CLEWISTON, Fla. –Jessie Mizell of Myakka City, Fla. brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 22 pounds, 7 ounces to win the Toyota Series event at Lake Okeechobee and earn the top payout of $51,500. Over the three days of competition Mizell weighed in 15 bass totaling 51-15 to pick up the win by a 1-09 over Bobby Bakewell of Orlando, who finished second with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 50-06, good for $20,000.
Mizell came into the final day of competition with a 13-pound deficit to Bakewell, but as weather conditions – namely the strong winds – shifted on the final day, he said he knew he still had a chance.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” said Mizell. “This is my home lake, but I always fell a little short. So, to finally capitalize and take it it means a lot.”
While the strong winds made for a stingy bite, Bakewell had found a shell-bed pattern far up the river that was less weather-dependent. However, once the area dried up and the fish moved out, Bakewell only brought in four fish on the final day – and that was all the margin that Mizell needed.
According to Mizell, Okeechobee has tides caused by sustained winds that can raise the water levels in an area as much as 6 inches while muddying up the water. Once that wind dies, there’s a “backflush” of clean water coming in from the marshes as the water recedes.
Armed with his knowledge of the Big O, its “tides” and a special frog, Mizell went into the Championship Round primed and ready to make a massive comeback.
“Those mud mats make a cavern underneath and the bass will sit around the edge of that or around sparse cattails or buggy whips nearby,” said Mizell. “I’d make very specific casts to the edges of those mats with my frog and always working it like there was a fish watching it.”
Mizell said he caught the majority of his fish on a customized SPRO Bronzeye Poppin Frog 70, mixing in a Medlock Jig, and said he could have made a run at a 30-pound bag if he hadn’t lost a pair of 7-pounders.
“Had it been different, I might care more about those two lost fish, but right now this is a dream come true,” Mizell said.
Here are the final totals for the Top 10:
1st: Jessie Mizell, Myakka City, Fla., 15 bass, 51-15, $51,500
2nd: Bobby Bakewell, Orlando, Fla., 14 bass, 50-6, $20,000
3rd: Brandon Medlock, Lake Placid, Fla., 15 bass, 49-10, $14,250
4th: Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 15 bass, 45-4, $12,250
5th: Destin Lesesne, Blue Ridge, Ga., 15 bass, 45-2, $11,250
6th: Alex Terescenko, West Palm Beach, Fla., 15 bass, 45-0, $9,125
7th: Jared McMillan, Clewiston, Fla., 13 bass, 44-11, $8,900
8th: Marlon Crowder, Tampa, Fla., 15 bass, 42-12, $7,400
9th: Dillon McMillan, Vero Beach, Fla., 15 bass, 41-14, $5,900
10th: Casey Warren, Longs, S.C., 15 bass, 41-5, $4,500
Crowder won the $500 Day 1 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division Thursday with a bass weighing 7-13. On Friday, Michael Catt of Jacksonville, Fla. took the award with an 8-01 fish.
