Tactics at the Rayovac FLW Series Southeast Division event presented by Power-Pole on Lake Okeechobee primarily consisted of flipping and swimming presentations in thick cattails, matted hyacinths and “hayfields” full of pencil reeds. As is typical at Okeechobee, specialized heavy-duty tackle was used by the top finishers. Here’s what they threw.
1. Val Osinski fished a trio of baits from Gambler Lures for the win. Shown left to right are a white lightening EZ Swimmer with a starflash tan green and gold KO Punch Skirt, a shadow blue Why Not with a matching KO Punch Skirt, and a black-and-blue Burner Craw.
2. Brandon Medlock finished second with his signature black-and-blue 1-ounce Medlock Double Guard Flipping Jig.
3. Joe Holland hammered out his weights with two baits. The first was a backatya and gold rush Gambler Lures Why Not rigged with a 1-ounce tungsten weight and doubled Gambler Lures KO Punch Skirts – one in the starflash junebug pattern and one in the hurricane craw color. The second was a black-and-blue Gambler Lures Burner Craw.
4. Mark Daniels Jr. punched a black-and-blue Missile Baits Missile Craw and dragged a 6-inch black-and-blue YUM Dinger to land most of his bass.
5. Trevor Fitzgerald flipped a backatya-colored Gambler Lures BB Cricket with either a 1- or 1 1/2-ounce weight.
6. Brandon McMillan flipped the first two days then used a 1/2-ounce black-and-blue 4×4 Brandon McMillan Signature Series Swim Jig with a matching Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw to catch his fish on day three.
7. Tyler Suddarth relied on a superbug-colored Missile Baits D Bomb with a Kissimmee blue Gambler Lures KO Punch Skirt.
8. Hensley Powell caught his fish on a 3/8-ounce Trixster Custom Baits black-and-blue swim jig paired with a blue sapphire Trixster Custom Baits Crusty Crawler.
9. A junebug 10-inch Bruiser Baits Curly Tail Worm along with M-Pack Lures flipping jigs and swim jigs keyed Scott Martin’s finish.
10. Tim Frederick fished his way into the top 10 with a bruiser-colored Missile Baits Baby D Bomb.
Related Links