By John Johnson
Senior Editor
Most of the anglers who fared well at last week's Okeechobee Bassmaster Elite Series saw each other on the water each day. That's because they were congregated in the vicinity of the West Wall, flipping various types of vegetation around Observation Shoal, Ritta Island and other locales.
The exception was winner Ish Monroe, who spent the first 3 days well south of there in Pelican Bay before plying the western side on the final day. Following is some of the lowdown on how those whose weights were closest to Monroe's massive total compiled their bags.
2nd: Chris Lane
> Day 1: 5, 21-15
> Day 2: 5, 23-10
> Day 3: 5, 31-03
> Day 4: 5, 18-13
> Total = 20, 95-09
For one day, Chris Lane appeared destined to add an Elite Series victory to his 2012 résumé that already included the Bassmaster Classic title and a Southern Open win. His sacks got progressively bigger through the first 3 days and culminated with a giant day-3 haul that pulled him within ounces of Monroe, but he crashed back to earth on the final day and was forced to settle for the runner-up slot.
The water in his primary area was down a foot on day 4 due to a change in wind direction.
"The wind blew hard out of the west and we hadn't had that all week," he said. "But I never even got the idea of changing. I'd caught 31 pounds the day before and when I caught a 5-pounder (early on day 4), I just knew I was going to bust 'em again."
He focused on places where the stands of thick vegetation formed a point.
> Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action All Star AST Series rod, Abu Garcia Revo SX casting reel (7.1:1 ratio), 65-pound Stren Sonic Braid line, 3/4-ounce Gambler Ninja jig (black blue), unnamed plastic trailer (black/blue).
> Main factor in his success – "Just the confidence I had going into this tournament."
> Performance edge – "The wind was unbelievable, and with my Power-Poles I could pull up to the reed heads and fish all around them, then pull them up and drift to the next one. I didn't have to use my trolling motor and that was good because the last thing I wanted to do was be in there making noise."
Skeet Reese caught weigh-in fish in several different areas and employed a variety of techniques.
3rd: Skeet Reese
> Day 1: 5, 19-06
> Day 2: 5, 20-08
> Day 3: 5, 22-06
> Day 4: 5, 22-08
> Total = 20, 84-12
Skeet Reese bounced around the big lake doing a little of this and a little of that. His weights were remarkably consistent, as they were in the opener at the St. Johns River.
He caught bed-fish on each of the first 3 days. He enticed others throwing a rattlebait or a swimbait and also boated some flipping a jig.
He spent a lot of time in the northeast portion of the lake to begin the event, but that area got thrashed when the wind switched directions and started blowing out of the west. He eventually made his way to the West Wall on day 3, where several other members of the Top 12 congregated each day, and spent all of day 4 there.
"I just went back to some scenarios where I'd gotten a few bites in practice," he said. "The water had cleared up and the fish were biting a lot better.
"I didn't have one glorious place that I thought I could win on. There were four areas in practice where I'd gotten bites and I ended up utilizing three of them."
> Rattlebait gear: 7' medium-action Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Cranking rod, Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Victory casting reel (6.2:1 ratio), 30-pound Spiderwire Ultracast braided line, Lucky Craft LV 100 (Skeet's magic).
> He replaced the stock hooks on the LV 100 with size 6 Trokar TK310 trebles.
> Sight-fishing gear: 8' heavy-action Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Flipping/Pitching rod, same reel (6.2:1 ratio), 65-pound Spiderwire Stealth braided line, 1-ounce Eagle Claw tungsten weight, 5/0 TroKar TK130 hook, Berkley Havoc Pit Boss (black/blue).
> Swimbait gear: 7'2" medium-heavy Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Tessera Senko Toad rod, same reel (7:1 ratio), 65-pound Spiderwire Stealth braid, 3/0 weighted (1/8-ounce) TroKar TK 130 swimbait hook, Berkley Havoc Sickfish (swamp gas).
