Lake Okeechobee Bass Fishing Reports

Clewiston-----Finally the water is starting to flow into Lake Okeechobee and the water level has rose to 9.45 above sea level and still rising. With the water coming up and the water temperature at near 90 degrees everyday the fishing has gotten a little tough. Even though the water has only come up about six inches it has the fish swimming for areas that they previously could not get to. Some of my clients are still catching them good on wild shiners in the main channel out from the locks at Clewiston but the fish have been a little smaller with two to three pound bass being the norm. There is still some schooling fish out here swimming around and if you happen to be close enough when the come up feeding almost any topwater or crankbait will catch them. I have been using the Lake Fork Trophy Lures new 3 ?” “Live” Magic Shad in the golden shiner and magic shad color, the new 3 ?” size is close to the size bait that these bass are chasing and these baits have so much action that they really do look like they are live. I’m still catching a some bass on the Spro Aruka Shad and a 200 series Bandit crankbait in the Clewiston channel when the wind blows and gets the bait fish stirred up. Now that the water level is rising the bass seem to be spreading out and are not so concentrated in the channels. Faster moving baits will cover more water to locate these bass and then you can slow down and catch them on worms and other soft plastics. I have also been catching a few bass in the Football Field and the other dynamite holes south of Clewiston, a Gambler Ace rigged on a ? ounce Giggy Head jig has been working great for me in bluegrass and watermelon-red color. One of the keys to fishing soft plastics this time of the year when the water temperatures get so hot is to fish as slow as you can and then fish even slower, the bite will be real subtle with most times you will just see your line moving off slowly.

If this water continues to rise and we do pray for that the bass will continue to move toward areas that now have grass growing in them, when this happens the fishing will continue to improve daily. Even though a lot of the water that is flowing into Lake Okeechobee is the water that we refer to as black water or water that is run off water from the agricultural industry at this point it is better than no water at all and if it flows in slowly the lake should be able to withstand this inflow of highly nutrient water without getting a bad algae bloom. The bluegill are still biting in a lot of different areas including the rim canal, Bare Beach, and many other areas south of Clewiston, with most being caught on crickets and Beetle Spins. My next door neighbor who is also a guide, Joe Payne reported a great day catching a good number of bluegill and crappies yes I said crappies last week.

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Bass Wishes
Capt. Scott Martin / Capt. Mark King