ON TOUR
FLW TOUR
FLW TOUR | LAKE OKEECHOBEE
CLEWISTON, FLA.
WINNING ANGLER
tim Frederick
Leesburg, Fla.
Winning Weight:
85-04 (20 fish)
details:
Jan. 25-28, 2018
Presented by Evinrude
Hosted by Roland &
Mary Ann Martin’s
Marina & Resort;
Hendry County Tourism
Development Council
WINNING LURES
t
im Frederick has a
love/hate relationship
with Lake Okeechobee.
The hate crept in two
years ago. The Big O was
the site of his very first tour-
nament as an FLW Tour pro,
and he finished dead last.
Yet, being from Florida
and having fished
Okeechobee many times, he
still loved how it fit his
strengths. Two years later,
that love only grew stronger
when Frederick utilized his
knowledge of how big
female Florida strain bass
By Sean Ostruszka
PHOTOS BY ANDY HAGEDON
spawn around cover to pull
off his first Tour victory in
dramatic fashion. His tour-
nament was capped by a 9-
pounder landed in the wan-
ing minutes of day four that
vaulted him over Bryan
Schmitt of Deale, Md.
Okeechobee put anglers
through a roller coaster of a
week. A significant cold
front and dismal practice
preceded a fresh wave of
giant females that rolled in
the first two days of the
tournament, followed by
strong and switching winds
that kept anglers worried
every night if their areas
would muddy up and be
ruined. Frederick stayed
steady throughout the
event thanks to his
Sunshine State background
and one key area that actu-
ally wasn’t even fishable up
until last fall.
the area
Hurricane Irma
destroyed a lot when it hit
Florida last fall, and that
destruction didn’t miss
Lake Okeechobee. Massive
Frederick used a one-two punch in terms of
lures. He’d start by casting a Texas-rigged black
blue flake Strike King Ocho or a black blue
flake-blue tail Strike King Shim-E-Stick on a
3/16-ounce weight, dragging it through likely
spawning areas. He’d follow that up with a
Strike King Pure Poison Extreme Action Swim’n
Jig and another custom vibrating jig.
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FLWFIshIng.COm I apRIL 2018