1/23/05 It's Why They Call It The Big O In this column yesterday, we pictured two pros, Steve Kennedy and Dean Rojas who were first and second, separated by only a few ounces.  As we waited yesterday for the pros to return, ProBassAnglers could envision the shootout that must be taking place between the two leaders.  In the end, the two leaders fell, and someone from deep in the pack made a furious dash to the finish line.  You may recall a similar situation existed in this month's EverStart event when Darryl Deka was nearly 10 pounds back of the leaders in 7th place going into the final day.  Kelly Jordon's win this week at the Big O had a familiar ring to it.  Jordon was in 6th place, nearly 10 pounds back.  

This week, Lake Okeechobee showed it's many different mood swings.  With the cold fronts that dropped water temperatures drastically it was the "Big Oh No!"  With the difficulty many anglers had catching fish, it was "The Big nO fish."  When a thick blanket of fog covered the lake, delaying the morning blast off, it was the "Big zerO visibility."  And when Kelly Jordon showed up with four bass weighing 23-00 pounds, the lake had fully revealed itself to us, it was "The Big O-oh."

1/23/05 He's Going To DisneyWorld! Well, wrong tour, but Texas pro can afford the year pass after winning the first event of the FLW Tour Season at Florida's Lake Okeechobee. 

Today's final round limited the anglers to just 4 1/2 hours of fish due to a nearly two hour fog delay.  That and the fact that it was Saturday and the local club events being held, didn't wait for the fog to lift, forced today's competitors to scramble to get their bites.

The win for Jordon gives him two big tour wins within the year.  ProBassAnglers may remember that Jordon won the final BASS tour stop of last season at Santee Cooper fishing for spawning fish.

1/22/05 Who Do You Like? The final show down round of the FLW Tour Stop at Lake Okeechobee gets started early Saturday morning, with Steve Kennedy (17-04) holding on to a precious few ounce lead over 2nd place pro, Dean Rojas, (16-13.)  Each angler will have the anxiety of knowing that each fish his competitor catches will likely catapult that angler to the lead, so it literally will be the last angler to catch a fish, unless of course one of Okeechobee's famed monsters decides to show up and throw this event out of whack.  There are of course other anglers within striking distance, Paducah, Kentucky pro, Terry Bolton is in 3rd with 14-10, needing only one key bite to get himself into the mix.

Both Kennedy and Rojas seem to be on to something a little different, they are definetly fishing around quality fish, and do not seem to be catching as many of the smaller, 12" keepers that have plague some anglers this week.

The weights today, resembled the rest of the week with the final ten pros spread out all over the map.  After the 1st day of the final round, here are the results:

• 1st -Steve Kennedy (5 fish) 17-04

• 2nd- Dean Rojas 16-13 (5 fish) 

• 3rd-Terry Bolton 14-10

• 4th-Greg Pugh (5 fish) 10-15

• 5th-Bobby Lane (5 fish) 9-10

• 6th-Kelly Jordon 7-13

• 7th-Keith Williams (4 fish) 7-12

• 8th-Toshinari Namiki (1 fish) 6-08

• 9th-Chad Grigsby (2 fish) 3-0

• 10th-Jerry Green (no fish) 0-00

These pros will shoot it out again in tomorrow's final round.

1/21/05 Now That Is A Bass. Okeechobee finally kicked out a double digit beast on Thursday.  Bobby Curtis of Siloam Springs, Arkansas caught this 11-00 monster by flipping into an opening in some reeds.  The bass is second largest ever weighed in an FLW Tour Event.

There were a number of great comebacks today.  Leader Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Alabama had a very modest 9-15 yesterday and found himself in 39th place.  Today, fishing in heavy traffic, (which can only mean he fished in the Monkey Box-one of only a few areas of clear water left on Okeechobee, and an area where at least half the field spent some time on the first two days,)  Kennedy caught an 8, a 7 and a 6 in route to weighing 25-15 on day 2, and a 1st round leading 35-14.  Toshinari Namiki had 7-12 on day one and found himself way back in the pack and caught an astounding 21-11 to break into the top 10.

