CLEWISTON, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2018) – Pro Tim Frederick of Leesburg, Florida, caught two kicker largemouth Saturday – a 6- and 7-pounder – to anchor his 23-pound, 3-ounce limit and jump to the top of the leaderboard after Day Three of the FLW Tour at Lake Okeechobee. Frederick’s five-bass limit was the only bag Saturday that weighed in excess of 20 pounds, telling when you consider that the lake had pumped out 16, 20+ pound limits in the first two days of competition.
Frederick (15 bass, 65-6) will now bring a 15-ounce lead over second-place pro Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Maryland, (15 bass, 64-7) who led the first two days of competition, into Championship Sunday. Also in striking distance, in third place, is General Tire pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Arkansas, (15 bass, 61-3). Rose has a history of fast starts to the season, winning the first two events of the 2017 FLW Tour season at Lake Guntersville and Lake Travis.
“My very first FLW Tour event three years ago was on this lake, and I weighed in one bass and finished dead last,” said Frederick, who is fishing in his 14th career FLW Tour event. “I’ve got a love-hate relationship with this lake, and right now I am loving it. I didn’t get a lot of bites today, but the ones that I did get were good ones.
“Although my day turned out really well, it didn’t start that way,” Frederick continued. “It was terribly slow. I caught one of my good ones early – my second fish – but then it took me forever to get a limit. When the water temperature hit 64 degrees I had a 45- to 50-minute window where I caught two more good ones, but I didn’t catch more than 9 or 10 fish all day.”
Frederick said that his key bait that landed all of his keepers on Saturday was a Texas-rigged black and blue-colored Strike King Ocho worm. He’s also mixed in a Strike King Pure Poison Swim Jig and an unnamed swimjig to produce at times during the week.
“I’m usually a power-fisherman, and it’s weird because I’m fishing so slowly this week,” Frederick said. “I’m throwing at isolated clumps of pencil reeds and it might take me 5 minutes to reel back in. But, if it doesn’t feel right, I’ll just reel in immediately and make another pitch. I’m fishing by feel, basically. I can actually feel the beds with my bait, and when I do I’ll keep making multiple casts to the same area.
“The bite was tougher today, and I think it was due to how cloudy it was. Tomorrow, they’re saying that it’s going to be worse – rainy and windy. But, my water is still clean and I’ve got no choice but to be patient and stick it out there. Win, lose or draw, there is enough fish in my area to win it. I just have to get them to bite.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Lake Okeechobee are:
1st: Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., 15 bass, 65-6
2nd: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 15 bass, 64-7
3rd: Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 15 bass, 61-3
4th: Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 53-11
5th: Chad Morgenthaler, Reeds Spring, Mo., 10 bass, 53-0
6th: Brandon McMillan, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 52-11
7th: Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 15 bass, 51-14
8th: Scott Canterbury, Odenville, Ala., 15 bass, 51-12
9th: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 50-8
10th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, 15 bass, 48-13
Finishing in 11th through 30th are:
11th: Brandon Mosley, Choctaw, Okla., 15 bass, 48-13, $12,000
12th: Tyler Stewart, West Monroe, La., 15 bass, 48-4, $12,000
13th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 48-4, $12,000
14th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 15 bass, 47-4, $12,000
15th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 46-13, $12,000
16th: Casey Scanlon, Lake Ozark, Mo., 15 bass, 46-6, $12,000
17th: David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 15 bass, 45-14, $12,000
18th: James Watson, Lampe, Mo., 15 bass, 44-11, $12,000
19th: Brett Preuett, Monroe, La., 15 bass, 44-3, $12,000
20th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 42-8, $12,000
21st: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 42-7, $10,000
22nd: Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 15 bass, 41-12, $10,000
23rd: J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 15 bass, 41-11, $10,000
24th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 15 bass, 40-7, $10,000
25th: David Nichol, Gainesville, Ga., 15 bass, 39-12, $10,000
26th: Jay Kendrick, Grant, Ala., 14 bass, 38-13, $10,000
27th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 14 bass, 38-4, $10,000
28th: Kerry Milner, Bono, Ark., 13 bass, 37-13, $10,000
29th: James Niggemeyer, Van, Texas, 14 bass, 36-12, $10,000
30th: Zell Rowland, Montgomery, Texas, 13 bass, 35-15, $10,000
Overall there were 143 bass weighing 376 pounds, 8 ounces caught by pros Saturday, Of the final 30 pros, 25 of them were able to bring a five-bass limit to the scale.