Using the surface to get to the top

High winds will hamper Big O’s topwater bite on final day of FLW Series

CLEWISTON, Fla. – For three days, anglers fishing the Walmart FLW Series event on Lake Okeechobee have enjoyed some pretty decent fishing conditions.

Warm, balmy weather brought bass into the shallows to make beds in thick joint grass fields which grew up when the lake was down.

During the FLW BP Eastern Series event this week, over half the pros who made the top 10 did so by fishing soft plastic surface buzzers over the dense fields.

A variety of soft plastic bodies with some kind of paddle-tail have worked, including the Zoom Horny Toad, Gambler Flappin’ Shad and Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper. Scott Lunsford of Calhoun, Ga., currently in second place, has even been using California Swimbabes Baby `E’ and Tiny `E’ swimbaits across the surface.

No matter which baits the pros use, all have been Texas-rigged weightless with large 4/0 to 7/0 hooks and cast on heavy braided line in the 50- to 60-pound test range. The idea is to “buzz” the plastic bait over the surface to get a bass to smash it out of reaction.

The biggest problem, however, has been hooking the fish and getting them out of the thick grass to the boat.

But on the final day of the Okeechobee Series, pros will have a much bigger problem than gnarly grass and that will be wind, as in strong, cold north wind.

The pleasant weather could not last forever and it came to an abrupt end this morning when pros woke up to 15 to 25 mph north winds lashing the south end of Okeechobee and dropping wind chills into the 30’s.

The topwater buzzing bite will likely cease this morning as trying to fish these unweighted plastics over grass with a big bow in your line can prove extremely frustrating.

With the sudden change in weather, the event is now any angler’s tournament to win.

“Catching 15 pounds today will be a huge feat,” said fifth place pro Koby Kreiger before takeoff. “Who ever can do that on a day like this will probably win the tournament.”

The fourth and final weigh-in of the FLW Series BP Eastern will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Walmart in Clewiston.

Saturday’s conditions

Sunrise: 7:09 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 43 degrees

Expected high temperature: 60 degrees

Water temperature: 65-70 degrees

Wind: N 15 to 25 mph

Day’s outlook: blustery and cold