The three C’s
Cold fronts, canals and crankbaits
CLEWISTON, Fla. – In elementary education there are the three R’s – reading, writing and `rithmetic. When fishing Lake Okeechobee in January, there are the three C’s – Cold fronts, canals and crankbaits.
On Saturday morning, as tournament leader David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., started the final day of the BP Eastern Division Wal-Mart FLW Series, he strapped a row of deep-diving crankbaits to his deck, further revealing the current fish-catching groove of Lake Okeechobee.
“There they are,” Dudley said pointing to the deep cranks. “Remember yesterday when I said what I was doing would shock you? How about deep-cranking on Lake Okeechobee? Most of those plugs run about 15 feet deep. The Fat Free Shad has been the best.”
Dudley is not the only one in the top 10 who has tapped into the canal-cranking bite.
In fact, nine of the top 10 have relied on Okeechobee’s many connecting rivers, canals, creeks and ditches to bolster their catches in some way over the last three days.
Well-known local Scott Martin of Clewiston, currently in 10th, is using crankbaits, both a Berkley Frenzy diver and a Yozuri lipless rattler in canals.
Martin’s explanation for why canal bass are the hot ticket right now has to do with water stability and depth.
“In a 24 hour period, the main lake’s water temperature dropped from about 70 degrees to about 55 degrees,” Martin surmised. “But in those canals, it only fell to about 65 degrees.
“The canals and rivers simply contain far more stable water in terms of depth and temperature. They’re deeper, they’re protected from the wind and they have plenty of bait so the bass kind of use them to get in out of the cold, so to speak.”
Many of the top 10 said they had intentions of returning to their canals today to mine bass from the warm passages in hopes of winning the BP Eastern Division event this afternoon.
The final day weigh-in of the BP Eastern Division Wal-Mart FLW Series will take place at 4 p.m. EST at the Clewiston Wal-Mart.
Saturday’s conditions
Sunrise: 7:12 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 58 degrees
Expected high temperature: 74 degrees
Water temperature: 55-62 degrees
Forecasted winds: ESE 10 to 15 mph
Day’s outlook: Warm, sun and clouds mixed