“The FLW Tour will see Lake Okeechobee like they have never seen it before,” claims Steve Daniel, winner of the 2000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop there and a longtime guide on the fabled Florida fishery. “The water is back up and there is a lot of vegetation. As a result, the lake looks completely different.”

Okeechobee has been the FLW Tour opener for six of the last seven years. In 1999 and 2000, clear water areas needed to harbor bass were scarce. Most of the lake, which measures a massive 448,000 acres, was turbid from a lack of aquatic vegetation, and Okeechobee’s North Shore and South Bay were hot spots because they offered clean water.

In 2001, the lake was at record low levels and there was hardly a stem of green vegetation in the water. This opened the door for crankbait ace David Fritts to zero in on hard structure in Okeechobee’s rim canal and win the tournament on day four with 17 pounds.

Daniel says the lake looks completely different this year and consequently will fish differently. “The lake will fish much larger than it ever has,” Daniel says. “There is a bunch of alligator grass growing all over the lake and it has cleared the water in places that have not had clean water for years.”

Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers will probably be hitting the lake’s peak spawn in January, so the event should be a fantastic big fish show.