jedimaster Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Well I made a snap decision to Fish the FLW Tour's opening event at Okeechobee begining of Feb. Going to be an awesome experience, starting to research the lake. How awesome would it be to get paired up with one of the big pros and get on TV. haha. Just totally phsyced to fish that lake and to fish it in that series, awesome. Anyone spent any time on the lake in Feb or late jan before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reelinrolly Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 right on!!! Ive never been, but I hope you have a blast!!! Either way it will be an awesome experience!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 Florida bass are much different than our northern strain. Leave your rattles at home. Don't shake your baits. You will need a stick for the jungle 1.25 oz or 1.5. The grass flats are never ending. 6.5-7.5 baitcaster mf 12lb flouro. Most of the guides swear Florida bass can hear braid. And don't shake your bait. Standard setup 1/8 worm weight 2/0 hook 12lb just slid it in nice and quiet and wait for the peck. Senkos catch don't shakem. Swimbaits you cant go wrong with GAMBLER BAITS. Spinnerbait will come in handy 3/8 mostly. The water is tanic colour look for clear water and lighter spots on the bottom. Florida colours Eclectic blue, purples. And did I tell you don't shake your baits. The thing about Florida bass is they hang around before and after the spawn so they get spooky on noise and movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted January 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 Should be a blast. I know some folks don't like the Scott Martin Challenge show, but It was may favorite for a long time. I can't wait to get down there. Would be crazy awesome to get paired up with him or really any of the big guys. Have been gathering tones of great info on the lake it all helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) Jungle = Matts if your pro is fishing this you won't get to many virgin cast. But you can be a little more aggressive with the big stick. Is it a full moon. Always brings a wave of spawners. You will not likely get a quality cast all day. I did tell you not to shake your bait don't drag it either. And set on the peck. A swimbait like the skinny dipper is great for covering water replaces spinnerbait. Buggy Whips you will notice a little gap right next the stem. Most like 3cm that's your entry for 1/8 worm weight. Every marina has 50 shiner guides working out of. If you are within 4 miles of take off these areas get hammered. Thiers a good possibility you will get pinned against channel bank. I wouldn't compete with the pro. Fish the outside and look for opportunities. That goes for jungle fishing and spawners. Look for opportunities and fish them Florida style no drag no shake. leave it on the bottom until you can't stand it then count to 30 slowly, really slowly. That's about 30 years of Florida fishing on the big lakes. Yes I do take my braid off in Florida. Couple my buddy's are fishing a Castrol at the Big O this week as non. Edited January 11, 2016 by Garnet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted January 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 Yah, my goal is first and foremost to put on on the culling string. After that a limit each day. I have done a fair bit of back boat tournament fishing so I have a whole other mindset when fishing from the back and usually do pretty good fishing the already touched water and finding other pieces. Anyway the experience of the stage and lake is why I am going. Will be awesome and thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 Back boat here and back boat in FLW are completely different. You have a 50/50 chance of fishing The Monkey Box. It's a huge piece of water that 300 boats fish everyday. You never seen used water like this. Have fun and go for a limit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Congrats awesome 5th place finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattybculp Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Great Job ! I see Chris Johnston came 3rd. Good showing for a local guy. I've competed in local tourneys around here. Both brothers are good. Im happy to see some canucks making some noise down south ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
206 Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Nice....edged out Spiro by 3oz lol Good to see Canadians representing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) Hey guys. its been a crazy week so far. What a great tournament and series. Day 1 was awesome. I mean it didn't start out that way. I had a hit from a giant right at the boat and didn't get a hook into it. After that my first fish didn't come until about 2 hours later right when the camera boat came over. Once that first fish got boated it was on. I ended up taking the day 1 lead with 18pounds 11 ounces and two giants. They were fully spawned out and very skinny but man were they long and such huge heads. They would have been all of 8-10 pounds if they were pre spawn. Day 2 was a big more difficult but I landed a number of fish and ended up in 5th place as above mentioned. Couldn't have asked for a better result and experience. My pros were awesome, the new Ardent Grand reels were excellent as were the smattering of Ardent edge rods I had in the boat. I was being pretty versatile throughout the day changing techniques, colors and presentations throughout. I got so many messages between day 1 and 2 and even after that the congrats kept rolling in. I am all registered up to finish the season and am looking forward to the next event on Hartwell on March 17th and 18th. Here are a few of the pictures from the event. I was edged out of 4th by one ounce and would have had the tie breaker as I had the single day bigger bag. No complaints at all though. Edited February 9, 2016 by jedimaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 nice going dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hirk Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Congrats great event for you!!!!! You can tell your cousin its time you ran the boat:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netminder Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Man those Florida swamp donkeys grow big, don't they. Looks like you had a great time. