OKEECHOBEE — Brandon Medlock and Dan Blanchard can tell any bass angler that Lake Okeechobee is fishing about as good as a body of water can.
Over the weekend, Medlock won the FLW Outdoors EverStart Series Southeast Division season-opening event and its $35,000 paycheck with a 15-pound, 3-ounce bag limit Saturday. In three days, Medlock of Lake Placid bagged 68 pounds, 2 ounces for a whopping 4.5 pound per fish average. That was aided by the tournament's largest catch, a 10-pound, 8-ouncer on Friday that earned an additional $300.
Blanchard of Sarasota won the FLW Bass Fishing League Gator Division opener Jan. 14 bagging a 30-pound, 6-ounce limit or 6.1-pound average for $6,000.
That's great news as two of bass fishing's biggest events along with other key events for up and coming bassers are set to fish on Florida's largest lake in the next eight weeks.
The Wal-Mart FLW Tour will field close to 200 anglers Feb. 9-12 with $100,000 top prize on the line for boaters and $20,000 top prize for the top co-angler. Roland Martin's Marina in Clewiston will serve as the take-off location each morning. Weigh-ins will take place at the marina on the first two days before shifting over to the Clewiston Wal-Mart for the final two days. The complete schedule, entry deadlines and more information is available at www.flwoutdoors.com.
March 22-25, the Bassmaster Elite Series and its top-drawing names will fish the Power Pole Slam out of Scott Driver Park west of Okeechobee. Visit www.bassmaster.com for details.
The FLW's BFL Gator Division returns to the lake Feb. 18. The BASS Federation Southern Divisional will fish out of Clewiston March 28-30.
Expect to hear about record catches as was seen last year during the FLW Tour Okeechobee stop when Brandon McMillan crushed the tournament organization's all-time catch totals with 106 pounds in four days of fishing. Runner-up Randall Tharp (102 pounds) and third place Chad Prough (100) also topped the century mark which rattled the bass world.
Speaking of McMillan, he finished ninth Saturday despite being reluctant to fish only three weeks after his father's senseless murder at the family-owned store in Belle Glade. McMillan said his family urged him to compete to honor his father's memory. Jimmy McMillan had also posted FLW victories on Lake Okeechobee winning the FLW Series event there in 2009. Saturday's top two Treasure Coast finishers were co-anglers Kevin Spooner of Vero Beach with 26-pounds, 7-ounces for 12 bass to place third and earn $4,000, and Ron Buck of Port St. Lucie who finished ninth with 11 bass weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces for $1,000.
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