Destination: Lake Okeechobee

Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Jan. 22-25

Florida’s Lake Okeechobee draws the attention of bass-fishing junkies everywhere when a professional tournament circuit comes to town. But followers of the sport will be especially focused on the bass-rich fishery when the Wal-Mart FLW tour heads to Clewiston Jan. 22-25.

The tournament will begin just four days after the moon shines full, which should send a major wave of egg-laden females to the sandy spawning flats. Barring the arrival of an untimely cold front, anglers could be in for an incredible week of fishing.

“I’m expecting it to be a great tournament with some really heavy weights, provided we don’t have a cold front come through and shut things down,” said Scott Martin, a Stanley Works pro from Clewiston. “If we’ve been having good weather, it could take upwards of 20 pounds a day to win.”

Martin said Okeechobee’s aquatic vegetation is in the best shape it’s been in for several years, and he expects matted weedbeds to play a major role in the outcome of the tournament.

“No doubt there will be some sight-fishing going on in clear-water areas, but I also think that flipping the grassy mats with big crawdads and 1-ounce sinkers could be a major factor this year,” Martin said. “The grass is in as good a shape now as it was during the lake’s heydays in the early 1980s. A guy who gets on the right groups of fish in the matted stuff could really do well.”

Primary soft-plastic colors are black, grape and blue with green glitter. Martin also named spinner baits, soft jerkbaits and top-water prop baits like the Bang-O-Lure, the Devil’s Horse and the buzzbait as good lures to throw.