Jesse Tacoronte has shown us the most recent example of what a Lake Okeechobee lunker largemouth bass can do for you. Tacoronte caught an 8-pounder at 7:24 today. That one fish almost matched his Thursday five-bass limit weighing 10-12, which left him in 78th place.
We saw example after example of that yesterday, where one big bite, or two, in Ott DeFoe’s case, can completely turnaround an angler’s day. It’s a rare day on the Elite Series when an 8-pound, 6-ounce bass doesn’t take big bass honors. But DeFoe’s pair of 8-6s were trumped by Tyler Carriere’s 9-5.
With examples like that fresh in mind, it’s easier to maintain hope of an instant turnaround no matter how late it gets each day. Gerald Swindle was an example of that on Day 1, when he culled a 1-pounder with a 7-pounder late, which gave him a 35th-place total of 16-3. Without that big bite, Swindle would have finished in the 70s or 80s.
There’s always hope at Lake Okeechobee.