By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Lake Okeechobee is a bucket-list destination for a lot of bass anglers around the world. However, it hasn't been a real fun place to fish for most of the MLF Bass Pro Tour anglers over the past two days.

Post-frontal conditions featuring relentless powerful winds. Water that's been muddied up, displaced, or both by the wind. Falling water temperatures. As anybody familiar with Florida bass fishing knows, such a combination causes the majority of Sunshine State bass to lose all interest in opening their mouths.

The initial Group B qualifying round was even less fruitful that Group A's had been the day before. The 40 anglers combined to catch only 71 scoreable fish (2 pounds or heavier), with only one of them boating more than five.

That man was Dean Rojas, who led the round with 20-05 on seven fish. After being shut out in the opening period, he caught four for 10-15 in the second period and three for 9-06 in the third. His primary offering was a bladed jig with a soft-plastic swimbait trailer.

"The day didn't start out great, but it finished fantastic," said Rojas, who won last year's event at Smith Lake but had only one other finish in the top half of the field. "I probably caught 20 to 25 fish, but a lot of them weighed 1-15 or 1-14. My main area got muddied up and I had to move around to find clear water, and I was able to capitalize. I'm excited to be winning Group B, but we've got another (qualifying) day to go.

"It's always something different at Okeechobee; it's such a big lake with a lot of variety. I just love this place."

Britt Myers, who failed to advance to a single Knockout Round in 2019 but already has a 12th-place finish on his résumé this year from Lake Eufaula, led for most of the day until Rojas surpassed him in the final period. Working an offshore location, he caught two 5-pound-plus fish in the first period and went on to add three more scoreables for a 2nd-place haul of 18-04.

Andy Montgomery was next with 17-02 on four fish, then there was a drop of 4 1/2 pounds down to Mark Rose in 4th with 17-02 (five fish). Anthony Gagliardi completed the top 5 with 12-09 (three fish), with more than half of his total coming on one 6-09 bite in the opening period.

The lower half of the top 10 consisted of Jacob Powroznik with 11-05 (five fish), Mark Daniels Jr. with 8-15 (three), Josh Bertrand with 8-13 (two), Alton Jones Jr. with 7-12 (two) and John Murray with 7-11 (three). Boyd Duckett currently sits in the 20th-place cut position with 4-03, all of which came on a single bite.

Seven anglers in Group A failed to catch a scoreable fish on Friday, and Group B exceeded that number by two as Brandon Coulter, Brent Ehrler, Greg Vinson, Jeff Sprague, Jordan Lee, Marty Robinson, Paul Elias, Stephen Browning and Tim Horton all recorded goose eggs.

Scott Suggs took big-bass honors for the day with a 6-11. It was his only scoreable fish and it left him in 13th place.

There's hope that the bite will pick up from here on out as the weather forecast calls for warmer temperatures and decreased winds. For Sunday, the wind is predicted to shift from the north to the east and top out at 11 mph.



Weather Forecast

> Sun., Feb. 23 – Mostly Sunny - 76°/57°
- Wind: From the ENE at 11 mph

> Mon., Feb. 24 – Partly Cloudy - 81°/61°
- Wind: From the SE at 10 mph

> Tues., Feb. 25 – Partly Cloudy - 87°/67°
- Wind: From the S at 12 mph

> Weds., Feb. 26 – Thunderstorms - 83°/57°
- Wind: From the SW at 12 mph

Group B – Qualifying Round 1

(Weight of angler's largest bass in parentheses)

1. Dean Rojas -- 7, 20-05 -- (3-13)

2. Britt Myers -- 5, 18-04 -- (5-12)

3. Andy Montgomery -- 4, 17-02 -- (6-06)

4. Mark Rose -- 5, 12-10 -- (3-07)

5. Anthony Gagliardi -- 3, 12-08 -- (6-09)

6. Jacob Powroznik -- 5, 11-05 -- (2-08)

7. Mark Daniels, Jr. -- 3, 8-15 -- (4-08)

8. Josh Bertrand -- 2, 8-13 -- (6-03)

9. Alton Jones Jr. -- 2, 7-12 -- (4-06)

10. John Murray -- 3, 7-11 -- (3-05)

11. Chris Lane -- 3, 7-11 -- (3-03)

12. Jared Lintner -- 3, 7-02 -- (2-08)

13. Scott Suggs -- 1, 6-11 -- (6-11)

14. Terry Scroggins -- 2, 6-07 -- (3-12)

15. Tommy Biffle -- 2, 6-04 -- (3-06)

16. Roy Hawk -- 2, 6-02 -- (3-06)

17. Randy Howell -- 2, 5-03 -- (2-14)

18. Greg Hackney -- 2, 4-05 -- (2-03)

19. Aaron Martens -- 2, 4-05 -- (2-03)

20. Boyd Duckett -- 1, 4-03 -- (4-03)

21. Todd Faircloth -- 2, 4-00 -- (2-00)

22. Bryan Thrift -- 1, 4-00 -- (4-00)

23. Brent Chapman -- 1, 3-09 -- (3-09)

24. Cliff Pace -- 1, 2-14 -- (2-14)

25. Jeff Kriet -- 1, 2-12 -- (2-12)

26. Matt Lee -- 1, 2-07 -- (2-07)

27. Shin Fukae -- 1, 2-06 -- (2-06)

28. Alton Jones -- 1, 2-05 -- (2-05)

29. James Elam -- 1, 2-04 -- (2-04)

30. Gary Klein -- 1, 2-03 -- (2-03)

31. Andy Morgan -- 1, 2-01 -- (2-01)

32. Brandon Coulter -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)

33. Brent Ehrler -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)

34. Greg Vinson -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)

35. Jeff Sprague -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)

36. Jordan Lee -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)

37. Marty Robinson -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)

38. Paul Elias -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)

39. Stephen Browning -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)

40. Timmy Horton -- 0, 0-00 -- (0-00)