Okeechobee FLW

It went about like I figured. I ran up the north side of the lake and fished the Kissimmee River area. It had pretty clear water. I only saw two other tournament boats both days.

All I did was I went to work with a flipping stick – one of the new Powell flipping sticks. I used 20-pound fluorocarbon and flipped Sweet Beavers and the new Roboworm Kicker Craws in black and blue.

I just put my head down and flipped the river. I had 10 or 12 keepers yesterday but no big ones. Today I caught seven or eight keepers, and finally caught a 2-pounder. Finally.

It's just matter of getting that big bite, and I never got one. I was pretty happy with my fishing, I didn't lose any good ones.

And there were big fish there. The Bassmaster Series a few weeks ago was won there, and a buddy of mine catches a lot of big fish there. I think the timing wasn't quite right with it, but both days I had a limit in the first hour.

I got 67th here last year. I moved up a few spots so I can't complain. Long-term, I'm just trying to stay consistent and make that Championship. I got a little check and some points, so I'm pretty happy, actually.

I was here last week and it was pretty good every day. I could catch quite a few fish, but I left to go do a seminar in Phoenix (Ariz.). That's when all the bad weather hit, so I'm not sure what that will mean to the fish I had.

Every day I've pretty much had a limit. And it's typical Florida fishing – they've started biting around 11:00 or noon.

I'm know there's a lot of fish in Moonshine, but I'm not going to go fish around the crowd. I'll fish an area that's a little more remote. I've fished it before and it usually fails, but I'll try it one more time.

The last 2 years here I had 6 pounds the first day, so I'd be happy with 8 pounds or bigger. I caught one 4-pounder and a 5 last week, but most of my fish have been pretty small. If I could catch 10 pounds I'd be very happy.