Lake Okeechobee and Florida Everglades

 
    Lake Okeechobee-which means "big water" in the language of the Seminole Indians-is the second largest freshwater lake wholly within the United States. It is located in south central Florida (south of Orlando and north of Everglades National Park), and is commonly described as the "liquid heart" of Florida. Not only is it in the center (or heart) of the state, but it historically pumped life-giving water into the Everglades ecosystem like the heart pumps blood in the body.
     

Although humans have heavily altered the hydrology and ecology of Lake Okeechobee, the Lake still lives up to its Seminole name. It covers an enormous land area (730 square miles - approximately 450,000 acres), has an average depth of nine feet, and contains an estimated 1.05 trillion gallons of water. The Lake also plays a vital role in the region's economy, ecology, and way of life. It is home to prized bass and speckled perch fisheries which generated $28.4 million in revenue (1986), a principal source of drinking water for lakeside towns, and a backup source of drinking water for the 6 million residents of Florida's lower east coast. Lake Okeechobee also provides irrigation water for the $1.5 billion-per-year agricultural sector , is a vital habitat for wading birds, migratory waterfowl, and endangered species (including the Everglade snail kite, wood stork, and Okeechobee gourd), and is a critical water source for the Everglades ecosystem. While it is no longer physically connected to the Everglades ecosystem-a levee now surrounds the Lake and separates it from the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) to the south-Lake Okeechobee continues to provide life-giving waters to the system's sawgrass marshes and seagrass estuaries.


Lake Okeechobee is the largest recreational resource in the region. Not only does it boast one of the most productive freshwater sport fisheries in North America, but it is an important waterfowl observation and hunting area. More than 6 million people visit the 38 recreation areas associated with the Lake each year to boat, picnic, sightsee, camp, swim, hunt, ride airboats, hike, bike, and horseback ride. This website provides only a cursory review of recreational opportunities around the Lake, as extensive information is available on them from local chambers of commerce, commercial websites, guidebooks, etc. We have included links to several commercial and official websites in this section, but we do not officially endorse or support any of the companies cited. We have simply included them as a sample of what is available.

Probably the most popular recreational activity in Lake Okeechobee is fishing. More than 40 species of fish are found in the lake, including Largemouth Bass, Blue Gill, Black Crappie (known locally as specks), and the famed Okeechobee Catfish. Salt water species like tarpon and snook are also a feature of the Okeechobee waterway, particularly near the W.P. Franklin Lock and the St. Lucie Locks. For those wishing to fish the Lake, Florida's fishing regulations may apply, and can be viewed at: http://floridaconservation.org/fishingareas.html Various commercial guide services are available to show visitors the prime fishing and hunting sites. A few websites providing such guide services are listed below.
                                                                                            
Commercial and recreational fishing, however, are also an important contributor to the Florida economy. According to a 2001 U.S. Census Bureau study, Florida leads the nation in retail sales from salt, fresh, resident, and non-resident fishing, with sales exceeding $4.1 billion in 2001. It also leads the nation in salaries and wages from fishing (nearly $2 billion in 2001), jobs from fishing (almost 80,000), sales and motor fuel taxes ($227 million), and number of anglers (more than 3 million). The number of anglers, their expenditures, and their days spent fishing in Florida-which is frequently called "The Fishing Capital of the World"-are also on the rise: up 16%, 34%, and 28% respectively since 1991.

Of the $4.1 billion spent on all types of fishing in Florida in 2001, $1 billion was spent on freshwater fishing. It sustained 19,500 jobs, involved 1.3 million anglers, and yielded 14.5 million trips with an overall economic impact of $1.96 billion. A large proportion of those freshwater fishing expenditures, according to the November, 2003 issue of Florida Trend, were actually spent on a single fishery-largemouth bass (more commonly known as black bass). Since Florida's 7,700 lakes have yielded more trophy size bass than anywhere else in America, 647,000 anglers are drawn to Florida annually to fish for bass. About 95,000 of them are specifically seeking trophy size fish, which are 10 pounds or larger.

Although Lake Okeechobee is by no means the only "fishing hole" in south Florida, or the only source of water for Florida's agricultural producers, it does provide water for most farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area and fishing for thousands (including many of those seeking trophy bass!) in its 351,964 acres of open water. In 2000, retail freshwater fishing sales from the five counties surrounding the Lake were estimated at $117 million.

 
Guide Services on Lake Okeechobee
www.scottrmartin.com
www.rolandmartinmarina.com
www.markkingfishing.com

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Lake Okeechobee's Premier Bass fishing guide Service and Charter
Providing Quality Fishing Trips on Lake Okeechobee and Florida Everglades since 1981
Located in South Central Florida on Lake Okeechobee

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