OKEECHOBEE — “We are very happy to welcome back Bassmaster Elite to Okeechobee County,” Assistant County Administrator Denise Whitehead told commissioners at their Dec. 5 meeting.

The tournament is planned for Feb. 27 to March 2, 2025 at C. Scott Driver Park, 10100 W. State Road 78 in Okeechobee.

The nationally televised tournament will boost the local economy, said Whitehead. The event will include a Bass Bash event which will be open to the public.

Many of the anglers will be in the area the week before the tournament staying at local hotels and campgrounds, Whitehead said.

“We will see a lot of the anglers at local bait and tackle shops signing autographs,” she said.

The last Bassmaster Elite tournament on Lake Okeechobee was in 2023. Whitehead said that tournament attracted more than 9,000 visitors from out of town coming to Okeechobee for the final weighin.

“It’s definitely a tourism driver,” she said.

Commissioners approved use of up to $70,000 from the Tourism Development Fund in financial support for the event.  Revenue for the Tourism Development Fund come from the “bed tax” collected by hotels and campgrounds. The money is used to promote events to attract more tourism to Okeechobee County.

The Bassmaster Elite Series is the highest level of professional bass fishing tournaments. Competitors must qualify for the series through the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens or the TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation, and anglers who are already on the Elite Series must re-qualify each year by maintaining enough points throughout the season. The pro anglers compete all season for the opportunity to win points toward the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year award and to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic.

While they are concerned about the lack of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) on Lake O, anglers report good bass fishing on the lake this winter. The lack of SAV could impact the future of the fishery because young bass need SAV for cover.

According to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) the lake’s ecology needs a minimum of 35,000 acres of SAV. Currently, Lake O has about 3,500 acres of SAV. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) plans to use nonharmful releases to the Caloosahatchee River and St. Lucie Canal to help lower the lake during the dry season to encourage more SAV to grow. Lower lake levels allow sunlight to reach the lake bottom, which is required for new SAV to sprout. The lake needs 90 days below 12 feet (above sea level) or 60 days below 11 feet for new SAV to grow.

The National Weather Service forecast predicts a drier than normal dry season. In any year, most of the water that leaves the Big O does so through evapotranspiration (ET), a combination of evaporation and plant transpiration. In an average year, the lake level falls about 3 feet during the dry season (December to June) from a combination of ET and lake releases for water supply and environmental needs.

Lake O started the dry season around 16 feet above sea level. That means additional releases from the lake are needed to get the lake down an extra 1 foot by June.

On Dec. 5, the lake level was 15.65 feet.

The additional releases planned to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie could total about 3 inches on Lake Okeechobee per month, or about an extra 1 foot of water off Lake Okeechobee if the releases continue through March. The targets set by USACE are total flow and will include local basin runoff along with lake water, which would mean less lake water will be released.

USACE is also releasing lake water south for water supply for urban areas, agriculture and the environment.

Unlike the lake releases under the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule, established in 2008, the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) recovery releases are kept below the level considered harmful to the coastal estuaries.