There were also some who went the other way.  Day one leader, Bobby Lane saw his honey hole, dry up as he could only manage2 fish for 2-11.  He was able to hang on the 10th position but only because Brent Chapman, who had 19-12 on day one could only catch a small limit weighing 6-03, which made him first out of the cut.

• 26-03 made the top 10 cut.
• 17-08 made the top 50 and a $10,000 payday.
• 15-07 made the top 75 money cut ($2,750.00)

1/20/05 Tour Rookie Leads Day One. With Lake Okeechobee showing it's stingy side, Lakeland, Florida Rookie Bobby Lane brought a hard earned limit of bass weighing 23-08 to the scales today and leads day one of the FLW Tour Stop at Lake Okeechobee. 

Word on the docks is that it will probably take 28 to 29 pounds to make the top ten cut and somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 pounds to make the top 50 which pays out $10,000.00 this season.

1/20/05 Pros Will Not Throttle Down Today. In most events that feature a cut after the second day, many pros in the top ten like to hold back a little bit, leaving some productive waters for the final two days, however the Okeechobee FLW Tour Stop is different.  With the lake fishing so small, and so many anglers literally on top of each other, tournament leader, Bobby Lane says he plans to fish hard, as do the other pros in the top 5.  Noting the unpredictability of the lake, just making the top 10 will be a big accomplishment this week, with the thought of winning as an after thought.

Kelly Jordon, had a strong day today, catching 17-09, which didn't include a fish estimated to be over eight pounds that came off after being pulled through the top of a matted debris pile.  Jordon is in 5th place and could play a major role in this tournament as events unfold.

1/20/05 Tour Rookie Leads Day One. With Lake Okeechobee showing it's stingy side, Lakeland, Florida Rookie Bobby Lane brought a hard earned limit of bass weighing 23-08 to the scales today and leads day one of the FLW Tour Stop at Lake Okeechobee. 

Word on the docks is that it will probably take 28 to 29 pounds to make the top ten cut and somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 pounds to make the top 50 which pays out $10,000.00 this season.

30 mph North winds have blown relentlessly for four days, and were blowing at least that hard as of 10:00 PM EST last night.  Okeechobee is fishing extremely small as only about 15% of the lake has the good clear water that most pros are looking for.  Maryland Pro, JT Kenney states, "The bass here just seek out clear water when it comes time to spawn, and with the direct hit this area took this past Summer and Fall from the Hurricanes, a lot of the grass which typically filters the water here is simply not here anymore.

Tour Pro, Mike Surman, a former tour winner here at Okeechobee in 1996 says there are two ways to approach this event.  "You can either go to one of about 3 areas on the lake that have clear water and fish with about 75% of the field or you can go and try to make something happen in some of the off color water which is everywhere.  Typically, Okeechobee fishes well this time of year in the clear water, the dirty stuff would be a real gamble."

So here is your dilema, do you fish safe, go where most of the field is fishing and stake out a claim, or do you look for an area where the water is dirty and hope to stumble on some fish you won't have to share.  This early in the season, many pros are looking to keep themselves in contention for Angler Of The Year and to qualify for the FLW Tour Championship.

1/17/05

• J.T.Kenney, a 32-12 limit in this month's Southeastern EverStart, has won EverStarts and BASS Opens on Okeechobee.  A Frostburg, Maryland resident, Kenney just has a knack for catching big bass at Okeechobee.
• Mike Surman, one the first ever FLW Tour Event in 1996, lives locally and spends a lot of time on the Big O.  If there are any secrets on this lake, he knows them, including some obscure tactics for taking fish, when the taking gets tough.
• Glenn Browne, An Okeechobee Rat.  Lives in Florida, understands the lake, and knows what he's looking for.  Also, after a great rookie season, it figures to be only a matter of time before he gets his first tour win.
• Dave Lefebre, Always around fish, likes the shallow water game, really of top of his fishing, after finishing strong last year.
• Greg Hackney, enough said.  It is hard to imagine how good 2005 could be for Hackney.  He was in contention for every tour event last year, at least it seemed that way.  

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