Lunkers needed

Top-20 qualification to boil down to big bite in Stren Series opener

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – The current fishing conditions on Lake Okeechobee can best be summed up by well-known Stren Series pro Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla.: “A 7-plus is your ticket to the top 20. If you don’t get that big bite, you’re flapping in the breeze like me.”

Indeed, Kreiger’s assessment of the Big O is correct. Nearly every one of the pros currently in the top 20 weighed a big bass for big honors yesterday.

“There are a million bass out there about this long,” Kreiger said, holding his fingers about 12 inches apart. “But the big ones are hard to come by.”

While the little bass seem to be eating anything that moves, many pros like Kreiger are scratching their heads as to how to get the big bite.

For some pros, like Rick Ankenbauer of Clearwater, Fla., and Billy Bowen of Ocala, Fla., who both weighed in big fish yesterday, flipping is the key to the big bite.

Other pros think it’s too warm to flip up big fish. They believe the big females have started moving on beds and are best caught by targeting isolated reeds with reaction baits.

Current leader Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., and third-place pro Bryan Swift of Shelby, N.C., both used fast-moving spinnerbait-type lures to catch their bigger fish.

Then there is the case of co-angler leader Brad Rodrigue of Pierre Part, La., who caught his two biggest fish on a Zoom Fluke.

One thing is for sure: There were a lot more rods out on the casting decks this morning.

Last year, it was common for pros to have just two flipping sticks on the deck all day. This year, front decks are loaded with spinnerbaits, topwaters, jerkbaits, Senkos, flukes, casting worms and the ubiquitous flipping sticks.

Which is the best approach for a big bite?

That remains to be seen when anglers gather for the day-two weigh-in at 3 p.m. Thursday at Okee-Tantie Park.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 7:15 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 48 degrees

Expected high temperature: 74 degrees

Water temperature: 65-70 degrees

Forecasted winds: W from 5-10 mph

Day’s outlook: sunny and warm