Okeechobee BASSMASTER

I only got 3-4 bites today and weighed in 3 keepers. The wind really made it hard to fish what I was fishing. The line had such a bow in it, you couldn't feel anything. It was a mess.

I understand what's going on. It was just really kind of weird. The flipping fish didn't bite, the water changed and it cooled off. It was an exact replica of the last day of practice except that the wind was going 20 mph.

Right off the bat I caught a 5-pounder, but I didn't get any more bites (flipping). I stayed with it, then ran up to the north side. It took a long time because you had to run the whole rim. I only had 45 minutes and got 2 on that Mann's Buzzerk Shad. I guess I should have done that all day, but I was trying to bust a big sack.

The big fish are under the mats, for the most part. They're keying on the real matted stuff around reeds. You really have to take your time and douse your bait in a bunch of places in one area of the mat. The guys who are just blowing in and out aren't getting many bites.

Today I caught a limit that weighed 10-02. I'm happy about it because I caught most of my fish in areas I hadn't been in before. Early this morning, before the wind really started blowing and the clouds came in, I tried to catch a few off the beds. I caught a 2-pounder, and then the wind came up and it looked to me like I ought to be throwing a spinnerbait. I did that, changed areas and caught 3-4 on my first drift. On my second drift I caught a couple more and then moved around. I found an area that seemed to hold fish and caught some more. I had 12 keepers altogether. Ten came on the spinnerbait. I also caught one on a Mann's 1-.

Today I was fishing the South end of the lake. I fished 3-4 different areas, but all had to have the same type of vegetation. (Editor's note: Because Crews is fishing next week's FLW on Okeechobee, we'll hold off on saying exactly what he did until after that's over, but it's a cool pattern.)

For bed-fishing I was using a little Mizmo tube in white with a 1/4-ounce weight. Today I threw a Gold Trap Leverage spinnerbait (3/8-ounce, double Colorado blades in silver and gold, black/gold skirt). I used the same set-up for both baits: 20-pound Triple Fish Camo line, a 7-foot medium-heavy Shimano V rod and Shimano Calais reel.

Photo: Scott Rob/Auten Interactive

Today I lost about a 7-pounder -- I got her head out of the thick stuff, then lost her. Otherwise I didn't get many bites. I don't know what happened -- maybe because it warmed up. I had 6 bites today, and weighed in a limit.

The wind tomorrow might make me take an extra 30 minutes to get where I'm going. I went across the lake today because I thought the wind had laid down. But there were 5-footers out there. We took a beating out there.

I started out flipping some heavy cover and caught one about 13 inches long. I stayed with it about another hour, but got no bites. I went to plan B on the other end of lake, threw a Senko and caught 3 shorts. So I dropped back to plan C: At about 10:30 or so, I went to area where I'd seen a few beds. Some bucks were on the beds. It took me about an hour, but I got 4 more, then caught one more and culled. Then I changed a little bit, caught 3-4 and culled up a little bit more.

Just before it was time to go back, I went to another area and lost a really good one -- about a 3-4 pounder. I had 8-13 and I may be in the money.

I'm not really sure about tomorrow. In the area I caught limit out of, a lot of boats were in there. It's probably picked pretty clean, but I think I can catch a few more in there. I don't know about 5, though. I'll keep looking, keep the trolling motor on high. But it's supposed to be windy tomorrow, and that may not be the best conditions for looking at them.

Today was my best day. I found an area that has a lot of fish in it. I don't know how many other people found it, but not many fished through it today. I got about 20 bites -- I stuck a 5-pounder and 2 1/2-pounder, and shook the rest off. I feel pretty good about it. Maybe they'll stay there tomorrow.

I was fired-up yesterday. I was catching them on a new bait by Mann's called a Buzzerk Shad. You can buzz it on top or jerk it underwater like a soft jerkbait. The tail flips great. They were nailing that thing yesterday. I had about 15 good bites on it, but I don't know how big they were because there was no hook in it. But that pattern went bad today because of the big north wind. It was really cold today. I'm going to flip the first part of the day, then try the Shad. I'm not worried about (other competitors) reading about it (on BassFan.com). (Topwater) is a well-known pattern, and they can't get that bait (laughs).

I feel really good about tomorrow, though I've done this long enough to know that anything can happen. If I'm not covered up with boats tomorrow, there's no reason I shouldn't have a good bag.

I didn't have that good of a day. I caught one keeper and one short. I tried some new stuff, then went back to a couple of places where I'd caught them, but didn't catch them today. The wind was blowing hard this morning and calmed down later. I wish could have fished later than I did, but I had to get my tackle together before the pre-tournament meeting.

I'm going to start out fishing one area that isn't too far away. I won't give it a long time because if they're there, they'll go ahead and bite really quickly. If that doesn't happen and I don't sense it's right, I'll pack it up and run all the way to the other end of the lake. I have an area where I caught a few keepers on the first day and that 7-pounder. I'll have to keep practicing as the tournament goes. Keep fishing.

If I can go out there and get a fish or two pretty quickly, I think should be all right. If not, I think I can get some at my second spot. Once get a couple of fish in the livewell, I'll settle down and be able to catch them, hopefully.

I don't think it got over 60 degrees here today. It was pretty chilly and fairly windy, with the wind out of the north. I mostly flipped today, and had 9 bites. I caught 5, 4 were keepers, one a 5-pounder. One good bite a day -- I hope I can keep it up through the weekend.

I feel like I'm getting a little bit better grasp of where fish are in some different areas. I'm covering a lot of water. I'm running into boats here and there, but I haven't seen one big concentration of boats yet. I don't know where they are.

I thought the lake was kind of hard today. I saw a few spawning fish and fished a lot of areas where I normally catch fish, but I didn't do very well. I only had 10-11 pounds today and that's not anywhere near enough.

The lake is a lot different from last year. The water has come up and there's a lot more vegetation. You have to get way back in to get to the spawning areas, and it's hard to get around back there. It will be kind of difficult.

There was no wind at all today. One of the main areas that produces a lot of fish is the North Shore, the open eelgrass flats. But the (hydrilla) gnats were so bad out there you couldn't breathe. Yeah, I have one of those netted hats, but I left it at home. It was stupid of me. I have to get another one. I wish I went to the south today because it looks like today will be the only day we won't have wind. They're calling for "breezy" tomorrow, and when they say that around here, it usually means 20 mph winds.

I went to a Berkley meeting tonight about some new products and some things they'd like to see us do to get their products mentioned in articles and other places, things like that. It was the first meeting we've had for the new year and we were going over some things. They have a new line called Iron Silk, and it's a really good line. You can feel your bait and strikes really well, and it's a tough line. I like it.

The lake isn't as good as I was hoping as it would be. After a bad week, you hope to get right on good fishing, but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. The water temperature is in the upper '50s and low '60s which is pretty cold for this lake. The fish want to spawn, but the water's too cold so they're just hanging out and waiting.

I caught 9 keepers and had one 7-pounder. The 7-pounder was the only bite that I got fishing that way. It wasn't part of a pattern. Whenever a big fish is part of a pattern, it's a lot better than if it's just by itself, though it was fun and cool to catch that big fish.

I did catch a limit in about an hour on a certain pattern, and later on I realized that that was better than I thought (several pros caught only a few keepers all day). If I'm ahead of anybody, I'm feeling good.

I've put the Harris Chain behind me. I've moved on. I'm just going to fish every tournament the best that I can.