Ice Fishing on Lake Okeechobee?

January in Florida is supposed to be nice.  Why else would snowbirds come down here every year during the winter?  We are currently in a severe cold front that even produced some snow in the area.

The Fort Myers Bass Club held their annual club championship on Lake Okeechobee today. We started off the morning in 28 degree weather.  It was cold enough to freeze rod lockers and leave the decks slippery with ice.  To make it worse, we were fishing in wind gusts of 30 mph.  This isn't supposed to happen in Florida, these bass just aren't used to it.

As you can imagine, it was tough fishing.  We launched with 15 fisherman competing for the win, but only three came back to the scales with fish.  I was lucky enough to have one and finished in 2nd place.  That bass 1lb 5oz bass was worth alot of money. 

I caught my fish on a Senko fished with a 1/32oz weight.  I was fishing so slow it was painful.  Each cast took several minutes.  I would wait over a minute before I moved the bait for the first time, but it was worth it.  When it is tough like this you can't let it get to you mentally.