Big O show continues
Day-two FLW action under way
CLEWISTON, Fla. – Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers approached near-record weight totals on Lake Okeechobee Wednesday. Look for more of the same as the second half of the opening round continues Thursday, but don’t be surprised if the weights drop somewhat as this sight-fishing tournament wears on.
The Pro Division weighed in a cumulative total of over 2,162 pounds of bass on day one at the Big O, which crept up on the one-day tour record of 2,349 set at Lake Champlain in 2002.
Of course, the increased field size of 200 pros contributed to the total weight (Champlain had 175 pros), but it looks like Okeechobee is coughing up fish this week unlike anything seen at a tournament here in recent years. Pro leader Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark., nearly set a single-day FLW weight record with his 28 pounds, 6 ounces Wednesday. And not only did the pros weigh in 175 limits, but the co-anglers came across the scale with 73 limits of their own.
“It’s a good mixture of sight-fishing and flipping,” said co-angler Rob Newell of Tallahassee, Fla., who placed seventh on day one. (Newell is also a contributing writer for FLW Outdoors.) “It’s kind of like Beaver Lake where it doesn’t really hurt you to fish from the back of the boat.”
But since this is a sight-fishing tournament, stringer sizes should be expected to drop Thursday because many of the best bass were plucked off their spawning beds Wednesday.
“More than half of the top weights have come from sight-fishing, so they’re going to drop,” said fourth-place pro David Dudley of Manteo, N.C. “There is always a big drop in the weights at sight-fishing tournaments.”
Like Wednesday, the weather in South Florida has remained sunny and steady, if a bit cool. That means conditions are ripe for another big day at Okeechobee if the anglers can just find some more fish.
Thursday’s weigh-in takes place at 3 p.m. Eastern time at Roland Martin’s Marina located at 920 E. Del Monte Ave. in Clewiston, Fla. With the 200-person field sizes and endless limits, anglers treated the crowd with countless big Okeechobee bass over 7 pounds on day one. Day two will definitely be no less of a big-fish show.
For bass-fishing fans unable to attend the festivities in person, you can catch all the weigh-in action live at FLWOutdoors.com with FLW Live. Show time starts at 3 p.m. Eastern.
Thursday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 7:13 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 49 degrees
Expected high temperature: 69 degrees
Water temperature: 59-62 degrees
Wind: from the north-northwest at 6 mph
Maximum humidity: 80 percent
Day’s outlook: mostly sunny
Day-two links: