Results Okeechobee tournament, 8th on schedule

[fishin813]

Lake Okeechobee
Okee-taniee Ramp
Okeechobee, Fl

Six (6) teams fished the event

(1) One position paid for "Big Fish"

1st: George Parker & Tim Eberly
1 lb 6.0 oz

(2) Two positions paid for "7 fish total
catch weight"

1st: George Parker / Tim Eberly
7 lbs 0.0 oz

2nd: Darryl & Terri Cole
6 lbs 13.2 oz

First place team used Deep-South 10' rods
"single pole" jigged any structure they could
fine in or around bridge pilings or up near the
locks in river. Parker worked with own made
jigs blue/chaut-short hair)

Second place used Deep-South 14' rods, pulled
and pushed spider riggin with AWD popsical curley
tails & Charlie Brewer Junebug & Blue ice jigs

Water temp was in high 70's fish were caught at
all levels from 8' to 14 deep, with "blue-bird skies
and plenty of sunlight (hot)

Next tournament will be May 12th, St Johns River,
Astor, Fl. public ramp off hwy 40 on west side of
river, south side of road.

[Speckanator]

No surprizes there...except the weights!

[fishin813]

poundage was about the same as when Mike, I & Ron fished it Wednesday,
temp had gone up about 8-9 degrees, dept pattern a little different and they
had moved from a suspended state more or less to more structure.

Mike nor I had ever worked towards the locks/spillways etc.

[fishin813]

Surprising to me was the fish we caught Wednesday -mostly all females, had roe
in them, some quite pronounced - this would seem awfully late in year to be in
this mode especally that far into the South

[Swamptoad]

Actually not really there are Alot of late spawners and the bite down by clewiston hasnt even started to explode yet after this front alot of people are ready to hunt the slabs at moore haven clewiston and south bay even port myacka <- probably spelled wrong lol but this is usually the time the far far deep south takes off plus we had a kinda week long screwy winter lol Bottom of Big O and further south is always late as in april may starts to hit pretty good to get numbers and sizes but if it has roe i let it go!! and keep about up to 20 max for snacks lol

[fishin813]

Very interesting, thanks for update and reasoning.Caught me off guard
by a whole lot..........

We will probably go one more year to "Big O" six boats was not all that bad for
only 2nd time...All were FCC members who run circuit except one new one from
the area......We will maybe work more time into flyers and possible some newspaper
print next year. Big 0 has 10" size limit which was ok, all fish taken were well over
10" limit.

Interesting area.

[Swamptoad]

yeah the 10'' - 25 per person per day has helped ALOT!! It has made it to where you can limit out but 497,000 acres of open area lets them slabs play hide and seek real well lol
Okeetantie ,buckhead ridge , Indian Prarie , hardney pond , fish eating creek , moore Haven , Clewiston , south bay , port myacka <- probably spelled wrong are the hottest spots in the lake now once into the main lake , eagle bay ,the monkey box , coot bay, bombing hole, and other various wild names which hold good bass fishing also hold those sweet slabs and any good drop offs like from the 6-8-10 suttle ledges with any structure channel markers and where you run into differant weeds from coon tails / cat tail reeds
all the fine mixes they linger thru and about. It is challenging for sure with such a mass body of water but finding run off locks drainage dithches weed islands and just working it all over for what is worth makes it that much more rewarding. Spider rigging and long lineing work well with electronics but out of a canoe i use alot of markers and past history of trial and error plus to me being in a canoe lets me be in super stealth mode which i think helps alot too. Even for night fishing you see the UFO's < pontoon boats with generators and about 100 can poles lol looking like a lit up city in the dark on the water. but i go with the gas lantern a large glass giant pickle jar dip nets and 4 jig poles 2 spinners and i can popem pretty good during these fast fronts i usually stay home but if its a good front 2 days prior until the front is awsome and 1 day after the front it jumps back into action. Guessing from the north end to the south end for the pre spawn / post spawn is the guessing game with the weather. and Even when the lake has slowed from the spawn time even lower in the swampy swamp where im close too you can still slap a great limit of them and some of the bluegills are about the size of the bottom of the bucket lol I have noticed a signifigant drop in the numbers of the Bull Bream down south where im at but i blame that on army core of engineers for theyr improvment plans which has been closing soo many areas i used to fish!!!!! but thats another issue lol Im glad everyone had a great tournament and some good crappies were caught. The Bigger slabs usually hit about dusk till about 1 hour before sunrise. Has anyone considered a night time crappie tournament ? launch at 4 pm fish till 4am ease back at weigh in right at sunrise ? Crappie eggs and buiscuits are good breakfast. lol

[fishin813]

That has been discussed on a number of occassions...........but no to date has
pushed issure for a night time run of it........Most of us have generators and
all needed equipment for night run........that would be fun................had even
considered 8pm - 2am plenty of time cause you'll barametric going up and starting
down...

Maybe later this summer will push for possible night fish... to me thats some of the
best fun there is......talk about commradship and just plain relaxing...........
stars out, moon-less night.........yippee.....

Thanks again Toad for the update on the "Big O"..

[Swamptoad]

Anytime !! I am happy to be here ! I have learned ALOT not onley on jig tying but methods used and rigs along with colors and people sharing the info on all over the conditions and catches this is by far The Best Crappie Site online!!!!

[fishin813]

We try and fishermen like yourself that make it work.
We thank you sir: