All systems go on the Big O?

CLEWISTON, Fla. – Folks, we might have got lucky.

“I think the three days of this tournament are going to be the best days of this month.”

That’s Florida regular Matt Wieteha’s prediction for the season opener of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats, which took off this morning under balmy conditions at Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort.

A regular stop for MLF and FLW since time immemorial, opening the season on Lake Okeechobee is basically a tradition, and 197 Southern Division pros and Strike King co-anglers have a nearly perfect forecast for the week ahead. With good weather, the fishing should be good, and bass will theoretically be flooding into shallow habitat around the edge of the lake.

Okeechobee remains something of a mystery

In recent years, forward-facing sonar has opened up the middle of many lakes. Nowadays, bass well away from any old-school structure know what a bait looks like, and the sight of an angler wandering the abyss doesn’t elicit surprise or contempt. Instead, it means they might be about to catch a big bag.

Okeechobee isn’t immune to the powers of sonar – the 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series event there was won ‘Scoping in the Kissimmee River. But, the middle of the lake has seemingly resisted modern technology very well – bass on the Big O get caught when they come in around the grass, mats, cattails, buggy whips and the like. When they’re not in around cover, they seem to be pretty well insulated from angling pressure.

Because of that, the conditions week to week seem to have an outsized effect on tournaments. A few years ago, when the Harris Chain was fishing really well, it wasn’t uncommon to see plenty of big bags caught in the cold – often from offshore grass or shell. When it is cold at Okeechobee, it is common to see one person catch them (shoutout to Bradley Hallman in 2016), but it is extremely rare, especially now, to see a lot of success up and down the field.

The lake has also changed a lot throughout the years. In the heyday of the 2010s, pros could catch them sight fishing, punching, flipping hard lines (cattail barriers that protected the backwaters) or on offshore hydrilla. Now, the places where fish used to be caught look totally different. In 2017, Josh Weaver caught a 30-pound bag in the South Bay area, which was filled with cattails and hay grass at the time. Today, that area is loaded with dead, brown cattail stems and clumps – which somehow still hold bass.

Though the lake is never the same year to year, the Big O has kept cranking out fish. In 2023, Weaver won the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals event there with 72-9 for three days. Then, in May, a Roland Martin Marine Center Series event took 36.82 to win and saw 47 teams catch more than 26 pounds – a truly bonkers testament to the fish that live in the lake. So, this week, we’ll see a new Okeechobee again – and perhaps many of the big bass that still call the lake home.

What the lake looks like now

Depending on who you ask, there are varying reports on the state of Okeechobee. High water and continued herbicide use have continued to reshape the lake.

“South Bay is huge, it is three times the size it was last year,” Steve Lopez said. “Last year, you could see boat lanes in there – this year, it is just wide open. The whole North Shore doesn’t have any grass. Last year it had all those nice dollar pads and eelgrass and coontail; that isn’t there anymore. A lot has changed, it’s very sad.”

Wieteha, who sees the lake basically year-round, has noted some other changes.

“I honestly want to say there’s more water to fish,” he said. “The water has been up for so long, the backwater areas are starting to clear out. They’re getting more water flow, and the mud islands are starting to clear out and the backwaters are getting cleaned out. There are a bunch of areas on the north end that are opening up. There are maybe four different backwaters on the north end that people can get into, and there have been 20 boats in all of them in these recent tournaments.”

As far as what people are actually going to be casting at, there is some luscious vegetation, but there’s also a lot of dead stuff that holds fish.

“You can run into staging fish on reed lines, but you’re really just looking for big flats – classic spawning stuff,” Wieteha said. “But, you’re just fishing dead stuff. That stuff in South Bay – they’re on that. I fought it forever, but it works. The first time I went in there, I fished for 10 minutes and I just left. Well, that’s where the fish were.”

The on-the-water report

Practice for this event was preceded by two American Bass Anglers tournaments that ran Friday-Sunday. The first one was two days, and Wieteha won with a 47.12 total, with 20 pounds good for seventh place. The second was won with 18.35 pounds in pretty frigid conditions, and it took less than 15 pounds to make the top five.

Coming off two good events, Wieteha is looking forward to this one.

“With the full moon and the warm weather and the water warming, everything is lining up for it to be a slugfest,” he said. “Finding something to yourself is very hard, but if you find a nook and cranny spot, you could do really good off it, or at least catch some key fish off it. I don’t think you have to be in a community hole with 30 boats. I think you could find something to yourself and do well.

“I think it will take good weight, 70 to 75 pounds,” he said. “It depends on if it warms up and they show up like we all expect them to – I think Thursday is the day they pull in really good. The first day of the tournament, guys who don’t think they’re on anything could be totally taken by surprise. It’s hard to say what Day 1 is going to look like, but the fish are going to come, it’s just a matter of when.”

Lopez finished fifth in the two-day ABA and agrees with Wieteha.

“It’s going to be good fishing; it’s going to be heavy weights that win – 65 or 70 pounds is going to win,” said the Invitationals pro. “But, you might catch 27 one day, then catch 12, and then catch 30. It is very hit or miss. Some days you catch all 5-pounders, and some days you catch all 2 ½-pounders. That’s how it’s been out here if you look at tournament weights.”

As for baits and techniques, there likely won’t be a ton of surprises according to Wieteha.

“It’s going to be Florida staples: a Gambler Fat Ace, Gambler Burner Worm, Gambler Popping Frog, ChatterBait, swim jig,” he said. “The lake has changed, but they’re still eating the same things.”

Hopefully, they’re eating a lot of the normal stuff, and we’ll have a show-stopper of a weigh-in this afternoon to start the season.