As the FLW Tour kicks off its 20^th season anglers will take to the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Central Florida, just a little drive up the turnpike from the usual starting point, Lake Okeechobee.

Okeechobee furnished the heaviest weight total ever for an FLW Tour event when Brandon McMillan won with a 4-day haul of 106 pounds, 10 ounces in 2011.

Half of the 10 heaviest totals in Tour history were weighed in that tournament and 3 anglers broke the century mark.

Then there’s Lake Toho, where the 2015 season gets underway. On January 17, 2001 Dean Rojas set the Bassmaster record for the heaviest 1-day catch at 45 pounds, 02 ounces.

That catch came on the heels of a long cold winter that had held up the spawning process. The tourney opened on a full moon phase. On the last afternoon of practice those who were looking saw massive waves of big bass swarm the shallows of Lake Toho in an effort to make up for lost time. Nobody capitalized better than Rojas with his 9-pounds-per-fish average.

This tournament starts 6 weeks later than the aforementioned lunkerfest. January was mild enough for bass to spawn. February, especially the last couple of weeks, featured record-breaking cold. Cold enough to halt spawning activity. So the Kissimmee Chain is likely starting over with a vengeance to catch up to the calendar.

This could mean that anglers will find huge bass in great abundance once the field launches tomorrow morning.

Will we see record weights? As always, that depends. Weather forecasters call for good sight fishing conditions on Thursday and Friday, but as the weekend rolls around, cloud cover and a chance of rain may dampen the sight bite.

If somebody can get the toad bite going, or possibly the old Devil’s Horse topwater plug, they would likely make a big move when the clouds dim subsurface visibility.

The changeable weather will keep most pros from stacking up bass like cord wood for 4 straight days.

Also, look for a slightly different cast of characters than we’ve grown acustom to seeing atop the leader board at FLW Tour stop #1 each year. Darrell Davis knows Kissimmee very well. Van Soles won a Bassmaster Open here last year. Both could be dangerous, especially if the weather does pull a 180 and send pros scrambling for a suitable ‘Plan B’.

So my prediction is that we may see a new single day FLW Tour weight record on either of the first 2 competition days but that this will turn into a topwater tourney toward the final round and while the 4-day total weight record may stand, we are in for some serious poundage on the scale this week!