OKEECHOBEE CITY, Fla. – The more things change, the more they stay the same – such is the case with Lake Okeechobee.
Every year, when FLW Outdoors kicks off a new tournament season on Lake Okeechobee, the famed Florida fishery is completely different than it was 12 months prior. Once again, in 2006, it looks as if the Big O is making good on this dynamic tradition.
If anglers thought they saw a different Okeechobee in January 2005 after lashings by 2004 hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Charley, they’ll be in awe of an even more drastically changed Okeechobee this time around, thanks to two more severe pummelings by 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Wilma.
With many tournament trails looking to hold their first events on Okeechobee this month, many anglers across the country are anxious to find out how the fishing will fare on the storm-ravaged lake.
This morning, 200 pros and 200 co-anglers in the Southeast Division of the Stren Series set out to rummage through Okeechobee’s turbid waters to see what’s left.
Pro Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala., noted that it takes a day or two just to get over the shock of how stark the lake looks.
“It’s unbelievable,” Pugh said. “Words can’t describe it. Slim’s Fish Camp looks like it got hit with a bomb. It’s gone; there’s nothing there. And everything that was there – boats, trailers, trees, vehicles – they’re rolled up into massive piles along the rim ditch. You can’t recognize anything.”
Pugh should know. He spent the night out on Okeechobee last Thursday when he
inadvertently ran his boat up onto a rolled-up mud island.
“I was running out of a little pig trail and I took a wrong turn,” he explained. “It was like I ran my boat up onto dry land out in the lake. There was open water around me, but my boat was stuck solid. The mud mat was so thick I could get out and walk around on it without getting wet, but pushing did absolutely no good.”
After a long night of being bundled up in his rain suit to fend off mosquitoes, Pugh was finally towed back to open water with the help of an air boat at 7 a.m.
When asked about the most devastated areas of the lake, most pros who have sampled the waters this week immediately describe the south end as being an open sea of muddy water from bank to bank, sprinkled with brush tops and trees that blew out into the lake.
“You’ll wonder what lake you’re on when you go down there,” Pugh added. “Rita Island isn’t recognizable.”
What about the fishing?
Like last year, anglers predict boats will be bunched up into small, clearwater areas. Those areas, however, will be different this year.
“Last year it was the Monkey Box,” said pro Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla. “The Monkey Box is now gone. When guys run to their GPS coordinates in the Box from last year, they’re shocked at what they find.
“This year most of the boats will be bunched up in either Moonshine Bay or Tin House Cove – they’re now the clearwater areas. There is also some accessible clear water down south in the cornfields near Stein’s Cut and, of course, we are allowed to lock into the canals this year. There are a couple of more options this year, but even within those areas the boats are going to bunch up just like they did in the Monkey Box last year.”
Despite most of the lake being in shambles, Lane predicts some good fishing over the next couple of days in the Stren Series opener.
“We’ve got the weather working on our side big time right now,” he said. “It’s been warm – in the 80s – and there’s a wave of fish coming to the beds pretty hard. We’re supposed to have nice weather the next two days, and I think we’ll see some big fish weighed in. But starting Friday, and into Saturday, we’re supposed to have the coldest weather of the year – that’ll put a hurting on them. A guy might make the top 20 bed-fishing, but he better have another plan in the finals.”
Also, fishing techniques will be a little different this year. Last year, in both the Stren Series and FLW Tour events, bass yielded only to tungsten-laden imitation craws punched through thick mats.
Some mats still exist, but many have been inundated with muddy water, which Okeechobee bass will not tolerate.
“There’s going to be a lot more open water fishing this year,” Lane continued. “There are some bass under the few mats in clear water, but they’re going to get picked off quickly.”
This year, the Stren Series is going to a top-20 cut for both pros and co-anglers on Friday and then a top-10 cut for the final day on Saturday. Lane predicts it will take about 24 pounds to make the first cut but only about 8 or 9 pounds to make the second cut and about 17 pounds (accumulation of days three and four) to win.
“Most of the top-20 cut will come out of Moonshine Bay,” he surmised. “Then there’ll be a couple from Tin House Cove, a couple from the cornfields and maybe a couple from the canals. But once the fishing pressure has taken its toll and that bad cold front hits, the final day could be brutal.”
Logistics
Anglers will take off from Okee-Tantie ramp at 7:30 each morning. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina, which is located at 10430 Highway 78 W. in Okeechobee, beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2101 S. Parrot Ave. in Okeechobee beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers will compete for two days to determine the top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers who advance to the semifinal round based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared on day three and anglers compete for 10 spots in each division in the final round. Winners on day four are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
Anglers competing in the Pro Division will fish for a top award worth as much as $64,500, including a 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics, and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. Pros will have the chance to earn an additional $10,000 bonus award from Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger will award another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program, or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant. Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if the participant meets “Powered by Yamaha” guidelines.
Co-angler competitors cast for a top award worth as much as $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met.
Wednesday’s conditions
Sunrise: 7:15 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 53 degrees
Expected high temperature: 73 degrees
Water temperature: 65-70 degrees
Forecasted winds: NNW at 5 to 10 mph
Day’s outlook: sunny and warm