Clark Wendlandt has been a pro angler for 30 years, so when he noticed intense fishing pressure among fellow Elite Series competitors in massive Lake Okeechobee’s northern waters, he opted to make a long run south to have productive waters largely to himself.
The veteran’s move allowed the 2020 Bassmaster® Angler of the Year to land 83-pounds of largemouth in four days, and a second-place finish that paid him $35,000, plus $2,500 additional dollars because he took time to register for Yamaha’s Power Pay contingency program.
“I needed every minute I could get each day to catch my limit, and never once did I doubt my Yamaha 250-horsepower V6 V MAX SHO® would get me there. Yamaha is all about reliability. It was a 35-mile run and I made it in 38 minutes,” says Wendlandt.
He caught the vast majority of his weight in Okeechobee’s South Bay by reeling a junebug-colored Strike King Cut-R worm on a 5/0 Owner hook with a 3/16-ounce bullet weight on 20-pound Sunline.
You don’t have to be a Bassmaster® Elite Series pro to cash in on Yamaha’s Power Pay. There are dozens of amateur and semi-pro tournament trails sanctioned by the program. But you do have to make sure you are registered to be eligible.
It’s free to sign-up and anglers don’t have to place first in their tournament to cash in on the Power Pay money. To learn more, please visit https://yamahapowerpay.com/.