Another Great Weekend on Okeechobee

I didn't have much time last night to post my report for my weekend tournament on Okeechobee.  I rushed home to catch the rest of the Classic weigh-in.  I entered the TBF event after experiencing some great fishing the weekend before.  The weather was perfect and I was ready..and the fish did not disappoint.

Day 1 started off with some of the fastest action I have had in a long time.  We made the run across the lake, and on my third cast I caught one.  I then caught five more in ten minutes and was culling within fifteen minutes of arriving.  They were schooled up on the outside edge of reeds and feeding fast.  My bait of choice was an Ultravibe Speedworm.  This year I have been doing much better on the Magnum size.  I caught fish pretty much all day but they were all small.  I culled ounces at a time to reach a final weight of almost 12 pounds.  My biggest fish of the day was a 3+ that was on a bed.  It fell for a Blackout colored Dinero by Get Five Lures.  This bait is my new favorite bed fishing bait.  I'll post why later this week.

My partner for Day 2 was leading the tournament going into the day.  He weighed in 31 pounds the first day....wow!  I was pretty excited to be fishing his area.  I was able to see first hand how things can change in just one day, but that's just part of fishing.  We went to his area, the fish were still there, but they had shrunk.  It took me a little longer to catch a limit this time.  I wasn't culling until at least 30 mins into the day  Once again, I wore those little fish out on a Speedworm.  At one point I caught five in a row.  I culled several times but still came up short of the 9 pound mark.

Looking back, I probably wouldn't have done anything different.  I was catching fish, I just think the bigger ones were not around me as much.  Both of my partners weighed in less than I did, and none of the fish we caught were much bigger than three pounds.  I caught loads of fish and have the bloody thumbs to prove it, but the bigger fish just eluded me.  

A few of my buddies did really well both days and clued me in to some different areas and techniques for the next time I hit the Big O.  Overall it was two of the best days I have ever had for numbers of fish.  Okeechobee is still on fire.