By BassFan Staff
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Flipping mats was the route to winning the Okeechobee FLW Tour Open, as Randall Tharp proved by racking up more than 100 pounds over 4 days in Florida. There were other ways to earn a hefty paycheck, though, and John Cox and Jeremy York, the respective 2nd- and 3rd-place finishers, paved their own paths to single-digit placements.
2nd: John Cox
> Day 1: 5, 27-10
> Day 2: 5, 25-04
> Day 3: 5, 16-15
> Day 4: 5, 8-06
> Total = 20, 78-03
Florida's John Cox, a rookie winner last year at the Red River FLW Tour Major, spent most of this tournament in close proximity to the launch in Clewiston. He could've gotten to his best spot within minutes each morning powered only by his trolling motor.
He focused primarily on clumps of vegetation near the mouth of the Clewiston channel. "I'd just drift down through there and flip everything that was there," he said, noting that a spinnerbait also accounted for a few weigh-in fish.
He had no company at all for the first 2 days, when he weighed his big sacks. On day 3 the Soldier Appreciation event launched and, with many of those participants opting against long runs in a stiff north wind, the area saw a lot more traffic.
He ran to an area he'd been saving on ultra-windy day 4 and it didn't produce (he ended up catching his five squeaker fish on a small crankbait), but he still held onto the No. 2 slot by more than 4 pounds.
> Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Shimano Clarus pitching rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier casting reel (7.1:1 ratio), unnamed 50-pound braided line, 1/2-ounce Rattle Head jighead, Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (junebug).
> Spinnerbait gear: 7'2" medium-heavy Shimano Clarus rod, same reel, unnamed 30-pound braided line, 1/2-ounce Rattle Head spinnerbait (white with gold willow-leaf blades).
> Cranking gear: 7'6" heavy-action Shimano Clarus flipping stick, same reel, unnamed 30-pound braid, unnamed 1/2-inch crankbait (white with blue belly).
> "I don't even know who makes that bait and it's one I can't find anymore," he said. He was forced to throw it on flipping gear because he didn't have a cranking setup in his boat at the time.
Main factor in his success – "The good weather the first couple of days and being around some big fish."
Performance edge – "The jighead had a loose hook, and I don't know if it was the clicking noise or what, but sometimes I'd just barely shake the line and a fish would pick it up."
Photo: FLW/Shaye Baker
Third-place finisher Jeremy York had to wrestle many of his fish out of the gator grass.
3rd: Jeremy York
> Day 1: 5, 20-06
> Day 2: 5, 22-15
> Day 3: 5, 17-08
> Day 4: 5, 13-05
> Total = 20, 74-02
Jeremy York had no worries about traffic in his primary area – there might not have been another angler in the field who'd considered venturing into Uncle Joe's Cut and attempting to wrestle fish out of the unrelenting gator grass.
Uncle Joe's is a narrow ditch connected to the rim canal that runs for several miles. He'd had a good first day there in last month's EverStart and was in position to make a run at a Top 10, but then got 30 bites on day 2 and landed exactly one of them to end up 55th.
"That stuff is unlike any other grass," he said. "Compared to gator grass, hyacinths or hydrilla are pretty easy to get fish out of. About half the fish I caught, I had to go and physically dig them out of the grass."
He'd originally figured the area was good for about 15 pounds and he had a little less than that on day 1 when he began thinking about pulling out. A 4-pounder convinced him to stay a while longer and two similar fish went into his livewell over the next hour.
"After that I thought I'd really milked it, but they'd reloaded in there the second day and they just kept replenishing. I lost two 5-pounders and a 3 on camera (on day 4). It was just so tough to get them out."
> Flipping gear: 7'6" extra-heavy G. Loomis rod, Lew's Tournament Speed Spool casting reel (6.4:1 ratio), 25-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line, 1-ounce Strike King tungsten weight, 4/0 Trokar flipping hook (attached with a snell knot), 4" Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog (Okeechobee craw).
Main factor in his success – "Probably the biggest thing was just listening to the fish. They were telling me what I needed to know and they just kept telling me to stay."
Performance edge – "The Power-Poles, especially with the wind blowing the way it was. When I really needed to pick a place apart, I could put the sticks down and take the time to really work on the area."
