Vance McCullough's blog

He has fish on multiple patterns and they are all bigger than average. Today Drew Benton used that advantage and took over the lead with one day left to fish in the first stop of the 2013 Walmart FLW Tour on lake Okeechobee out of Clewiston, Fla. 

Warming weather has pulled Okeechobee's bass out of the funk that made them so difficult to locate during the practice round. Some guys made huge leaps up the leaderboard today but the big lake befuddled many of the top sticks who normally make good money on the South Florida fish factory each winter.

The top 3 pros rotated positions - day 1 leader Casey Martin dropped to 3rd, Rick Cotten moved into first and Drew Benton followed him up one notch to settle into 2nd as we conclude cut day.

The top 20 fish tomorrow, the top 10 compete in the final round on Sunday. 

The top story is the tied score and, henceforth, the 5-hour fish-off between Daniel Lanier Jr. and Rich Howes that will take place Sunday. The two will weigh-in at the Lakefront Park in Kissimmee at noon.

Compared to the relative swelter each afternoon during the practice rounds, it feels cool out on the lakes again today. But the forecast high is exactly what the historical average is for Februaury 2nd in Kissimmee, Fla. - 72 degrees. Intense sunshine is warming the water once again. The problem for some anglers may be the lack of wind. If fish do move shallow, they may be spooked by rod movement, trolling motor noise, etc. The breeze is out of the east, when fish are said to bite the least, and it is only moving about 5 mph.

While we played bumper boats in the lock yesterday morning Rich Howes wished me luck. The good luck I wished upon him seems to have stuck.

With a decent start (12 pounds, 6 ounces) on day 1, Howes put himself in a good position Thursday. Today, with the tournament’s second-largest sack so far (20-2) he took the lead over 197 others who hoped to win the Bassmaster Southern Open on the Kissimmee Chain of  Lakes. Only his closest 11 competitors have a shot at him in Saturday’s final round.

Star brite, a leading U.S. manufacturer of marine care and appearance items, will be the presenting sponsor of the fifth event of the 2013 Bassmaster Elite Series season.