Leaders cling tight at Okeechobee
Browne golden again on second day of EverStart Eastern tournament
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – The leaders of the Lake Okeechobee EverStart Series tournament held tight to their positions today. Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla., still leads the Pro Division with 42 pounds, 12 ounces. In the Co-angler Division, Robert Russell of Smyrna, Tenn., retained his lead as well with 19 pounds, 10 ounces.
Local pro Doug Vest of Okeechobee, Fla., is still in second place with 38 pounds even. Buford, Georgia’s Mickey Bruce, moved into third with 36 pounds, 10 ounces. Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., is in fourth with 34 pounds, 14 ounces. And David Goshorn of Harleyville, S.C., is in fifth with 34 pounds, 1 ounce.
Even though the five pro leaders are not fishing the same area, they are all speaking the same language when it comes to a pattern, and they are all afraid of the same thing: a sudden warmup.
Today, Browne never visited his primary area where he caught 26 pounds, 3 ounces yesterday. Instead, he went looking for similar cover and still squeaked out a respectable 16 pounds, 9 ounces by just “practicing.”
“I found something a little different today – made a little change that might help me if things warm up,” Browne said.
Browne is keying on something specific. He is hesitant to say exactly what it is this early in the event because, as he put it, “Catching them is easy if you know what to look for.”
Doug Vest also used today as a practice day and sacked up 15 pounds, 10 ounces by 11:30 a.m.
“I never fished my primary fish today, I just went and looked around to find some back-up stuff,” he said. “I was running the same pattern, but I am just looking for more water to do it on.”
Mickey Bruce also looked for new water today, and found some, a long way from his primary water. “I am running a pretty definitive pattern,” he commented. “The trouble is finding enough of it.”
The other problem with Bruce’s pattern is that he is losing almost half of his fish every day.
“It’s just the nature of the way I am fishing,” said Bruce, who weighed in 17 pounds, 6 ounces today. “It’s hard to sit there and watch a 6- or 7-pounder flop around in that stuff and come off. But I have seen my share of it this week. You just have to accept it if you are going to fish this way. The stuff is so thick, there is just nothing you can do.”
Bruce is also worried about a sudden warmup. “I’m telling you, if the water warms up, they are subject to leave this pattern quickly,” he noted. “But as long as the nights stay cool and we are this far away from the moon, I should be all right.”
Andy Morgan says he is catching prespawn fish by flipping heavy cover. He weighed in 15 pounds, 10 ounces today.
“You can run this pattern all over the lake, but the right stuff is kind of hard to find,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of places that have this particular cover in it, and I can usually get my limit pretty quick – in an hour and a half or so.”
Morgan is also worried about warming weather. “The cool temperatures have helped the flipping bite tremendously, but if it warms up, it is going to hurt it a little bit,” he said. “I hope the temperature keeps going into the 40s at night.”
David Goshorn, who checked in 16 pounds, 6 ounces today, is also fishing for fish that are staging under “thick stuff” because of the cool temperatures. He has been fishing the same area for two days and is also getting quick limits.
Rockets and bombs
Some of the anglers who shot into the top 20 out of nowhere today were Terry Tucker of Gadsden, Ala., with a 17-pound catch; Sandy Melvin of Boca Grande, Fla., with 18 pounds, 13 ounces; and Chad Grigsby with 17 pounds, 8 ounces.
Some of the anglers who slipped from the top 20 were Donald Eaton of Covington, Ga.; David Dudley of Manteo, N.C.; and Russ Bringger of Hobe Sound, Fla.
Painful penalty
Also falling from the top 20 today was Gregory Maclean of Okeechobee, Fla. He was in eighth yesterday after posting an 18-pound, 5-ounce limit. But his 10-pound catch today was penalized 6 pounds for being late because of motor problems. He ended up in 22nd with 23 pounds, 4 ounces.
The cuts
The top-20 cut was 23 pounds, 13 ounces on the pro side and 10 pounds, 8 ounces on the co-angler side.
The top 20 pros and co-anglers will launch tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. at the Okee-Tantie Recreation Area located at 10430 Highway 78 W. in Okeechobee for day-three competition.
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