Archive Reports  April - 2007

Even with the low water conditions big bags of bass continue to be reported by every tournament held on the lake. Jimmy McMillan and his son started the heavy weight bag bonanza about a month ago bringing 40 pounds or more to the scales to win 2 consecutive tournaments. Larry Wright and Mike Holland won 2 tournaments in a row, bringing 20 pounds or more to the weigh-in scales to capture both events. Val Osinski owner of Gambler Baits won the BFL this weekend with 29 pounds of bass to take the first place money home, and Charlie Rose won the Bassmaster Weekend Series tournament with 18 pounds of bass. The point I am trying to make with all of this would be to point out that in spite of the extreme low water conditions good numbers of big bass can still be caught. I did not even mention the team of Bob Owens and Fred George who captured the annual firefighters fishing tournament out of Clewiston this week with 46 pounds of bass for 2 days. A lot of fish are reportedly being caught on the south end of the lake; those doing the catching are rather tight lipped about where and how they are catching them, which is not unusual. The fish are still here they have just moved to different locales due to the low water.

The blue gill bite has been very good this last week with large numbers of hefty gills being caught in J&S canal, Buckhead Ridge canal, and Harney Pond as well. Sportsman Canal was been mentioned as a potential hotspot but I have not talked to anyone that could substantiate that fact. The bait of choice has been a cricket dangled under a small bobber, with a small split shot pinched on the line for weight.

A local newspaper reported this week that the restoration projects scheduled for Cody’s Cove and Eagle Bay have been started, but other reports indicated that the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) has stepped in and stopped these vital lake restoration projects meant to restore the lake. So far I can not get an answer from anyone that really knows, but I will try to get the truth and report on it. If it is true that the DEP has squashed these projects it will be just another set back for the health of our lake.

Drought has lowered the lake and canals. click here for photos.

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2007 Okeechobee Tournament Schedule

Okeechobee & Florida Bass Tournaments

We have had a small amount of rain over the last week but not nearly enough to affect the lake level. The current lake level is 9.74 feet, which means we are less than a foot from the all time historical low set in May of 2001 of 8.97 feet. We are well on our way to setting a new all time low, unless something drastic happens in the way of a freak rain storm of gigantic proportions.

Last Monday we experienced winds out of the north that were nearly 30 miles per hour, these winds blew enough water away from the north end of the lake that the ramps on this end of the lake were unusable. The only boats that were able to launch used the dirt ramp north on river road.

Blue Gill fishing has dropped off considerably in the last week the fish that had moved up shallow seem to have either left the area or were affected by the cold front that moved thru early in the week. I watched a pair of anglers from Arkansas fly fishing this week and they were only able to catch a few very small fish, they left disgusted after three hours of casting. Other reports that I received were mixed but very few anglers had the big catches that have been reported in prior weeks.

Bass fishing has remained relatively steady, the fish that are in the Kissimmee River are seeing more baits that ever before, and with the upcoming BFL scheduled for this weekend they are going to see a lot more! We are getting imminently closer to having only a select few places to launch!

Captain Mike's Blog.

Okeechobee Fishing Headquarters

Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League

2007 Okeechobee Tournament Schedule

With the few sparse rains we have had in the last week, a lot of people are wondering, are we going to get enough rain to keep the lake from reaching an all time low! It will take massive amounts of rain to get the lake to start rising the Kissimmee River has not flowed in nearly a year and it will take inches of rain to get enough runoff into the river that the SFWMD or the Corps considers letting water flow into the lake. With the level of the lake below 10 foot we are approaching the level at which ramps will one by one become unusable. If somehow we manage to get enough rain into the lake to keep it from falling further it would be a big plus for those of us who depend on the lake for our living.

The blue gill bite is on and the river and local canals are all giving up nice stringers of the chunky pan fish, the bait of choice is a cricket impaled on a small hook fished under a small bobber with a tiny split shot pinched on the line to keep the bait near the bottom. Grass Shrimp work much better than crickets or red worms, but are very hard to come by, every day I see folks with dip nets full of these tiny crustaceans, but they are very secretive about the where about of their secret honey hole for shrimp. More and more I see cichlids in the spots where blue gill used to frequent, I can not help but wonder if these aggressive fish will eventually wipe out our once world class blue gill fishery?

Fly fishing for big blue gill is very good right now, Buck Head ridge area canals, Kissimmee River, and J&S all are producing good catches for those throwing small poppers.

Bass fishing is still good with, crank baits, top waters, shaky head worms and Carolina rigs all taking fish. The Kissimmee River is the most productive area, but Harney Pond, and J&S both offering good numbers of fish.

The Big “O” is dropping faster and faster each week, we are getting very close to having no place to launch! More and more of our local ramps are either getting to shallow or have a huge hole at the end of the ramp from power loading. It is hard to put a time line on exactly when our local ramps will no longer be of use, but I will do my best to keep you updated on the situation.

The ramps at Okeetantie now have a sign posted at the end of the ramps where the hole starts, but they already are to shallow to safely launch and load anything but a small aluminum boat, your boat and or skeg will hit the concrete possibly doing damage to your rig. The ramps at Scott driver are okay to get your boat off of the trailer but access to the lake is very shallow, the water is 16 to 18 inches deep unless we have a north wind and then it is even less. J&S canal public ramp has a hole at the end and I received a report that a bass boat got stuck over the end of the ramp and did some damage to the trailer. The ramp at Indian Prairie is very, very steep and there is a big deep hole at the end of the ramp that will claim your trailer if you get to far back. Harney Ponds ramps are still okay to launch but, that is subject to change at any moment.

The best fishing news is coming from blue gill fishermen, the big blue gill and occasional shellcracker are biting in all of the local canals as well as the Kissimmee River. Cichlids are being caught also; I cant help but wonder how long it will be before these aggressive intruders start to impact other fisheries? The bait of choice seems to be a cricket dangled under a small bobber with a tiny split shot pinched on the line. Red worms and or grass shrimp will work at times also, but finding grass shrimp can be rather tough.

Captain Mike's Blog.

Okeechobee Fishing Headquarters

Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League

2007 Okeechobee Tournament Schedule

Photo by Captain Mike

Captain Mike's Blog.

Okeechobee Fishing Headquarters

Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League

2007 Okeechobee Tournament Schedule

Captain Mike's Blog.

Okeechobee Fishing Headquarters

Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League

2007 Okeechobee Tournament Schedule

Captain Mike's Blog.

Okeechobee Fishing Headquarters

Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League

2007 Okeechobee Tournament Schedule

Captain Mike's Blog.

Okeechobee Fishing Headquarters

Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League

2007 Okeechobee Tournament Schedule

While we're shooting photos and video, and getting Captain Mike's page ready, enjoy his BLOG below.

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