Lake Okeechobee Bass Fishing Reports

Clewiston-----The week started out slow with the temperatures in the 40s at night but as the week progressed the fishing has improved. Most of the bass that I have been catching on my guide trips this past week were north of Clewiston from Uncle Joe's Cut up to Horse Island. This water has remained fairly clean even with the north and east winds we had all week, but the water level is really starting to drop fast with today's reading at 12.26 feet above sea level. Most of the bass are being caught on wild shiners and most of the bass earlier in the week were small but as the weekend approached and the weather improved so did the fishing with a bigger bass being caught. Everyone will need to use caution when running the lake as the water level nears twelve feet it will be easy to hit something on the bottom if you run in the wrong places, make sure you idle way out from the grass line before you try to get up on plane. This might be a good time to hire a guide that knows where he or she is going and can get you to the fish that you might otherwise be afraid to take your boat for fear of tearing it up. The bite on artificial has picked up some with a few bass being caught on Senkos on the East Wall and up around Cochran's Pass, both areas can be affected by the wind if it is blowing hard out of the north or east. When fishing the Senko you should use a darker colors like black-blue and junebug in stained water and lighter colors like watermelon and green pumpkin in the clearer water and you will want to fish the Senko weightless and as slow as you can. The trick this week was to let the Senko sit on the bottom for up to a minute and then the bass would pick it up and move off with it. Most of the bass seem to be just on the outside edge of the grassline, I haven't caught any bass back in the grass this week with the falling water level I believe these fish are moving out from in the shallow water. Capt. Ron Stevens who guides out of Roland Martin's Marina reported catching a good number of bass one day last week at the Sawgrass Recreational area in the Everglades on worms. I also spent a day in the Everglades out on Alligator Alley fishing with Dick McConnel and his daughter Polly and we caught around 25 bass but they were all small ones, this is the second year I have fished with Dick and Polly and they are a lot of fun out on the water. The crappie bite has slowed up this past week with a few being caught in Harnie Pond Canal and Uncle Joe's Cut also producing a few, minnows will be the bait of choice to catch some of these slabs. I would also like to remind everyone that as spawning season for bass approaches to please take a quick picture of these big female bass and get them back in the water as soon as possible so that they will still spawn and you will be able to catch them again. With Christmas only four weeks away a guided bass fishing trip on Lake Okeechobee would make a great gift for a loved one this year.
Bass Wishes
Capt. Scott Martin / Capt. Mark King