CLEWISTON, Fla. – Last year’s Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats event on Okeechobee took more to win than any three-day Toyota Series event ever has on the Big O – 72 pounds, 9 ounces. Then, a week later, Scott Martin won the three-day BASS Open with 90-6. Bags up to and over 30 pounds are not uncommon at Okeechobee, but there’s a chance this Southern Division opener could be timed ideally. Over the weekend in a King of the Glades event, four teams caught more than 30 pounds, and the winners blasted 35.33. So, with continued nice weather, this week on Lake Okeechobee could be a really good one.
Saturday’s BFL sets the stage
While practice for the Toyota Series was getting rolling, Tanner Seabolt got things going in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine event, winning with 31-9.
According to Seabolt, he fished on-script for Okeechobee, using a Gambler Ace for spawners.
“I found a spot up there on the north end – cattails with some bedded fish around them,” he said. “I was just throwing a worm at them. It was pretty consistent all day. I had my bag by around 12:30.”
Mizell’s take on the lake
The winner last year, and arguably the best fisherman on Okeechobee, Jessie Mizell is ready for another crack at a big event on his home waters. With warm weather and a full moon, the Florida angler thinks the fishing could be pretty great.
“There’s already been a couple waves that pulled up, so I feel like this moon is going to be probably one of our best spawns so far,” Mizell said. “I think a lot of fish are pulling up at once, and they’re on the beds. They’re on the beds right now, and I think it’s going to be a pretty good tournament. And there’s going to be a lot of big weights caught. With this many good anglers on the water and a lot of fish pulling up at one time, you’re going to see some crazy bags get brought in.”
While Okeechobee is a shadow of its former self, at least, according to every local, Mizell suspects that the Big O will look pretty good this week.
“The lake still fishes small, but I feel like with this many fish up at one time, it does have people scattered out,” he said. “So it’s kind of nice, all these fish pulling up at once. I would say there’s going to be, normally, three good spawning areas, and I feel like there’s five or six good spawning areas now.”
With a lot of muddy water and a severe lack of vegetation, Okeechobee is obviously different from the good ol’ days. Still, Mizell thinks hope is not lost, and that we’ll see the potential this week.
“The lake is in a sad shape, I grew up here, and I know what it used to be,” Mizell said. “But, I do see a comeback, if they keep the water dropping and then keep it stabilized for a year, you’re definitely going to see a lot more fish. My take on it is that when the fish spawn, bass, bluegill, crappie, the fry hide in the hydrilla and eelgrass and stuff. When there’s no underwater vegetation, you don’t filter the water, and the fry don’t get to survive. So, I do see a comeback in the lake if this grass can survive.”
As for what goes down this week, Mizell expects a classic mix of Okeechobee patterns to play.
“Probably the most productive pattern is going to be a ChatterBait, covering water, trying to get the reaction strike,” he said. “You’re going to see flipping play a big part. I think later on in the tournament, whoever makes Day 3, the frog bite or topwater bite will become a big player then.”
If things go right, they could go really right.
“Yesterday, I saw with my eyes, within like a 50-yard stretch, I’ve seen probably 15 fish from 5 pounds to 8 pounds,” Mizell said. “I could be totally wrong, but the way it’s laying out and then what I just saw within the last hour, it could get crazy.”