The hurricane season was a disaster for Florida residents, and its effects can still be felt throughout the region's communities. The hurricanes spared no rod for the waters of Lake Okeechobee, either. The lake is simply not itself – at least that's the report from anglers practicing for the FLW season opener that starts tomorrow.

Reports indicate crowded fishing conditions and muddy water. Add to that the cold front that blew in

over the weekend, and 25 to 30 mph winds yesterday, and all the ingredients are present for a tough Okeechobee opener.

BassFan Lake Profile

Before getting into more detail, here's a look at the tournament waters:

> Lake Name: Lake Okeechobee
> Type of Water: Shallow Florida natural lake
> Surface Acres: 448,000 acres (730 square miles)
> Primary structure/cover: Vegetation (many types)
> Average depth: 11 to 14 feet
> Species: Largemouths only
> Length limit: 12 inches (slot limit is waived for tournaments)
> Reputation: Prolific fishery with potential for explosive weights (30-pound-plus bags), but big fish are only in certain areas
> Weather: Breezy with daytime highs around 65 and high, clear skies
> Water temp: 60-62 degrees (10 degrees colder than this time last week)
> Water visibility/color: 5% of lake at 2 1/2 feet, 5% of lake at 18 inches, 90% at unfishable visibility
> Water level: Normal
> Fish in: 2 1/2 to 5 feet of water
> Fish phase: Pre-spawn/spawn/post-spawn
> Primary patterns: Flipping, Rat-L-Traps, crankbaits, jerkbaits, Senkos, craws
> Winning weight: 36-01 (final 2 days)
> Cut weight (Top 10): 35-14
> Check weight: 22-14 (75th place)
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 2 for Okeechobee
> Biggest factors: Crowds, muddy water
> Wildcard: Can someone figure out the muddy water?

No More Secrets

Take 200 anglers, pack them into 5% of Lake Okeechobee and everyone will know their neighbor. That's a snapshot of what to expect this Wednesday. After the hurricanes ripped up much of Okeechobee's grasslines, there's nothing left to filter the muddy, main-lake water. That means 95% of the lake is too muddy to fish. The three areas with clearer water are Moonshine (lots of small bites), Monkey Box (considered best bet) and South Bay (clear-water area is very small).

After the recent EverStart, those three spots have turned into massive community holes. Florida pro Bernie Schultz said, "Ninety percent of the guys are in 10 percent of the water. I think the patterns from (the recent) EverStart have fallen apart. You can catch some fish flipping, but I think you'll only see a few big stringers caught flipping. The wind's blowing hard, the water's dropping (temperature) fast and it's hard to move around.

"All the fish they caught in the EverStart are known. There's no secrets anymore. It'll be like taking numbers out there to fish a spot. I'm frantically looking for water I can fish by myself. It's brutally tough and small fish are all I'm catching."

Cold Front Factor

Former Okeechobee champion Mike Surman said the cold front has knocked the fishing way back. "It's pretty bad. The water temperature has dropped 10 degrees almost overnight. It was 72 degrees during the EverStart. Now it's 60 to 62 degrees – maybe even a little bit colder. On Okeechobee, the fishing gets even tougher a few days after the front comes through, so the worst is yet to come."

But he said he'd hoped for a cold front. "I was hoping for one, because I thought it would give me an advantage, but I didn't think it would blow this bad. The wind kind of messed up a couple of places where I thought I could catch them pretty good. I was hoping those places would give me a quick 12 or 13 (pounds), then I'd go flip."

He noted the wind might help the spinnerbait bite. "I think there will be some flipping, and the spinnerbait could become a big deal with the wind. And the Gambler Ace (a Senko-type bait) will definitely play. But I'm still saying somebody has a good shot at winning if he can find fish in dirty water. There might be a reaction bite in there with Rat-L-Traps.

"As good as these fishermen are, and as good as this lake is, there's a bunch of big fish somewhere in that dirty water."

Rojas On Fish?

"It's typical Florida in January," Dean Rojas said. "There's fronts coming in and out, but what really hurt it is the high winds. First they came out of the south, then immediately turned around and came out of the north. It's really confusing everybody."

Despite the tough conditions, Rojas was optimistic. "I had good practice days – we'll just wait until Wednesday morning to see. My spots are fair. The fish are there to win, I just need to get them to bite. Yesterday was really slow so all I did was go looking. It all comes down to that first day."

Not The Same

Mike Wurm said he's doing what everybody else is doing and the lake isn't how he remembers it. "The main lake is totally muddy – totally muddy. Everything's been rearranged. There's not much clear water and it's going to fish very small. That's all that's going on."

He said he had a tough practice. "There's a lot of fishing water, but they're not biting. Right now the flipping bite isn't working too well. Somebody's probably catching them somewhere, but I'm doing a lot of little fishing – keepers to 14-inchers. The big bites just kind of happen once in a while."

Cut Estimates

The field of 200 cuts to 10 anglers after Thursday (day 2). Here's some guesses on cut weight.

> Schultz: "To make the cut, 30 pounds would be optimistic. I think it's around 24 to 27 pounds right now – about 13 pounds a day. That's pretty sorry for this place."

> Surman: "I think the cut will be 25, or maybe as much as 26 or 27 pounds. I say if you catch 26 pounds you'll be right there."

> Rojas: "Probably 32 pounds for the cut. You have to remember this is the 'Big O.' If you find the right stretch, it doesn't take long to catch a 20-pound sack."

> Wurm: "I'll say between 25 and 30 pounds. If you catch 13 to 15 pounds a day you'll be doing real well."

Launch/Weigh-In Info

Anglers take off each morning at 7 a.m. from Roland Martin's Marina. Wednesday's and Thursday's weigh-ins will be held there beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday's weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1005 W. Sugarland Highway in Clewiston, beginning at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

FLW's Family Fun Zone is open Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. It opens Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.

Notable

> Notable entries this year include: Roger Boler (fished one FLW event last year), Todd Faircloth (never fished a full FLW season), Jimmy Houston (last fished FLW in 1999) and Zell Rowland (last fished FLW in 1997). Also, 2004 FLW Angler of the Year Shinichi Fukae is fishing the Tour again.

Weather Forecast

Here's the Weather Channel's extended forecast for the tournament. Note that overnight lows are supposed to climb, which could improve the morning bite.

> Wed, Jan. 19 – Mostly Sunny – high 66°/low 40°
- Wind: From the N/NE at 11 mph

> Thu, Jan 20 – Mostly Sunny – 66°/50°
- Wind: From the W/NW at 10 mph

> Fri, Jan 21 – Partly Cloudy – 67°/50°
- Wind: From the NW at 9 mph

> Sat, Jan 22 – Partly Cloudy – 69°/54°
- Wind: From the N/NW at 6 mph