No matter when you’re sitting down to read this, it has only been three nights tops since Dollar Bill Lowen won the season opener on the St. Johns River n true flipper fashion. And while it was incredible to witness such a pillar of the sport take down the trophy, the reality is that we have a super short jump between events, so let’s get down to the nuts and bolts shall we?
Okeechobee is world famous for a few things: big bass, tons of grass and having an average depth of an above ground pool. The grass has been making a rebound in the last few years and with that have come some of the most exciting tournaments we have seen in a long time. For a while, “Dirty Thirty” sacks were barely getting a high five, much less a podium finish. And while it often would come down to timing moon phase with a good trend in the weather, the bottom line is, there are big ones that live here. And a bunch of them.
The field will primarily be focusing on shallow water techniques and will be targeting the different species of grasses that thrive. There should be someone with a flipping or punching bait in their hands on Bass Live at any point. With the warming weather since last weekend, there should be a phenomenal wave of bass that come up to spawn. While someone might find a way to force the offshore forward facing sonar story line, it will not likely be a factor overall.
Look to the shallow water, eagle-eyed, power-fisherman to do some damage. If FFS does show itself, it will be in using the perspective mode as anglers may try to pick off spawning fish from beds they can’t physically see.
Let’s do this.
BUCKET A: WALTERS
I have to imagine most of the field gets frustrated with Patrick Walters occasionally with how consistent he is. And truly, it doesn’t matter the venue. However, preceding this event was his Top 10 finish on the St. Johns River last week. He also cut his teeth fishing Santee Cooper, which shares a lot of characteristics with this body of water. Moving forward, it’s going to be hard to not pick this guy no matter what bucket he lands in.
Most recent finishes- 15th (2023 Elite)
Don’t Sleep on: Lee Livesay
Lee Livesay is fired up. He came out of the gates swinging last week and despite a really tough Day 2, he finished in 17th. This could be a season he takes an early AOY lead with the front half of the season including Sabine River and Lake Fork. The big motivator though is the Classic which is in his back yard on Ray Roberts. He knows momentum is key, so building that over the next few might help him bring it home in a few weeks.
Most recent finishes- 20th (2023 Elite)
BUCKET B: SMITH
Full transparency, I know very little about this young man. But what I do know is I got to watch him smash them all season long last year in the Opens. One of his dominating events was right here on this body of water where he got finished second behind Scott Martin. The conditions are lining up to be a very similar event. He may only manage 22 1/2 pounds a day in this derby as he did in the Open, but that will undoubtably be good points for me.
Most recent finishes- 2nd (2024 Bassmaster Open)
Don’t Sleep on: Will Davis Jr.
This shallow water ninja, Will Davis Jr. is a bit of a sleeper pick at just approximately 4% at the moment. If there is some wind, a swimjig bite could get right real fast.
Most recent finishes- 14th (2023 Elite)
BUCKET C: MARTIN
This pick almost goes without explanation, but to be honest, I’m not completely convinced. Could Scott Martin take it down? Heck yeah. Does he at least have a better than average chance to fish all four days? You bet. Does he have a strange tendency to struggle when he really should have a huge edge? Yes. And that has bitten me before. If you live under a rock, Martin lives on the lake and has fished this lake for decades. He has more ten-pound bass on this lake than a lot of Elites have for their whole careers. And he won the open here last year by over 20-pounds and an average over 30-pounds per day. He owns 60% or more of the player percentage, so really, worst-case scenario is I sink with the whole ship. It is really temping to take a little risk here though!
Most recent finishes- 1st (Bassmaster Open), 30th (2023 Elite), 21st (2018 FLW)
Don’t Sleep on: Jordan Lee
If there were a risk worth taking, it would be on the two-time Classic champ, Jordan Lee. He recently won a massive tournament fishing shallow vegetation with a frog. It is unlikely he will find himself in the exact situation that led to the victory, but in order to break down a body of water that is overwhelmingly full of grass like this, you need serious skills – and he has them.
Most recent finishes-38th (2017 Elite)
BUCKET D: WELCHER
Early in the season with these lower Buckets, you find some interesting opportunities to choose guys who may have had an uncharacteristically difficult first event. Kyle Welcher is certainly one to consider. He is a ‘Bama-boy and flipping, punching and frogging are in his DNA. He is a solid sight-fisherman as well. I’m not going to call him a bargain, because he is sitting around 20% player percentage, but he certainly fits the mold of someone who could get it done if he can hone in on the right area.
Most recent finishes- 13th (2023 Elite)
Don’t Sleep on: Brandon Cobb
If you’re looking to capitalize on the sight-fisherman, don’t pass up on Brandon Cobb. He has been unusually quiet for a few seasons now, so he needs to chug down a some of whatever he was drinking in 2023 that led him to five Top 10 finishes including a 3rd place finish right here on Okeechobee.
Most recent finishes- 3rd (2023 Elite)
BUCKET E: HACKNEY
I’ve never seen Greg Hackney more irritated than when he had to do the Halftime Show last week at the St. Johns River. Not only did a large chunk of the Fantasy Fishing players want him to succeed, but for every ounce of “want” that we had, he had a pound of it for himself. And to finish that event on Day 2 was disappointing. He has quite a bit more experience on this lake than most of the field. There will be a million targets to flip at and if we know anything about Hackney, he’ll hit most of them.
Most recent finishes- 35th (2023 Elite), 17th (2020 BPT), 5th (2017 Elite)
Don’t Sleep on: Stephen Kennedy
It seems like every season, I end up toggling between Stephen Kennedy and someone else. He certainly has the ability to do well in this event. In fact, last weekend, he was definitely on the right fish on the second day, he just wasn’t getting enough bites. Arguably, Okeechobee has a better population of bass. Kennedy is used to fishing for five to eight bites in a day. He may even be chunking his frog around again like he did in 2023 on his way to his season-best 5th place finish on the “Big O”
Most recent finishes- 5th (2023 Elite), 30th (2017 Elite), 27th (2012 Elite)
Falcon Rods Bassmaster Drain the Lake Challenge
• Beau Browning
• Drew Cook
• Will Davis Jr.
• John Garrett
• Kenta Kimura
• Scott Martin
• Bryan Schmitt
• Tucker Smith
