The infamous, comes-every-January north wind hit Okeechobee today, and no surprise: fishing got tougher. Every one of the Top 10 anglers fishing today caught their smallest bags of the tournament, but Arkansas rookie Ray Scheide had the biggest. His 14-08 puts him in the lead, but Texas' Chris McCall is a mere 1-02 behind.
Five more anglers still are in the hunt: David "big checks" Dudley (10-12), Dave Lefebre (10-05), Japan's Shinichi Fukae (10-02), North Carolina's James Parker (9-06) and Dean Rojas (8-06).
They're still in it even with the cold front now hanging over Okeechobee because 10-pounders are all over this lake.
In fact, theoretically, someone could come in with 30 pounds tomorrow. That would mean that Rick Lillegard, Billy Bowen Jr. and Larry Nixon still could have a shot at it, even though all weighed in single fish for less than 2 pounds apiece.
Scheide Can't Believe It
Like all anglers, Scheide (pronounced "shide") figured he'd be in for a rougher day today when he saw the wind. "I was worried when I got to my spot," he said. "The wind had shifted slightly and was directly out of the north, and it came right in on my spot, which was exposed to the main lake. It made it really hard to fish."
But he had one in the boat within 10 minutes, and that boosted his confidence. "I knew I had all kinds of stuff to try, but I decided to live and die (at that spot) and it ended up working out real well."
He wasn't too sure of that on the way in, though. "When I was coming in, I was hoping (the other competitors hadn't) blown me out. We had real tough conditions, but I still thought somebody would brand them. But they didn't." On leading, he said: "I can't believe it."
Today he changed up a little bit. He fished a little more slowly and methodically, and changed baits. "I was flipping a Terminator Skeet's Creature bait the first two days, but the wind blew so hard on the mats today that I couldn't punch that through the mat. I had to go to a little cricket bait. It had a smaller profile, but where before nine out of every 10 flips went into the mat, today only five got through. It was frustrating, but there's still fish there."
He caught 12 keepers today and is going to the same spot tomorrow.
> Scheide has fished for $100,000 before, at two BFL All-Americans in a row. From there he fished the EverStarts for 2 years, qualified for that championship each year and qualified for the FLW Tour last year. This year he's only fishing the Tour.
McCall Saved With Last Fish
Today it seemed like McCall was still getting help from above. With his day over and five keepers in the boat, he tossed out his lure one more time -- and caught a 5 1/2-pounder. He said: "I struggled pretty hard today, and then to catch that one there at the end, I don't know what to say.
"It was a really tough day today. The wind blew really hard this morning, probably around 20, and it seemed to shut them down. Even fishing slow, throwing a worm or a Fluke or something, it was slow. I was just hoping it was as slow on everyone as it was on me." He caught 9 keepers and lost one good fish.
After the weigh-in he was "elated" because he felt like he might have blown it. "When you have 10 guys who all have 35 1/2 pounds (after 2 days), you expect someone to catch another big sack. But this place is famous for really getting tough when it gets tough."
Tomorrow he'll head back to the same area. "A lot of big fish are in there," he said. "It's just a matter of getting five bites and one or two like (his big fish today)." He mentioned the short competition day tomorrow. "Today, for the first time in the tournament, my bite got better later in the day. But I'll just bear down and keep doing what I'm doing, and just go for broke tomorrow."
> He credited the camera crew with helping keep his head in it today when the bite got slow.
Dudley Taking No Prisoners
With $1.2 million under his belt from just two big FLW Outdoors wins, do you think Dudley might lay off a little bit and let someone else earn a big check? Uh, no. "I'm not going to take it easy on them," he said. "I'm going for the win."
Is the money big enough for him? "Hey, if it's enough to buy a pack of bubblegum, I'm going all at it."
Today he suffered from the wind along with everyone else. "Anytime you're sight-fishing, that makes it tough. I couldn't see the beds. I would stare and stare, and I couldn't see them. I couldn't see if one was on it or had just moved off it. There's no telling how many fish I went over or spooked off. I was just blind."
On the plus side, he saw "quite a few just moving up that weren't locked down yet. If the winds are calm tomorrow, I feel good about my chances of at least finding a big sack -- if they're on the beds."
> Dudley's main area is out a little in the main lake, instead of along the shoreline where 99.9 percent of fishing is done on Okeechobee.
Lefebre On Them?
Lefebre had a tough day, and didn't want to talk about it much. His area got a little muddy from the wind, but it didn't hurt him as badly as he thought. He got the bites, but lost a few fish. One fish he lost was because he was used to using a MotorGuide trolling motor, but like all Top 10 competitors he was fishing out of a Tour-supplied boat equipped with a Minn Kota.
