Going into the second Elite event on Lake Okeechobee, I’d say I have a good outlook for two reasons: First, coming out of the season opener on Lake Cherokee with a top 20 finish really does start me off on the right foot.
There’s always room for improvement, but I’m pleased to have started the season with what I’d call a rock solid event. I say that because Cherokee was an unknown for me; I had never fished a tournament there before.
To turn an unknown into a good finish is like a notch in my belt. After practice, I was scared to death because I didn’t get many bites. That being said, I really enjoyed fishing Cherokee, and I learned enough to want to go back again the same time of year.
To not just survive, but to do well, really does help me for the whole year. You can’t win Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year or qualify for a Bassmaster Classic in the first event, but you can sure put yourself in a deep hole.
Next, getting in front of the curve really does get me excited, especially coming into a few events that will play to my strengths. These spawn-to-postspawn, shallow water, big line events will allow me to fish in my wheelhouse for a few months now.
Okeechobee will kick this off in a big way. This is a tournament where the spinning rods come out of the rod lockers and go back into my truck. It’s about heavy line and big baits — you have to be fishing for big fish at Okeechobee.
If you’re going to make the Top 12 cut, you’re going to have to catch at least one big one over 5 pounds every day. Realistically, you’re going to have to catch two or three like that every day.
Now, I have a lot of experience fishing Florida’s shallow vegetation lakes and a couple of things come to mind: First, if you’re not fishing around a crowd of boats, you’re not fishing in the right area.
Very seldom, particularly at Lake Okeechobee, do you see someone go off alone, find some fish all to himself and win the tournament. Usually, you just get in an area with bass in it, put your head down and ignore the crowd around you.
The best thing you can do is to just fish and worry about the next bass you’re going to catch. Try to block out what may be going on around you and figure out how to catch a quality fish.
In practice, I’ve been able to find areas with quality fish in them, but it’s not like I’m hidden somewhere. The good schools of fish are going to have a lot of boats on them.
You can’t get spun out when a guy 40 yards away catches a 6-pounder. You have to be confident that these areas with fish have fish all through them.
The key, I think, is to be dialed in a little better bait-wise to something that quality fish will eat. Also, it’ll be important to narrow it down to an area within an area where you think there are a few more big fish swimming around in your little corner.
This is going to be very important, because if you don’t get a big bite one day you can find yourself on the outside looking. But the flipside is that if you don’t catch a big one one day, you might catch two big ones the next day.
As long as there’s another day to fish, there’s always hope on Okeechobee — 30-pound bags happen here. So, even if you stumble, there’s still a chance for redemption.
Hopefully, we won’t have to worry about that. Hopefully, we’ll just keep it steady and consistent and maybe get lucky. You need a 5- or 6-pound bite, but someone is going to get a 10-pound bite this week.
Maybe it will be me.