Wendy Kmuchka, from Illinois, caught this big Okeechobee Bass on New Year’s Day!

February normally brings the promise of milder weather and warmer temperatures to South Florida. Warmer temperatures translates into warmer water, which means that the bass in Lake Okeechobee will be more active; they will be feeding more and will be energetically eating our live wild shiners that we use for bait. When the large female bass are in the shallow water looking to spawn, there is no better bait than a live wild shiner to get a reaction from them.

Bass fishing has been terrific on Lake Okeechobee since mid-summer, when the water started rising, and more and more bass appeared as if out of thin air. Anglers that prefer using only artificial baits are having their way with the Okeechobee bass, catching 20 to 30 bass in a three to four hour fishing trip. Fishermen are also catching bass on top water baits; we have been using either a Crazy Shad or a Lil Zip, both of which have a prop in the rear of the bait to create a disturbance. The water in Okeechobee is gin clear in most areas, so some stealth is necessary when pursuing fish in the skinny water. Make too much noise and you will see the wakes of bass as they flee out in front of your boat, meaning you ‘re busted and they know you are there. There are a variety of other baits that are catching bass besides a top water plug, a Zoom Super Fluke is one of the more productive baits on Okeechobee, and has been for years; plain watermelon, or watermelon red, are two of the better colors, although others will work, too. A Skinny Dipper has become one of the more productive baits on the lake in the last year; two of the better colors for Okeechobee have been Houdini and California 420. Of course, many other plastic baits are working as well; a weightless Senko, or a very lightly weighted trick worm, are two of my favorites.

There is a distinct group of anglers that prefer to flip or pitch their baits; a Paca Craw, or a Sweet Beaver, are two that we like, and that have performed for us when the bass get under or in the thick matted vegetation that abounds on Okeechobee.

There is a very good speck bite this winter; for the deep water specks, the Kissimmee River is hard to beat, but Harney Pond canal, Indian Prairie canal or Sportsmen’s have all given up good numbers of large specks so far this winter, too. For those anglers that prefer to jig in the hydrilla beds, or along the Kissimmee grass lines, there have been good numbers of fish showing up, as well. The entire North Shore is rife with desirable shallow cover, where big fat specks can be tempted into eating a jig.

Forecast By:
Captain Michael Shellen
www.OkeechobeeBassFishing.com
863-357-0892