CLEWISTON, Fla. — Last February, Tyler Rivet won the 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series season opener on Lake Okeechobee. After four days, Rivet racked up a winning weight of 86 pounds, 15 ounces of largemouth from the famed big bass fishery.
Will that weight range be repeated this week at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open presented by SEVIIN? The short answer is maybe. Like last year, and anytime during February in south Florida, the outcome will be determined by the cycle of cold and warm conditions. Add water clarity to that complex equation. More on that to come.
Warming trends following cold fronts stimulate bass activity, with the fish on the brink of transitioning from prespawn to spawn. If the opposite happens the bass slam on the brakes of the most anticipated ritual in Florida bass fishing.
The Elite anglers launched from the north end of the lake, where Rivet won in the Kissimmee River. A warmup followed a cold front, and second- and third-place finishers Clark Wendlandt and Brandon Cobb fished on the south end, favoring a prespawn bite that moved to spawning. The Elite tournament played out Feb. 16-19, 2023.
This year, the Open is headquartered at Roland Martin’s Marina on the south end in Clewiston. A similar weather pattern is developing, however on the cooler end of the spawning cycle.
Northerly winds powering a dry cold front pass through on Wednesday with diminishing winds and a gradual warmup in the forecast for the competition. Saturday’s high could reach 75 degrees.
A differentiating factor is the lower water level compared to last year, meaning less surface vegetation coverage. Here’s what the anglers had to say about it, the weather, spawning stages, winning weights and more when interviewed on Wednesday.
Water clarity wildcard
Arkansas pro Mike McClelland, competing in the Tackle Warehouse Elite Qualifiers, added this twist to the conditions in play.
“We are going to be chasing the water color,” he said. “Between the cycles of cold fronts and warming trends the wind direction has been all over the compass.”
The ongoing cycle of fronts driven by northerly and southerly winds keeps the lake turbid throughout and into the marshes. The unstable wind direction causes the stained water to shift around the lake, creating a challenge for patterning bass in clear water.
“There really hasn’t been enough time between the fronts to allow the lake to settle, bring the muddy water out of the marshes before another system comes through,” he said. “It’s like a washing machine kind of effect.”
Following Wednesday’s dry front with northerly winds up to 20 mph, the forecast calls for diminishing winds throughout the tournament.
“The key will be finding the right water color,” McClelland said.
Water level woes
The high-water level was the recurring theme of interviews on competition eve. Lake Okeechobee’s water level is at 16 feet, or at the level when plants begin to die.
“What the unprecedented high-water levels are doing is consolidating the bite into five or six key areas around the lake,” said lifelong Clewiston resident Scott Martin.
Opens EQ angler Kyle Austin said the lake is fishing one-quarter of its overall size based on Martin’s comment.
“There will be guys fishing on top of each other, so what I’m going to try and do is find unpressured areas,” Austin said.
Opens EQ angler Joey Nania added that boat draw number and check-in time will be factored into his crowd control fishing plan.
“An early draw will obviously be a plus on Thursday so you can capitalize on the key areas while they are fresh,” he said. “After that, you’ll be chasing the two or three productive bite windows.”
Nania explained the second window occurs after the first round of anglers leaves a first-stop fishing area.
“When they leave, the pressure comes off, and you can potentially capitalize on the area when it settles down,” he said.
“There’s also an afternoon bite that will play as the water begins to reach its warmest temperature of the day, so a guy in a later flight could do well.”
Spawning cycle in play
The average water temperature of Lake Okeechobee is between 65 and 68 degrees, with a full moon having just occurred during 80-degree days.
“We had a big wave of spawners in November and then it mostly shut down during December,” said Opens EQ angler Charlie Hartley, who spends the winter here. “We’ve had overnight temperatures in the upper 40s, which has slowed it down, but there is another big wave set to come up and spawn.”
Finding spawners with forward-facing sonar could be a challenge in the turbid, unsettled water of the lake. Sight fishing will be out of the game plan.
“It’s really difficult to separate the bass from the gar, which are everywhere,” said Nania. “There is so much suspended sediment, root wads and decaying vegetation from the high water it’s difficult to see your targets.”
With all the challenges ahead, there is one unanimous prediction by the anglers. Most predict the winning weight will be in the 70-pound range. Which for this time of year is about as good as it gets anywhere in the nation.
