OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — Bernie Schultz found this spot in January, before Lake Okeechobee went off-limits to Elite Series anglers. However, plenty of other anglers found it too, as illustrated by the number of bass that came from this area in a tournament last week, and the number of anglers who showed up there Thursday.
However, the 68-year-old Gainesville, Fla., resident has learned a few tricks in his BASS career that began in 1982. Schultz took the Day 1 lead in the SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee with a 28-pound, 11-ounce five-bass limit. His bag included two 8-pound bass, including an 8-10 big bass of the day.
“I’m fishing slow,” he said. “I’m in an area where there’s a lot of pressure. I found it back in January. I knew it would be good. Unfortunately, the tournament that preceded ours made it famous. It was heartbreaking to watch. But anyway, there are still some (bass) there. I really don’t know what to expect (Friday). Just fishing slow is the whole key.”
Schultz called it a “salad bowl” – the perfect mix of aquatic vegetation in an area about three feet deep, which has dollar pads, eelgrass, bullrushes, cattail reeds and some hydrilla.
“It’s been hammered,” he said. “I didn’t expect this. I thought if I got lucky, I’d have two good bites today.”
Schultz said he’s fishing primarily with a Yamamoto 5-inch Senko, rigging it several different ways, depending on the cover.
And he wasn’t the only one who had success in that area Thursday. Steve Kennedy is in fourth place with 23-8, which included a 7-pound, 1-ounce bass. Kennedy didn’t want to divulge lure details, but he did say that bass came on a topwater lure that hit while he reeled quickly as he prepared to move. Schultz and Kennedy were within sight of each other.
“I caught a five, then (Kennedy) caught that seven, then I caught an eight,” Schultz said.
Schultz thinks this spot is simply a spawning area that has been replenishing amidst some bass that have spawned and are staying put. His best finish among 356 BASS tournaments came at Lake Okeechobee 20 years ago when he took third place. But it was easier then to find a place to yourself on this 730-square-mile “inland sea.”
“The lake has shrunk because of habitat loss,” Schultz said. “Places that were once lush and healthy are barren now. So that’s condensed (the bass) into the better areas and the fishermen with them. It’s just a matter of getting lucky and trying to out-fish them.”
Schultz out-fished (or out-lucked) the other 103 Elite Series anglers on the first day of the 2023 Elite Series season. However, Lake Okeechobee tournaments are infamous for wild swings from one day to the next in individual tournament results. Schultz knows that as well as anyone.
“The habitat is so good, I don’t think they really leave this time of year,” he said.
The other anglers who found this area probably aren’t leaving either. Welcome to the Salad Bowl, a game within the game. Bernie Schultz took the lead in the first quarter, but it’s early.