> Flipping gear: Prototype 7'11" Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Tessera Punching rod, same reel (7:1 ratio), 65-pound Spiderwire Stealth braid, 1-ounce Medlock Double Guard jig (black/blue), Berkley Havoc Pit Boss trailer (black/blue).
> Main factor in his success – "Just moving around a lot and not getting stuck in one area."
> Performance edge – "The whole package – everything is a key component."
Shaw Grigsby started out a little slowly, but caught a couple of big sacks on the weekend.
4th: Shaw Grigsby
> Day 1: 5, 11-07
> Day 2: 5, 14-15
> Day 3: 5, 30-07
> Day 4: 5, 22-05
> Total = 20, 79-02
Shaw Grigsby weighed one of the four 30-pound stringers caught during the event (Monroe had two and Lane one). He spent some time fishing around maidencane clumps and cattails, but his primary focus was bulrushes.
He began the event with a couple of pedestrian sacks, but caught nearly twice as much weight over the weekend as he did on the first 2 days. Most of that came from a single area that he had to himself much of the time.
"I had a place that the wind was just pounding in practice and the water was murky," he said. "But then I pulled in there on day 2 and it was gorgeous. I said, 'Oh my gosh, it's on,' and it was."
He caught weigh-in fish by swimming a jig and pitching a creature bait.
> Swimjig gear: 7'6" heavy-action Quantum EXO PT rod, Quantum EXO PT casting reel (7.3:1 ratio), 20-pound Stren 100% Fluoro line, 1/4-ounce Strike King Hack Attack heavy-cover swimjig (black/blue), Strike King Rage Craw trailer (bluebug).
> He used the same rod reel and line while pitching a Strike King Rodent (Okeechobee craw) on a 7/0 TroKar TK130 hook.
> Main factor in his success – "The area where I was fishing. It wasn't pretty in practice, but it got real nice."
> Performance edge – "My Power-Poles absolutely, but also my Lowrance electronics. Every day I ran across the middle of that lake, and when you're out there you have no bearings and no land points to guide you – it's nothing but water. It's nice being able to navigate when you're 15 miles from the nearest piece of land."
The key to Brent Chapman's strong finish was a move from the south end of the lake to the West Wall.
5th: Brent Chapman
> Day 1: 5, 12-10
> Day 2: 5, 16-10
> Day 3: 5, 26-14
> Day 4: 5, 21-06
> Total = 20, 77-08
Chapman was another guy whose weights took a big jump on the weekend. He went to the south to open the event and caught only 8 pounds through the first half of day 1, and then ran to a place on the West Wall where he'd gotten a few decent bites on the second day of practice.
He spent the rest of the event there.
"Those two or three bites (from practice) changed the whole tournament for me," he said. "(On day 1) I was willing to take a chance instead of just staying down on the south end and trying to make the most of it. I knew I needed to gamble and try to make something happen."
He flipped a Tightlines UVenko at first, but eventually switched to a jig.
> Flipping gear: 7’6” heavy-action Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Heavy Cover rod, Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Victory casting reel (7:1 ratio), 25-pound Gamma fluorocarbon line, 1/8-ounce Eagle Claw tungsten flipping weight, 6/0 Lazer TroKar TK130 flipping hook, 5" Tightlines UVenko (UV purple).
> He used the same rod, reel and line for the 3/4-ounce War Eagle jig (black/blue/purple) that was tipped by an unnamed craw trailer (blue).
> Main factor in his success – "Again it was keeping an open mind and not being so committed to one place."
> Performance edge – "The Power-Poles were critical because of the wind and the need to get positioned. (On day 4) it would've been almost impossible to fish without them."
Notable
> Pattern information for 3rd-place finisher Skeet Reese could not be obtained prior to the deadline for this story. He said on stage during the day-4 weigh-in that he did some sight-fishing and also caught some weigh-in fish on a new Berkley Havoc swimbait called the Sickfish, which is not on the market yet.
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