Despite all that, he's looking forward to tomorrow. "I'm definitely not leaving," he said of his area. "I had 3 days of practice, and found this area on my first day here. I tried to duplicate it or find something new the next 2 days, but I didn't.
"It's loaded. It has a lot of big fish." He thinks if he can catch at least 12-14 pounds tomorrow he has a shot at winning.
Rojas Still Optimistic
Rojas is 6 pounds out of 1st, but that's not much on Okeechobee. The big questions are whether the weather will let him sight-fish tomorrow (the wind is supposed to lay down a little) and whether the big fish are there, and are ready.
"The wind blew out of the north today and made it a little more difficult to see (the fish)," he said. That made sight-fishing less productive. "I caught some of my fish with a worm, some on a prop bait in morning and some on a spinnerbait," he noted.
Even though the big bite eluded him today, it might be there tomorrow. "I worked on an 8-pounder for 20 minutes and couldn't get her to bite. Maybe tomorrow it will be different.
"Very few females were caught today. I think the big fish didn't bite today, but maybe tomorrow they will.
"I'm still in this thing. If I can bust a big bag tomorrow, it's possible (to win). I know I'm in the right area. The potential's there."
Nixon Going North
Nixon is in last place with one bass weighing just 13 ounces. "The water came up on the south end of the lake about 8 inches, so I couldn't read the vegetation I was keying on," he said. "I couldn't read my grasslines, and the fish wouldn't bite either. The cold front really shut them down in the open water where I was chasing them."
Did he think about moving? "When you develop a pattern on one end of the lake, it's very difficult to crank up and go in the other direction," he said. "I thought about it, but when you catch most of your fish after 11:00, you really can't jump up and take off. You fully anticipate a few to start biting, but they just never did today."
Tomorrow he's running up north. "I'm going to an area where I found some fish 2-3 days ago. All the boats are gone, so I should be able to go back to some areas and catch some fish."
> The last time Nixon "just went fishing" on the final day of an FLW event was the 2002 Wheeler FLW, which he won. But that was the last year when FLW zeroed weights after day 3. Could it happen again anyway? "I'd say the odds are pretty bad for that happening," he said. "It's possible, but a 28-30 pound bag would take premier fishing conditions, and tomorrow will be pretty doggone cold for south Florida. It won't be easy to catch big fish tomorrow."
Notable
> Fukae, in 5th, isn't just some Japanese guy who's getting lucky. He's the hottest stick in Japan, and is showing that he has what it takes to give Americans a run for their money. On his performance today, he said: "I couldn't perform my main pattern (sight-fishing) because the waves were too strong."
> Parker missed about 4 fish today. "You can't afford to miss bites like I did today," he said.
> Bowen "just had a tough day. The fish weren't holding onto my bait."
> Lillegard was "disappointed about today," but wasn't disappointed about making the Top 10. "It's a wonderful start to the season. If you make a Top 10 like this, it gives you one break if you happen to blow a tournament. I may go to new areas tomorrow. I don't have anything to lose."
> A few anglers mentioned that the water rose in the south end of the lake. That isn't from rain. A north wind pushes the water south.
> FLW host Charlie Evans mentioned that Rojas is the record-holder for the largest limit in a tournament. Another example of FLW not being afraid to acknowledge impressive angler stats, no matter where they're earned.
Notable: Co-Anglers
> Kinami Baits owner Derek Yamamoto finished 2nd on the co-angler side with 6-08. Florida's Robert Kimbrough beat him by 3 ounces and won $15,000 -- using a Kinami bait.
> North Carolina's Alex Ormand, who finished 6th, had the quote of the day. He weighed in three fish for 2-06 and said: "I need a biscuit to put those on." He also said: "All children grow up with sports heroes, and mine was Larry Nixon. I got to fish with my hero today, and I wouldn't trade that for anything."
Weather Forecast
From the weather channel. Note the cold night tonight and the change in wind direction for tomorrow.
> Tonight -- Jan 23 -- Clear -- 37°
> Sat, Jan 24 -- Sunny -- high of 68°
- Wind: From the W at 6 mph
Day 3 Standings
1. Ray Scheide -- Russellville, Ar -- 5, 14-08
2. Chris McCall -- Jasper, Tx -- 5, 13-06
3. David Dudley -- Manteo, Nc -- 5, 10-12
4. Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa -- 5, 10-05
5. Shinichi Fukae -- Osaka Japan -- 5, 10-02
6. James Parker -- Fayetteville, Nc -- 5, 9-06
7. Dean Rojas -- Grand Saline, Tx -- 5, 8-06
8. Rick Lillegard -- Atkinson, Nh -- 1, 1-11
9. Billy Bowen Jr -- Ocala, Fl -- 1, 1-01
10. Larry Nixon -- Bee Branch, Ar -- 1, 0-13
Chris McCall feels a lot of big fish are still in his area.
