Grinding it out on Okeechobee

Knapp leads after tumultuous day two

CLEWISTON, Fla. – Things got a little wild on Lake Okeechobee during day two of the inaugural BP Eastern Division event of the Wal-Mart FLW Series, starting with the weather.

As a strong cold front pushed across South Florida Thursday morning (the strongest front of the year, according to locals), cloudy, windy weather sent pros scrambling to find fishable water.

A strong northwest wind churned up the Big O and piled some 8 to 10 inches of muddy water into the southeastern corner of the lake, ruining many pros’ best fishing spots.

In turn, the water in the upper end of the lake dropped a few inches, which led to a second strange and unfortunate circumstance for would-be leader Bud Pruitt of Spring, Texas.

Pruitt crossed the weigh-in stage this afternoon with a tremendous limit of bass weighing in at 25 pounds, 11 ounces. Unfortunately for Pruitt, though, he was 30 minutes late for check-in due to getting stuck on a mud bar and his entire day-two catch was disqualified.

Pruitt would have easily been leading the event with a whopping 40 pounds, 11 ounces had he not been disqualified (For more details on Pruitt’s misfortunes, see day-two Quick Bites).

As a result of today’s twists and turns, Jason Knapp of Uniontown, Pa., now leads the event with 27 pounds, 13 ounces.

Given today’s conditions and tomorrow’s forecast, it looks as if the FLW Series on Okeechobee will turn into a grinding contest to see who can survive Florida’s infamous and uncooperative cold-front conditions.

Knapp weighed in 19 pounds, 9 ounces – the biggest limit of the day other than Pruitt’s – to capture the lead.

“I caught a 7-pounder on a topwater toad first thing this morning, but then the wind got up real bad, and I couldn’t make long, accurate casts to the precise targets anymore, so I made about a 20-mile run to a completely different location,” Knapp recounted.

In his backup location, Knapp began pitching Mizmo soft plastics to lily pads to finish out his limit, which included another 5-pounder.

“I think it’s going to be a grinder’s tournament from here on out,” Knapp said. “Tomorrow is probably going to be the toughest day yet, and I’m not on anything real solid. I’ve got eight rods on my deck, and I’m just fishing whatever I can get to, given the wind and water conditions.”

Elliott scrambles for second

Speaking of grinding, after checking in 14 pounds, 12 ounces on day one and 12 pounds, 10 ounces on day two, Chris Elliott of Beaufort, N.C., might be clawing his way to his second FLW Outdoors victory by being consistent.

He now sits in second place with a two-day total of 27 pounds, 6 ounces, just 7 ounces off the lead.

“I had to totally change water today,” Elliott said. “Where I fished yesterday, the water came up 6 or 8 inches today, and I had to abandon it. I ran about 20 miles to a place I had in mind if it got windy and nasty like it did today. I’m not saying it’s loaded with big tournament-winning fish, but the fish do seem to be a little closer to 2 pounds apiece rather than 1 pound and a piece.”

Elliott hopes to continue his grinding ways.

“The weather is supposed to be even worse tomorrow,” Elliott added. “And even though I hate to say it, I’m kind of glad it’s happening because I’m not one to come rolling up in here with a giant bag of fish. If I’m going to win, my best chances are if it’s really tough, and mental focus is crucial.”

Farley third

Tim Farley of Lula, Ga., is in third place with a two-day total of 27 pounds, 2 ounces.

Farley committed himself to a Zoom Horny Toad today to catch 16 pounds, 7 ounces.

“I probably threw the toad 80 percent of the day,” he said. “That’s just one of those type baits that you really have to be dedicated to, to make it work. You can’t pick it up every now and then and expect to catch a big string on it.”

Along with toad fishing, however, comes heartache.

“I did lose two on it, but that’s frog fishing for you,” he added.

Auten fourth

Todd Auten of Lake Wylie, S.C., sacked the second heaviest limit of the day – 19 pounds, 6 ounces – to grab fourth place with a two-day total of 26 pounds, 11 ounces.

“I got them in the boat today,” Auten said of the difference in his catch over day one. “I lost some big ones on a prop bait yesterday. Today, I made a long run and just committed to jig fishing, and it worked out a lot better.”

Fisher fifth

Former Wal-Mart FLW Tour Lake Okeechobee winner Pat Fisher of Buckhead, Ga., is in fifth place with a two-day total of 26 pounds, 2 ounces.

Big bass

Robert Lane of Lakeland, Fla., boated the Pro Division Snickers Big Bass weighing 9 pounds even and worth $500.

Rest of the best

6th: David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., two-day total of 25-8

7th: David Cooke of Mooresville, N.C., 25-6

8th: Robert Lane of Lakeland, Fla., 25-5

9th: Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla., 25-2

10th: Jonathan Newton of Rogersville, Ala., 24-15

Caraballo leads co-anglers

Jess Caraballo of Danbury, Conn., is at it again.

After making two top-10s on the FLW Tour last year, it looks as if Caraballo is going to get 2007 started off with another top-10.

Caraballo fished with pro Tim Farley today to catch three bass weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces to take the Co-angler Division lead with a two-day total of 22 pounds, 13 ounces.

Rest of the best

Just 7 ounces behind Caraballo is Ron Fabiszak of South Bend, Ind., in second with 22 pounds, 6 ounces.

Mark Phillips of Fayetteville, Ark., is in third place with a two-day total of 21 pounds, 13 ounces.

Joe Partain of Farmington, Ark., holds down fourth place with a two-day total of 21 pounds, 7 ounces, and James Richardson Sr. of Harrison, Ohio, is in fifth with 21 pounds, 1 ounce.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers at the FLW Series Eastern:

6th: Josh Ramsey of Palmetto, Fla., two-day total of 19-1

7th: Brad Wiegmann of Springdale, Ark., 18-6

8th: Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark., 17-5

9th: Wayne Pomeroy of Wellington, Fla., 16-15

10th: Pamela Wood of Jonesboro, Ark., 16-12

Big bass

Brad Wiegmann of Springdale, Ark., landed the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division with a monster weighing 9 pounds, 3 ounces.

Day three of the FLW Series on Lake Okeechobee begins Friday at 7 a.m. EST at Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort.