Okeechobee Midday Update – Day 3
Warmest day of event could lead to best bags yet
The third and final day of the Costa FLW Series Southeastern Division event on Lake Okeechobee presented by Power-Pole finally brought the weather anglers have been hoping for since they started practice. A light breeze, plenty of sun and temperatures near 80 degrees have the top 10 pros and co-anglers licking their chops for a chance at the biggest bag of the tournament.
Leader Nick Thliveros ran to Henry Creek, which is where he’s done his damage this week, and got off to a slow start. He’s cranking and flipping anything that gets in his way, but only managed two small keepers before he pulled the plug at 10:45 a.m. for his backup plan.
Jason Abram, who started the day in eighth, is also in Henry and is having a much better day. He’s got four small keepers, but managed an 8-pound kicker not long into the day. He’s culled several times, mostly for ounces. If he can find another big fish or two it could get real interesting this afternoon.
Second-place pro Lance Oligschlaeger is in the Harney Pond canal also cranking, but wasn’t setting the world on fire. He had one small keeper when we left him around 11, though most of his big bites have come later in the day.
The final pro we can report on is Brett Preuett, who started his day in fourth. The Louisiana pro is fishing close to the ramp in super shallow, dirty water. He boxed his first keeper – barely a keeper – when we arrived, and not long after his co-angler, Andy Niles, caught a 6-pounder. Just a few casts later Niles caught another giant and made up some ground in a hurry. Fortunately for Preuett he has plenty of day left and both big fish looked as though they just moved up.
Water temps are creeping toward the upper 60s, and without question some key fish could be caught in the final moments of fishing. You don’t want to miss the fireworks this afternoon, so tune in to weigh-in at 3 p.m. ET to watch the show.