When the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series gets underway, many of our pros talk about surviving Florida. In most years, the first one or two events take place in the Sunshine State. If you bomb in Florida, you spend the rest of the year playing catch-up. It also puts you in a bad state mentally.
I’ve always liked Florida and have done well there in past tournaments, but it’s a tricky place. It seems you either do well or struggle to get quality bites.
After competing on the St. Johns River and Lake Okeechobee, I would say I survived Florida. I finished in 55th place at the St. Johns, which I regard as a middle of the pack “survival” tournament. I didn’t bomb, but I collected some good points.
I got a load of points at Okeechobee by finishing in 16th place. That jumped me to 21st in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings and allowed me to drive home feeling positive about the rest of the year.
I weighed in more than 17 pounds on the first day at the St. Johns. That sack included a 7-pounder that really carried me through the tournament. Florida events almost always feel like big bass events to me. To do really well, you have to catch a 6- to 10-pounder every day.
I caught the 7-pounder by throwing a Z-Man Elite Evo ChatterBait to cypress trees in Lake George. That bait has a tungsten head that emits a different sound when the blade hits it. I’m convinced I get more bites with the Evo than with lead bladed. I matched the Evo with a black and blue Z-Man ChatterShad trailer.
I relied on Z-Man’s JackHammer ChatterBait at Okeechobee because it comes in a golden shiner pattern that Florida bass really go for. I had a huge second day with it, sacking nearly 26 pounds.
I caught most of my bass from isolated reed heads on the main lake. A patch of eelgrass also produced a few bites for me. On my big second day, I intercepted a wave of quality bass and caught them in short order.
Those bass moved out the next day, and I never found them again. That’s kind of the story of Okeechobee. The lake is so flat, and it all looks alike. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. When you find them, it seems like every blade of grass has a bass on it.
I chose to fish a ChatterBait because Florida’s bass constantly stay on the move. They’re here today and gone tomorrow. That’s what makes it so hard to be consistent down there. A JackHammer ChatterBait let me comb acres of water quickly to find them at Okeechobee.
The bass don’t move around as much at the St. Johns because it’s more of a river system. But I was fishing hundreds of cypress trees there every day and needed a bait that would efficiently hit a slew of targets. The ChatterBait Evo came through for me.
There was a good bit of spawning going on at both Florida tournaments. I try to avoid bedding fish because I’m not good at catching them.
I suspected the Okeechobee event could be won in the canals. But it’s so hard for me to go to Florida, see all that lush aquatic bass habitat and look at my electronics. I would rather fish the grass and rely on my gut instincts.
I’m excited about fishing the next Elite tournament at the Pasquotank River. There’s not much information about it. It’s a mystery body of water that will force us to break it down on the fly.
We go to Lake Hartwell after that, which is a widely known fishery. Unfortunately, I’ve never really caught them well there. I feel like I’m still in survival mode going to those two events. After that, we head for Lake Fork, Lake Tenkiller and the Sabine River. Those fisheries are more in my wheelhouse.
Bring it on!
