Okeechobee Day 4 Coverage
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2:15 Well, it WAS a wrap on the blog
Tim Frederick just caught a BIG. With that, he’s leapfrogged past Mark Rose and Bryan Schmitt and is unofficially over 80 pounds and in the lead! There’s time left for anyone to respond, but man, what a way that’d be to close out a win.
Anyhow, now it’s a wrap on the blog. The pros are due back at 3:15 p.m. and weigh-in starts at 4 p.m. ET. If you’re in Leesburg and love you some Tim Frederick you might want to get on the road. If you’re closer, then just wander on over to Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina and Resort or perhaps hit up flwfishing.com from the comfort of your home.
2:04 We have a limit for a Johnston!
Chris Johnston just boated a 1-pounder to finish up a 7-pound limit. Team Canada is not feeling it today.
Other than Chris and a cull for Canterbury, there has been pretty much no action. We’re just waiting now, for either Schmitt or Rose to catch a big one and break the race open or for weigh-in to see what they actually have.
1:23 J Mac attack
Jared McMillan is mashing them today. The kid just culled up with another 5-pounder and he’s got more than 23 pounds in the box. It sounds crazy to say, but if he can catch an 8-pounder or something he’s in the game.
1:15 Rose limits
Mark Rose just lost a good fish and promptly caught a 2-pounder to fill his limit. Now that he’s got five he also has the lead. More to the point, he’s getting bites and Bryan Schmitt isn’t.
1:08 Some light action
It’s been pretty slow, but Mark Rose just lost a fish that may have been his fifth keeper. Almost at the same time, Tim Frederick picked up a 2-pounder to cull up to very close to 10 pounds.
12:35 J Mac breaks 20
Jared McMillan has been flipping a Bruiser Baits Crazy Craw all day and it’s working to great effect. The younger McMillan just culled out a keeper with a 3-pounder to get his weight up past 20 pounds.
12:20 Rose is back in it
Mark Rose just busted a 7-pounder. With four fish, he now has about 16 pounds and is just a hair off Schmitt for the lead. He’s back in a little more open water now and broke out the vibrating jig for this one.
12:15 Canterbury culling too
Scott Canterbury has been catching a pile of fish lately and slowly culling up. He’s got about 12 pounds without a big one, so there’s plenty of room of a big upgrade. Of course, it’s nice to know there are fish biting, but he’s miles away from the lead.
12:10 Brasher culls
Chris Brasher just culled up over 16 pounds with the addition of a 2-pounder. He’s still 14 pounds off the lead, but there’s no denying he’s had an excellent day.
11:55 Literally nothing is happening
All the pros are still plugging away, but it seems to be pretty slow right now. Tim Frederick just broke off an unidentified fish in a mat, but that’s it. Schmitt is sticking to his guns, but most of the others up north are switching up a bit as the day goes on. They’re still rolling with Okeechobee staples, but someone could discover the pattern of the day as we get closer to noon.
11:30 Three for Rose and a limit for Frederick
Mark Rose knocked out another 3-pounder back in the reeds. He’s got three good ones – a couple big bites will get him right back in the hunt. Fishing isolated reeds, Frederick popped his fifth keeper (a dink) into the boat as well.
11:22 J Mac crushes another big
Jared McMillan flipped up a 4-pounder to get back rolling. He’s got around 18 pounds in the livewell and seems on track to beat his brother and probably earn a top five finish.
11:15 Frederick switches up
Tim Frederick just made a short move from some mats and is back to fishing isolated reeds. Now, instead of pitching a worm, he’s gone to a vibrating jig and is fishing a bit quicker.
11:10 Couple updates
Scott Canterbury finished out a small limit a while ago and has culled a couple of times since. He’s been pondering a big move to the east side of the lake, but hasn’t actually made it yet. Currently, he has around 9 pounds in the boat.
The current top five (unofficially) is Bryan Schmitt, Tim Frederick, Mark Rose, Jared McMillan and Chad Morgenthaler. Chris Brasher is knocking on the door with a few big ones, but he’s still a few more huge fish away from being a factor for the lead.
11:00 Frederick with four
Tim Frederick added a fourth keeper a bit ago. It’s really starting to blow now, which could increase the difficulty of his methodical reed-flipping pattern. We’ll see how things go, but it seems like he may have missed his chance to put Schmitt and Rose away.
10:40 Brasher into the teens, J Mac with a good one
Chris Brasher said he was going to catch 30 pounds this morning, and he’s about halfway there. He added a 4-pounder to his limit a bit ago that give him four fish for about 14 pounds.
Down south, Jared McMillan popped a 4-pounder a minute ago and is up to about 15 pounds now as well.
10:30 Schmitt with a 6
Oh baby. Bryan Schmitt isn’t going to go quietly, that’s for sure. The Potomac King just filled out his limit with a 6-pounder. Looks like the ol’ vibrating jig will still catch a bass or two on Okeechobee.
With a full limit, Schmitt has room to cull and about 13 or 14 pounds in the ‘well. He’s unofficially in the lead now with about 78 pounds.
10:22 The shootout is on
Tim Frederick loaded up a 4-pounder a second ago and is back in it. Our three leaders are all shy of a limit, but they’ve each got at least one good one and plenty of time left.
