Opener to be a Shootout on the Big O
BFL results foreshadow big possibilities for first Costa FLW Series event
Excitement is in the air as the first Costa FLW Series event of 2016 prepares to kick off on Thursday morning. The playing field for the first Southeast Division tournament, which is presented by Power-Pole and hosted by Okeechobee County Tourism, will once again be famed Lake Okeechobee, and a full roster of 250 pros and co-anglers is ready to get the season rolling.
This past weekend the first FLW Bass Fishing League event of the season took place on Okeechobee, and the lake definitely showed out. George Kapiton took home the hardware with a massive 31-pound limit, while Okeechobee veteran Mike Surman came in second with just shy of 29 pounds. Five other limits topped 20 pounds. Not bad for a Saturday on the Big O.
This weekend, anglers will have a slightly different challenge. Okeechobee is always susceptible to weather changes, and a recent cold front threatens to make things a little interesting.
“The weather has really cooled off since the BFL,” says Kapiton. “It will definitely make the flipping bite strong for the first day or two of the tournament. It’s supposed to warm up by Saturday, and if it does then I could see a topwater bite or winding bite be the deal.”
All anglers in the field will fish the first two days on Thursday and Friday, with the top 10 pros and co-anglers advancing to Saturday’s final round. Heaviest cumulative three-day weight wins.
“The lake in general right now is amazing,” Kapiton adds. “It’s beautiful. Because of the high water, grass is dying off in the right places, and the water is pretty clear. From one side of the lake to the other there is fishable water. I have never seen it look so good in all my years of fishing here.”
With cold-front conditions and a full moon next week, being able to adapt with the changing conditions will be the key to staying on the right caliber of fish. Kapiton notes that there has already been a decent push of fish up spawning, as evident by empty beds and fry swimming around. However, there are some fish staging to pull up to spawn too. Kapiton weighed both prespawn and postspawn bass during the BFL.
“I saw a lot of guys catching 13-inchers around me last week,” he says. “There are pods of fish all over, but the biggest key is figuring out how to get those bigger bites. I basically figured that out while I fished last week, and I’ll probably have to do it again for this tournament.”
Though Lake Okeechobee is a massive body of water at more than 450,000 acres, it tends to fish small during tournaments – especially when the wind blows. Due to the higher water, however, Kapiton believes that the field will be more spread out than usual, and the lake should fish a little bigger.
“I think that with the south wind that is forecast for the first few days it could help the hayfields on that end of the lake play more,” says Kapiton. Northern grass beds and bays will bear the brunt of the wind, which typically shuts down the bite on Okeechobee. “Otherwise I think hydrilla and dying lily pads will be the biggest focus. If I had to guess I’d say that the winner will be flipping a Texas rig and using a jig.”
Early predictions say that it will take at least 30 pounds over two days to make the final-day cut, and somewhere around 65 pounds will win the tournament. With such a stacked field, nothing is out of the question, especially on Okeechobee – land of the giants.
Tournament Details
The Costa FLW Series Southeast Division event on Lake Okeechobee is a three-day tournament held Jan. 14-16. All pros and co-anglers fish the first two days, and the top 10 anglers in each division based on cumulative two-day weight qualify to fish on day three. The heaviest three-day cumulative weight wins.
Anglers will take off from C. Scott Driver Park, 10100 West Highway 78, Okeechobee, FL at 7:30 a.m. ET each morning. Daily weigh-ins are at the park at 3 p.m.
Fans at home can tune in to the weigh-ins via FLW Live at FLWFishing.com.
Click here for complete details.
Big Money on the Big O
Lake Okeechobee has been like money in the bank for Costa FLW Series anglers – literally. It’s figured into some of the richest payouts in Series history, including what was then a record for a regular-season payout to the entire field: $417,000 for a Southeastern Division event in 2015.
This year’s tournament pays even more, given the new enhanced payout system that scales up proportionally across all places and pays out additional prize money for every 10 boats that enter beyond the 150-boat baseline. If all possible contingencies are paid out, plus Big Bass awards, the grand total of cash and prizes at the 2016 Costa FLW Series opener with its maximum field of 250 boats will be $466,050, with an impressive $105,000 in cash and prizes going to the winning pro.
Here’s how the paychecks break down at Lake Okeechobee this weekend, based on standings and the Big Bass prize money:
Place Pro Ranger Cup Co-angler Ranger Cup
1 $60,000 Ranger Z518C with Ranger Z175 with
200HP Outboard 90HP Outboard + $2,500 $5,000
2 $25,500 $7,500
3 $17,000 $6,000
4 $15,000 $4,500
5 $14,000 $4,000
6 $10,500 $3,500
7 $9,000 $3,000
8 $8,000 $2,250
9 $7,000 $1,700
10 $5,000 $1,450
11 $4,700 $1,100
12 $4,000 $1,100
13 $3,500 $1,100
14 $3,500 $1,100
15 $3,500 $1,100
16 $3,500 $900
17 $3,500 $900
18 $3,500 $900
19 $3,500 $900
20 $3,500 $900
21 $2,850 $800
22 $2,850 $800
23 $2,850 $800
24 $2,850 $800
25 $2,850 $800
26 $2,600 $700
27 $2,600 $700
28 $2,600 $700
29 $2,600 $700
30 $2,600 $700
31 $2,200 $600
32 $2,200 $600
33 $2,200 $600
34 $2,200 $600
35 $2,200 $600
36 $2,200 $600
37 $2,200 $600
38 $2,200 $600
39 $2,200 $600
40 $2,200 $600
41 $2,180 $590
42 $2,180 $590
43 $2,180 $590
44 $2,160 $580
45 $2,160 $580
46 $2,140 $570
47 $2,140 $570
48 $2,140 $570
49 $2,120 $560
50 $2,120 $560
51 $2,120 $560
52 $2,120 $550
53 $2,120 $550
54 $2,080 $540
55 $2,080 $540
56 $2,080 $540
57 $2,080 $530
58 $2,080 $530
59 $2,080 $530
60 $2,040 $520
61 $2,040 $520
62 $2,020 $510
63 $2,020 $510
64 $2,020 $510
65 $2,000 $500
66 $2,000 $500
67 $2,000 $500
BB1 $300 $200
BB2 $300 $200
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