With the month of November and the election behind us we can now look to the month of December, Christmas, and great bass fishing here on Lake Okeechobee. The fishing the past month has been a roller coaster ride with good days and slow days but I’m seeing improvements everyday. The lake level is at 14.61 feet above sea level and this is a very good water level for Lake Okeechobee. It will allow the bass to get back into the grass and spawn which will provide cover for the fry unlike last year when the fry had nowhere to go out in the open water. Most of the bass that we have been catching are back in the grass quite a ways. The key is to find water that is clean and that the grass looks healthy and green. Some areas of the lake still has a lot of grass that grew when it was dry land still dying and these areas seem to be places to avoid. The bite on artificial lures has been just as good if not better than the fishing with wild shiners. I believe this is because we are seeing a lot of bait swimming around in the grass.
The areas that my clients and I have been concentrating on are Long Point, Ritta Island, the West Wall, and Coots Bay. These areas will produce fish one day and than it can be slow the next, it has been a little hard to figure out but if they are not biting in an area even though they bit good there yesterday you need to move on to a different place to try. The wind has also been playing a role in where you fish as it will push dirty water in from out on the lake and then it is almost imposable to catch anything. A lot of the tournaments lately have been being won from the Long Point area but this are has had a lot of folks fishing it. I don’t really like to fish in a crowd if I can avoid it and Lake Okeechobee is a big lake that you can usually find somewhere else to catch some bass.
With the fishing being a bit slow it only makes sense to slow down while you are fishing. Most of the fish that my clients and I have been catching over the past month have come on a Lake Fork Hyper worm, Swimming Senko, or a Snag-Proof Frog. The Hyper Worm and Swimming Senko are fished weightless on twenty pound test Gamma Edge Fluorocarbon line and a medium heavy action Deep South rod. You need the heavy line to get the bass out of the thick grass but with the Gamma Fluorocarbon the bass can’t see the line even though it is twenty pound test. The frog I’m fishing is the Bobby’s Perfect frog made by Snag-Proof lures in black color. The key to fishing this frog is to work it slowly across the grass and when you get to a small open hole in the grass just stop the frog and let it sit and this is when the bass will come up and get it. I fish the frog on a Deep South frog rod that is 7’2” long that has a heavy action, the line I use is fifty pound test PowerPro. I have heard that a few guys are catching some bass on Zoom Super Flukes but I’m not sure what color. The only other lure that I have caught a few bass on is a Zara Super Spook work in large open areas in the grass but these places are few and far between. When you do find an area that you catch a fish or two be sure and fish the are very thoroughly because I have found that there is usually more than one bass in an area. The brim bite has been good here around the Clewiston area with limits being caught by almost everyone I talk to. Try just inside the rim canal on the lake side of the levee at almost all of the openings that go toward the main lake. Good luck and hope to see you on the lake soon. As most of you know I’m a full time guide and tournament angler but I’m also available for seminars and appearances throughout Florida. You can contact me anytime at 863-983-9950. And don’t forget to check out my new bass fishing social web site at www.mybassclass.com and become a member.