then the cold nights knock it right back down to 55 degrees,” he says. “Other guys might be catching 20 pounds a day, but I am buckling down for a tough tournament.”