By now it’s no secret Lake Okeechobee is a bit off at the moment, and with about six hours of fishing in the books on day one of the Costa FLW Series Southeastern Division tournament presented by Power-Pole, it’s been pretty apparent. Anglers and co-anglers kicked things off this morning from Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort in hopes that maybe the fishing wouldn’t be as tough as expected.

The popular decision by anglers this morning was to turn left out of the lock from Clewiston and venture north, with the remaining minority turning right to go south. With winds out of the northeast around 10-15 miles per hour, heading north made the most sense to get away from the wind and hopefully find some clean water.

Along with some of the grassier areas up north, the numerous canals found up that way were stacked with boats. There are plenty of fish to be had, but as usual, boat traffic isn’t helping anything. Pro Sandy Melvin and his co-angler Russ Zoller each had a dandy fish from up north, but not much to go with them. Other pros checked in with a few small fish or small limits, though nothing to write home about.

The same went for areas on the south side. Small fish to be had, but pressure is again taking its toll on the small patches of clean water that exist.

The water temperature this morning was around 60 degrees, and the cloud cover that hung around for the early part of the day is beginning to move on. With the sun out it feels downright gorgeous, and you can bet the bass are thinking the same thing. The pros in the later flights are surely licking their chops with the chance to strike late in the day. It won’t come as any surprise to see some of the best bags of the day come from the final flights.

Weigh-in will get rolling at 3 p.m. ET, so tune in and see how 238 of the best pros and co-anglers faired against a fickle Okeechobee.