I hear the river is hot right now at night, caught this Sunday while crappie fishing south end. Not biting good at south end yet
Alright fellas, any better reports up in this neck of the lake yet? I called up to one of the bait shops near Okeetantie and they told me the bite was back. Would like to hear it from more sources though!
I hear the river is hot right now at night, caught this Sunday while crappie fishing south end. Not biting good at south end yet
brentalous LIKED above post
Went over on February 1st and returned yesterday, fishing was terrible on the North end, to include the times I went to the river. I have never seen it this bad in over 35 years that I have been fishing the lake. Water temp was between 77 and 80 the entire time I was there, little cold front we had didn't do much for it. With the experiences that I have had the last three years I will probably go elsewhere in the future. Occasionally I would talk to people that did well sporadically but they were few. Bait shops also said the bite is back, they are trying to sell bait. Tried jigging also, nothing seemed to work. Good luck!
slimdaddy thanked you for this post
I just got back home yesterday from a 9 day trip to Buckhead Ridge. It definitely was a tougher bite than the last couple of years but we did manage to catch fish. We fished the river exclusively & never even went out into the lake. Wind was an issue almost every day. Everyone we talked to were having about the same luck. In fact we caught more keepers than most people we talked to. Our best tactic was to find the steeper drop offs & put the back of the boat in 14-15 ft. of water with the front of the boat facing the bank and tightline minnows. The bite every day was very faint. If you weren't paying close attention and scanning poles constantly you wouldn't see it. We fished above & below the bridge on the left bank going up the river. The 1st few days of the trip we caught more after dark but the last few days we had better luck in the daylight. Started most days around 3 or 4 & fished late into the night. The 2 of us managed a 50 fish limit one night & we had 45 another. But most nights we would be in the 20 something range. We did catch some real pigs though with a few over 2lbs. each night. Biggest for the week was a little over 2-1/4 lb. Didn't get a good pic of it though. My uncle who lives there by himself in the Winter is 84 now & I'm not sure how much longer he can mange to do it. So I treasure each day there with him as if it's the last. Here's my 1st fish from yesterday.
Last edited by kycreek; 02-28-2019 at 11:15 AM.
slimdaddy LIKED above post
Were leaving around 9 in the morning to go there hope we have some luck be there 10 days hope we can fill the small freezer we take with crappie ,bluegills
Headed down March 22-30. Staying at Roland Martin Resort at Clewiston, but hitting Everglades for Oscar, then some Bream and Crappie in the lake.
39 years running for this trip. I'm a newbie to group this being my 6th year.
Mark 1:17 ...I will make you fishers of men
If you want to have a blast run down to Holiday Park and drop a cricket in the lily pads in the canals in the Everglades and hold on. Oscars are decent eating when filleted and fight like a 5# Bluegill. Catch as many as you want to clean no limits. Need to spend at least one day doing this. We've been at it for nearly 40 years.
Mark 1:17 ...I will make you fishers of menbrentalous, slimdaddy LIKED above post
Closer to bluegill or a small bass. Lordy they fun to catch but you won't get them in the boat with 4# test and limber pole. I use 10' B&M jig pile and 12# braid.
Sent from my LG-H871 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app
Mark 1:17 ...I will make you fishers of menslimdaddy LIKED above post
I've been fishing the lake since 1992, most years for a month or better. I have never seen a year like this. I think it was a combination of high water temps, NO submerged vegitation, and low water. The fishing has been getting better and better until now. Last year I fished for a month and caught my limit every day, with many days my wife doing the same. Nobody really knows what's going on.
I did travel up to Lake Kissimmee and did fairly well a few days.
I definitely wouldn't write Okeechobee off over this one year.