Montgomery Jigs His Way into Top 3 After Slow Start
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – It wasn’t easy on Lake Okeechobee for Qualifying Day 2 of the Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Two Presented by Bass Cat. Just ask a ragged Andy Montgomery, who was fighting the gusting wind all day long.
“My muscles are tired,” Montgomery said as he slumped in his Nitro driver’s seat. “I worked some muscles just trying to stay on the trolling motor and to keep my hat on my head.”
Turning to Plan B
Winds were blowing upwards of 20 mph for the second straight day on Okeechobee after a cold front blew through central Florida. The anglers in Group A got to experience the wind paired with a little bit of light rain, but it was sunny skies for Montgomery and Group B. Even with the warmer temperatures, the strong northerly breeze dirtied up a lot of what the South Carolina pro had planned to fish Saturday morning.
“I thought I was going to have a wind-protected area up north, but it still got dirty,” Montgomery said. “I moved around a little bit but wasn’t having much luck to start the day.”
Montgomery went through the first four hours of competition without a scorable bass on SCORETRACKER®. Even with a big fat zero hanging over his head, the Strike King pro never felt too flustered because the whole field was struggling to get bites.
“When it’s tough like it was today, you know that you’re only one flip away from screamin’ up SCORETRACKER®,” Montgomery highlighted. “When I know the score and I know where I’m placed, it really gives me confidence knowing that I’m just one fish away from a good day.”
Flippin’ a Jig to Flip the Script
After moving around for a while and looking for new spots that weren’t so blown out, Montgomery settled down near some layered reeds that he called “bungy whips.” He pulled out a big jig with a Strike King trailer and soon set the hook on a 6-pound, 6-ounce Florida largemouth that rocketed him up SCORETRACKER® into the top five.
“Usually, when you catch one around here there’s some more that follow,” Montgomery said. “Once I caught that 6-pounder I was really able to settle down and grind out three more. It was a good day, as good as it could be with these conditions.”
Montgomery kept the jig tied on as he added a 2-4, 2-10 and 5-14 to his total weight giving him 17-2 on the day, good enough for a third-place standing. The South Carolina pro heads into his next Qualifying Round 3-3 behind leader Dean Rojas and nearly 13 pounds ahead of 20th-place angler Boyd Duckett.
The Lew’s pro admitted he was a little surprised at how tough it was for the rest of the field to get bit. Luckily, Montgomery thinks that the improving weather forecast should make for an entertaining day of fishing come Monday.
“Conditions are definitely going to improve when we’re back out here in two days,” Montgomery predicted. “I think the fish will bite better and I may even get to fish where I practiced. In my two days of practice and today, this was by far my worst day. To have a tough day and end up in third, I feel really good.”