With water temperatures hovering around 70 degrees, there will be a wide array of productive techniques today for the start of the SiteOne Bassmaster Elte at Lake Okeechobee. Sight fishing extraordinaire Drew Benton pointed out that sight fishing is likely off the table as a big player. He said the high-water level and poor water clarity were to blame for that. But to make no mistake, the fish would still be bedding.
So blind fishing for bedders will be a big deal this week. This looks like pitching a light Texas rig with a craw, creature bait or soft plastic stick bait to clumps of vegetation, all the while envisioning a bass bedding there. Then there are the reeling baits like vibrating jigs, topwater swimbaits and lipless crankbaits. The swimbaits can be reeled over bedders to trigger the bass to bite. And the other two are more for targeting immediate pre-spawn and post-spawn bass near the spawning grounds.
And then of course there’s punching, which consists of dobbing heavy tungsten weights trailed by soft plastic lures over into matted vegetation. This is always important in Florida, and one of the best ways to get a big bite.
