Lake Okeechobee Top 10 Baits
A different sort of Florida standby takes center stage
Typically, winter tournaments on Lake Okeechobee feature a bevy of flipping baits in the top 10. Though plenty of flipping went down at the Costa FLW Series Southeastern Division opener presented by Power-Pole, casting and winding took center stage this time.
1. For the win, Taylor Ashley used two 3/8-ounce Dirty Jigs No-Jack Swim Jigs – one white and one green pumpkin. He trailered them with Zoom Super Speed Craws in matching colors and fished them on 65-pound-test PowerPro braid
2. Josh Weaver did the vast majority of his damage with a SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog and also caught some fish flipping a black and blue Zoom UV Speed Craw and a Zoom Z-Craw.
3. Derek Yasinski did his damage with a pair of moving baits: a Greenfish Tackle Swim Jig and a Z-Man Custom ChatterBait.
4. Hanging tight in fourth, Gary Milicevic caught most of his weight on a 3/4-ounce Medlock Double Guard Flipping Jig with a Zoom Super Chunk and a black SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog.
5. Scott Byrd flipped a Fitzgerald Mega Jig with a Big Bite Baits YoDaddy for a trailer. He also swam a Gambler Burner Worm with a 3/16-ounce weight.
6. Robert Beatty utilized a handful of baits that included a Gambler Burner Worm with a 3/16-ounce weight, a Bitter’s Vibe with a 1/8-ounce weight and a Gambler Ace.
7. Brian Holder took it to ’em with a gold War Eagle Spinnerbait.
8. Buddy Gross did his work with a 1/2-ounce black and blue swim jig paired with a green pumpkin Zoom Z-Craw as well as a black and blue Z-Craw Jr. with a 1-ounce weight and a short green pumpkin punch skirt.
9. Also winding along, Bill Tervin says he caught his fish on a penetration-colored Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper and a Gambler Southern Swim Jig with a Houdini-colored Dipper for a trailer.
10. Ron Nelson lost a pile of fish (which tends to happen on Okeechobee), but he did get enough in the boat for a top 10. His baits of choice were a Zoom Magnum Ultra Vibe Speed Worm and a Dirty Jigs Tour Level No-Jack Punchin’ Jig with a Damiki Knockout trailer.