The wind is starting to get up more now, so things may get challenging, but it’s been sunny and warm all morning so the fish are likely to be in a good mood for at least a little while longer.
10:15 Team Canada update
Cory and Chris Johnston have been moving around a bit more this morning as opposed to hanging out just at Harney Pond. Cory has rustled up two small keepers and lost a good one, but Chris still has an empty livewell.
10:10 Morgenthaler limits, Brasher smokes one
Chad Morgenthaler has filled out his limit with a pair of small keepers. He’s looking at about 13 pounds in the livewell now and is about 8 pounds off the lead. Starting the day in tenth, Chris Brasher is looking to move up. He just caught a 7-pounder for his third keeper – now he’s about 14 pounds from the lead.
9:52 Technique changes for Rose, same old for Schmitt
Mark Rose has picked up some kind of prop bait and is waaaaay back in the reeds. He’s basically just making short little casts and working it for a few feet in and around some very tight cover. Topwaters have accounted for a number of fish this week, but it’d be very cool to see Rose charge to the win with one.
Bryan Schmitt is fishing more out in mixed reeds and hydrilla. He’s still methodically plugging away with a swim jig and a vibrating jig. That’s his forte and what he’s been rolling with all week.
9:35 Rose and Schmitt are at it
Turns out that that the second fish for Mark Rose was actually a 3-pounder, not a little dink as we surmised. So, he’s cruising with a pair of quality keepers – the man can close a tournament out like no other, so stay tuned.
Meanwhile, Bryan Schmitt’s fourth fish is close to 4-pounds. He’s shy of a limit, but it looks like we’ve got a race to the finish on our hands.
9:30 Rose and Frederick add
Mark Rose and Tim Frederick each just added a second fish to their limits. No word on the size for Rose, but we think it was pretty small. Frederick’s was definitely small.
9:23 Morgenthaler with another good one
Flipping just like the McMillans are down south, Chad Morgenthaler is off to a great start. He just boated a 3-pounder to go with his dink and 5-pounder and he has almost 10 pounds for just three bass.
9:20 Three for Schmitt, McMillan limits
Bryan Schmitt has no. 3 no, but he’s still lacking in size. Down south, Brandon McMillan has flipped up five dinks for the first limit of the day.
9:10 Rose boxes No. 1, Big Mac is on the dinks
Mark Rose just put his first keeper in the boat – a solid 2+. Down south, Brandon McMillan has been working fast, but not particularly big. So far he’s got four squeakers in the boat.
9:00 Another for Schmitt
Bryan Schmitt just popped a rat in the boat for his second keeper. His fish seem to be biting decently this morning – not as well as the fish down south are, but he’s had some action this morning.
8:44 A bevy of fish
Up north Tim Frederick has just boxed up his first fish of the day flipping a worm to isolated stuff. It’s no biggie, but he’s now on the board.
Chad Morgenthaler has two now and one is a 5-pounder. Scott Canterbury has a pair of small keepers as well now.
8:33 Schmitt starts, another for McMillan
Bryan Schmitt is on the board with his first fish – a decent little 2-pounder. Jared McMillan is crushing early and now has another keeper and a 3-pounder in the box.
8:15 J Mac starts strong
Jared McMillan just popped a 4-pounder to start his day. He’s flipping mats and couldn’t ask for a better start to the final day.
8:10 Brasher is switching things up
It’s not a huge location change, but Chris Brasher has elected to start in the Monkey Box today as opposed to Harney Pond. It’ll be new water for him, and he’s also giving the leaders a little more room to work. Starting the day in 10th, he’s got nowhere to go but up.
7:30 The final day is underway
Takeoff for the final day of the FLW Tour presented by Evinrude on Lake Okeechobee was simply spectacular. Calm and partly sunny, it feels like a balmy summer morning down here in south Florida – like a great day to catch some bass. There is rain in the offing this afternoon, but the weather should just about perfect for at least the first part of the day.
Though a crew of absolute hammers have made the final cut, it looks like a battle between the top three. Leading now, Tim Frederick hails from Leesburg, Fla., and has weighed more than 23 pounds each of the last two days. After a slight stumble on day three, Bryan Schmitt fell off the lead and is less than a pound back. In third, Mark Rose is in striking distance and probably the most accomplished angler in the top 10 – absolutely a threat.
After third place, the other pros are all more than 10 pounds behind Frederick, so they’ll need to really lean on them to threaten for a win. It’s not out of the question that we see a 30-pound bag – Okeechobee has ‘em – but it’s a longshot that anyone can actually make it happen.
Conditions
Temperature at takeoff: 66 degrees
Forecast high: 80 degrees
Sky: partly cloudy
Precipitation: 50 percent chance of rain
Wind: southeast at 14 mph
Tournament Details
Folgers Morning Takeoff: 7:30 a.m. ET at Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina and Resort, 920 East Del Monte Ave., Clewiston, Fla.
Weigh-in: Thursday and Friday at 3 p.m. ET at Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina and 4 p.m. ET Saturday and Sunday at Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina
FLW Expo: 12 to 4 p.m. ET Saturday and Sunday at Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina
FLW Live: Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. ET to 12:30 p.m. ET