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 That's pretty cool, congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Enjoyed your write up. Great going Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 The one thing I will say is the anglers in the tournament both Pro's and Co Anglers were amazing people. Everyone was so friendly and openly shared info. People were helping eachother with advice, what was and wasn't working, areas that were hot or not even up until blast off. It really felt like a bunch of friends going to bag some fish together. Was an amazing experience. I mean up here at any tournament man you don't even get a sniff of what people are doing and even after as we all know its mums the word. I mean I guess with the TV coverage down there and the sheer size of the field with people fishing shoulder to shoulder at times its a little harder to keep secrets anyway. Truly though I made some great friends and continues to be a great experience. Anyone considering these events I would strongly recommend it. Even as my plan was just to get out there and see how the US pros fish is well worth the price of admission in my eyes. The first day was actually pretty funny, I was meeting my pro at Walmart where the final day weigh in was to be held and I drove in and drove across the roped off area and dragged about 10 rebars 50 feet before realizing what I did. I got out and everyone was killing themselves laughing. We all had a good laugh together and not 2 minutes later a pro wheeled in and he dig the same thing ont he other end. Boy was that every a relief. I tell you this having 169 boats all shut down there motors and everyone rising to hear Leane Rhymes belt out the national anthem was bone chilling to say the least. I mean ok so I found out after it was a recording but yah I didn't know any better at the time. It was really awesome to see the big stage in person and here him hollering out Five Bass limit for 18 pounds 11 onces, your new tournament leader. Something I will never forget after watching that on TV for I don'tknow how many years. Living the dream as they say... for this OFC'r the dream is living on one bite at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinnerbaitking Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Congrats & Great Report Tight Lines SBK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdawg Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Congrats dude. Really cool stuff, thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Interesting note about how the tournament discussions work in tournies down there vs up here. personally, I believe it is due to "pro's" vs "wannabees". Pro's are already doing it. They have confidence. They see it as growing the sport. They don't mind sharing, right up to blast off. Up here most guys are only dreaming of being a pro, working Monday to Friday and fishing on the weekend. Therefore, fewer folks want to share any success or help....now, there certainly are the exceptions, like Mr Hirk on this thread who was very helpful when I fished with him. But the norm is "tight lipped" leading up to an event, and even after an event. Great on you to see the success you did down there, and even better to report it to us up here. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hirk Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Interesting note about how the tournament discussions work in tournies down there vs up here. personally, I believe it is due to "pro's" vs "wannabees". Pro's are already doing it. They have confidence. They see it as growing the sport. They don't mind sharing, right up to blast off. Up here most guys are only dreaming of being a pro, working Monday to Friday and fishing on the weekend. Therefore, fewer folks want to share any success or help....now, there certainly are the exceptions, like Mr Hirk on this thread who was very helpful when I fished with him. But the norm is "tight lipped" leading up to an event, and even after an event. Great on you to see the success you did down there, and even better to report it to us up here. Cheers! We were just fun fishing and im not nor trying to be a "pro". I dont recall you needing any help or advice Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted February 10, 2016 Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 You were a great help!! Believe it or not, I learned a tremendous amount that day. I think no matter how experienced or skilled an angler is, they can always keep learning. Bass clubs are also great for that...lots of sharing. jedimaster, if you could, what was the main difference (or differences) to fishing your program down there vs the same program or similar up here? You adapted very quickly, clearly. (way to represent Canada!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted February 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 To be honest I didn't really do anything different than I normally did it accept for fish with heavier braid and bigger hooks. As was in my interview on the flw website after day one I figured that my pro was smashing smaller ones but he was sure there was bigger ones, I caught a 3.5 puns female that was spawned out so so I went on the bigger ones having spawned out as well, I ran my lure deeper into the weeds. They seemed to be hiring at the end of casts so I thought maybe they are a bit spooky having spawned recently. So I started bomb casting. Really it sounds like an ad but those ardent grands damn so they cast far. I also had a new curado with me and it couldn't cast nearly as far. Long casts quick adaptations to colour and retrieve techniques to try and weed out the small ones. Varied the size and thickness of plastic but really I caught good fish on blue, black, green, purple. Dark seemed like the right colour more than the actually color. Technique wise it was a lite bite, I could feel them tail biting them, so when I was getting a bite I would drop and dead stick then wait for another pull and slam it home up on my toes and pull them in fast as I could with the drag set to max. I spent a lot of time watching the pro and adapting and varying different retrieve rates casting areas and lengths I didn't really stil to one pattern for very long til I found one that got me into big fish. After I started slamming them the pros were looking back and eye balling me a bit was a very cool experience. I will stick to the same plan, fish the water given to me with the stuff I know, try and figure what's working or not and try to dial in a better and better presentation as the day carries on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted February 10, 2016 Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 absolutely awesome!! thank you for the reply. out of curiosity, who were your pro's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted February 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 Scott Wiley on day 1 and Pete Ponds day 2. Although I out fished both guys I can tell these guys can flat out fish. Cast control, knowledge, driving skill, finding fish, these guys are pros in every sense. I plan on keeping my Facebook site more up to date and keep my progress and perpetration work documented so if anyone wants to follow my page that would be great. https://www.facebook.com/Vince-Yonemitsu-Fishing-673589596113335/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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