Okeechobee FLW

(Elias fell to 46th after catching just an 8-11 limit today.) I never got a good bite. I went to the spot I fished yesterday first and caught one fish, my best fish, about a 2 1/2-pounder. I stayed 2 hours and never got another bite. The Japanese guy who was in 3rd or 4th place was on a 5-pounder there, and the whole time I was in there he was still trying to catch her.

At about 11:30 I panicked and ran south. I guess it was a mistake because I ended up catching them up there. I didn't really panic. I really thought I could go down (south) and catch them. I think the wind did something to that area.

I feel like I made a big mistake today, leaving the north. If I had it to do over again, I would've slowed way down. And I should have flipped all day. I knew I should have. But I kept trying to catch a limit first. And when I went down south, I had no flipping stuff down there.

I needed those world ranking points (to qualify for the Top Gun Championship). I was trying to get a Top 20. Maybe the next leg I'll get one.

I was using 7' 6" Quantum PT flipping stick, 600 PT reel, 50-pound Trilene Stealth (braid), 1 1/2-ounce Water Gremlin weight, 5/0 Gamakatsu hook, and a Mann's Super Finesse worm (watermelon) and a locally-made crawfish (same color). I also fished a finesse worm with 20-pound Fireline and an 1/8-ounce Water Gremlin weight. I was flipping heavy vegetation around where the beds were, then just pitching to holes in eelgrass where they were spawning.

(Murray ended up 131st after almost doubling his catch to 11-05 today.) I went down south to an area I hadn't fished since practice, started with Senkos and then flipped. I caught quite a few fish, but just never got a big bite again. My partner got one about 5 behind me so a few goods ones were in there.

I think the fish were there. I will make some adjustments on this place (the next time). I found that if you're not on fish, you need to be out of the area. Because when you find them, they bite.

(This tournament was) typical of forcing something. I fished the way I wanted to fish instead of the way the fish wanted me to fish. When you get used to all the breaks going right, you sort of see if it will happen (again), and it just didn't (this time).

I also don't like separating practice (he practice for 3 days, then was away for a few days doing seminars, then came back for 2 days). I was fishing based on pre-practice and I don't like doing that. I like to practice right before a tournament.

I caught most of my fish fishing a Kinami Norie's Bug (black/blue) with an 8- foot Lamiglas flipping stick (heavy), Shimano Castaic reel, Yamamoto Sugoi Fluorocarbon (25-pound test), 1-ounce Kanji tungsten weight and 3/0 Owner hook. I was looking for a good mix of grass. That seemed to be where the better fish were. But I didn't go back far enough into it, I think.

(McDonald fell to 148th after boating just 3 fish for 8-00.) It started out pretty good. I caught 3 fish off the beds, then took off to run to another area and the motor went down (Editor's note: He was running a Merc because he doesn't have his new Yamaha yet). I spent the next hour and a half trying to find someone to take me in when it was time to go in, and fish my way along as I went. I didn't catch any more fish.

I'm frustrated, but all in all I had a good time -- let's put it that way. After the practice I had, I was frustrated that I didn't do better in the tournament. I learned that you need to cover as much water as you can, and don't ever think you have anything to yourself.

I was fishing a 7' 6" heavy-action Kistler Helium rod, Shimano Chronarch reel, 20-pound P-Line, 3/0 Gamakatsu wide- gap hook, 1/16-ounce weight and Zoom Z-nail (Senko-type bait) in junebug. I was catching the bed-fish on a white Zoom tube. I was fishing the cattails, looking for where they made a pocket. And it had to be a clean bottom.

I'm excited to go to Atchafalaya. There's a lot more flipping and pitching there than we had here, so that suits my style of fishing a little better.

Mechanical failure you just have to learn to deal with. It's not the first time it happened. I definitely would have liked to have finished higher than I did, but it will make me try harder next time.

(Elias is tied for 19th with 17-03.) I fished great today. I lost one stinkin' fish and it was the biggest one I had on all day.

I felt like I could do well, but I didn't know because I found this area that had lot of bedders in it. I drew out boat 105, so I was real reluctant to go because my other area was in the total opposite direction. I made up my mind to go to the other area and work hard all day to get 15-16 pounds out of it. But 10 minutes before takeoff I decided to go to (the bedding area) because it was the only area I knew where I could catch over 20.

