Lake Okeechobee Bass Fishing Reports

Oct.29th 2002
The Spawn is here!! last week was a good week for the big females, they have moved up and started spawning on the flats. The ell grass holes and scattered bull rush clumps have produced the best bite. There is still a lot of fish feeding in the morning on shad, so always be looking for bait and fish feeding on them.
This week has produced some big fish on artificial lure such as a 6" lizard and 8" ribbon tail worm. The top water bite and soft jerk bait bite has been producing good numbers of fish in the 1.5 to 4lbs range. A Walking bait (zara spook) or a popping bait (Matzuo spit n sputter) is a great choice to throw over the open areas in the grass beds. My favorite color in a soft jerk bait is watermelon, I will fish this bait throughout the day, the brighter the sun is the slower the retrieve and some times I will let the bait free fall to the bottom when in a hole in the grass. A Carolina rig with a finesse worm has produced a pretty consistent bite.
The water temp is still a little warm, 81 - 85 degrees. As soon as the water temp gets in the 70 's the fishing is going to go nuts!!! There is still a good number of fish that believe it is still summer time.
Okeechobee has produced more big fish this summer than any other year that I have seen. There is also a great population of small bass thriving on the lake. There is tons of great spawning areas and huge healthy grass beds all over the lake. Lake Okeechobee is going to be the hottest lake in the country this year.
So plan your trip to the Big ‘O’ as soon as you can. And please feel free to call or e-mail any time if you have any questions about fishing on Lake Okeechobee.
Bass Wishes,
Scott R. Martin