THE BASS COLLEGE

Oct 27th, 2009

The fishing here on Lake Okeechobee continues to improve every day and if the water temperature would cool off just a little more the lake will be awesome. We have been catching bass that are on the move toward shallower water and traditional spawning areas throughout the lake. After the cold front that we had a week ago the fishing did improve dramatically but with the ninety degree air temperatures everyday since has the water warmed back up and slowed the fishing down just a little. The water level is at 14.14 feet above sea level and still dropping slowly, this is about a foot lower than it was last year at this time. This all means that we will not get to fish back in the shallow water as long as we did last year but the outside eel grass in a lot of areas will clean up a lot quicker this year and that is where I think we will find a lot of the bass as we move into the spring.

I have been fishing clients everywhere from the Monkey Box to Ritta Island and catching some great bass from two to seven pounds. Wild shiners have started to work great and Roland Martin’s Marina has some really good ones that are the right size and they are still priced at $20.00 a dozen, at least some things in life haven’t went up in price for years. The bass fishing on artificial lures has been really good and Gambler Flappin Shad and Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers are the bait of choice right now. Yes you can catch some bass on 10” worms and Gambler Ace’s but if you want to catch quality bass than you need to be throwing a Flappin Shad or Skinny Dipper. To fish either one of these baits all you need is a heavy action rod like the one I use from Deep South Rods, some sixty five pound test PowerPro line, a 5/0 Gamakatsu Super Line hook, and either a Screwed Up Weight made by Reaction Innovation or a small 1/32 ounce screw in bullet weight. The screw in bullet weight or Screwed Up Weight will keep the bait from sliding down the hook while fishing in the heavy cover where the bass are. The key areas that you should look for to fish are areas that have pepper grass patches, the bass may move into the hydrilla and eel grass soon but for now they are in the pepper grass patches. Look for waves of bass to start moving in as the water cools and we head into the major spawning season here on Lake Okeechobee.

Now is a great time to start planning a trip to World famous Lake Okeechobee as my outlook for this year is great. We have all the elements for this year to be one of the best years here on the lake and with hurricane season all but over we are ready to once again make Lake Okeechobee one of the most famous bass fishing destinations in the world. No word yet on the crappie fishing outlook for the year but we are still catching a lot of good sized bluegill. Please practice catch and release and help Lake Okeechobee be the place that your grandkid and their grandkids will want to come and fish for many years.