When I got there one guy was there and he'd already caught four fish. Only 3-4 boats came through the area and they weren't hanging around.

I don't know how many people fished the area I was going to go to today, so I'll have to have a debate with myself tonight to decide where I'll go tomorrow. I need to catch pretty close to what I caught today. I have some 'Trap fish I feel like I can get a 9-10 pound limit off, and I might go there if I get in trouble.

(Murray is in 172nd with a 6-04 limit.) I tried to outsmart myself today. I stayed close, about 5-10 miles from the ramp. No boats were around -- and everyone said that if there's not any boats, you're probably not on fish. They were right today, for me.

It was just little ones everywhere. The big ones were nowhere to be found. Halfway through the day I wanted to run. But I told myself, 'No, you might catch them in the middle of the day,' so I stuck it out -- and went down with the ship.

I culled like 35 fish to catch those 6 pounds. I never had one big bite. Not even one good bite. I sort of worried about it, but I didn't want to change (areas). I should've. I hate fishing in crowds, and I outsmarted myself.

Tomorrow I'll so south to where I caught a bunch. I sort of planned on going south regardless of how I did today. A few big ones are there. I'll stay out of everyone's way, try to catch a 16-20 pound bag and get some points.

(McDonald is in 134th with an 8-04 limit.) I don't know what happened. They caught them all around me. I never got a big bite today and only had seven fish. It's the worst day I've had down here.

A front with high pressure came in today. The fish are starting to come in on the beds big-time. I caught two off the beds. They were small ones, but I saw some big fish caught off the beds.

I'll go back to the same area tomorrow. They caught them all around me today, and more fish are there. I'll just go back and do the same thing and keep checking those beds because a ton of beds are in that area.

Today I went down south and fished some areas I fished last week to see how the fish looked. A lot of boats were down there, a lot of pressure. I flipped a couple, one about 3 pounds.

Then I went to the main area where people were catching them, flipped worms and Senkos and caught quite a few, but again, no big ones. Sort of like yesterday. Quite a few fish but no size. One big bite would make a big difference.

Tomorrow I'll stay local, cover a lot of water and probably flip a lot, and just hope for one big bite.

A little cold front came through last night and the air cooled off. It was pretty cloudy this morning, but the sun came out late in the afternoon.

Basically everything fished the same today. I went to a couple new areas and was able to catch them the same way I've been catching them, fishing some scattered stuff out in open water and a few flipping.

The weather the next few days looks like it will stay the same, so everything really looks good. I got my gameplan completed today and I'm pretty confident in what I'm going to go do. I'll try to catch a limit, and then, if I can get a break, maybe get a big one or two.

I practiced 3 days last week, then I had to go do some seminars and I just got back today. So far every day I've been out, I've had one good bite -- a 5 and two 10s (over 3 days). Everything else has been small: pound and pound-and-a- quarter fish. If you get one big bite you may be good, but there aren't many. There's plenty of little ones though.

I haven't really talked to many guys. I don't know if anyone is on 2-3 pounders really strong. I definitely haven't been on them. It's pretty weird. Last year there were a lot of 2-pounders, and this year there are a lot of 1-pounders and a few giants. If you get a big bite, you'll be right there. But if you don't, you're weighing in 6 pounds.

Today it was a little breezy and real warm, about 77-78 degrees. It was cloudy in the morning and then cleared off. Beautiful fishing conditions. I'm sure the fish are spawning. I haven't seen many, but a bunch were up a few weeks ago and then it got cold.

Tomorrow I'll go to another area. I've been hitting one each day, and tomorrow I'll go to where I plan on fishing the tournament. I haven't been there for almost 6 days. I know something's changed. I want to see what happened to it.

I'd never seen the lake before Friday morning. I like it. Everything down here looks good, but it's not.

Roger Crafton and Wes Thomas are helping me, and we're just staying on the south end. Practice has been good. We've caught quite a few fish. I caught two giant fish, 9 pounds plus -- one on Saturday and another one today. I watched Wes catch one over 6 today too.

Other than those two big fish, I caught one other fish around 4 pounds and everything else has been a pound and a half or 2 pounds. It's been a trip of a lifetime so far, catching numbers (15-20 fish a day) and great big fish like that.

I'm going to look at some different areas tomorrow, but I pretty much know what I'm going to do during the tournament. I've spent most of my practice time on one or two areas, just trying to learn those. I've tried not to confuse myself.