If you own a business around Lake Okeechobee, water levels make a big difference. During the years when the water levels are normal or high, our local businesses do much better than the years when the water levels are low. When levels are high more anglers visit the lake because it’s easier to navigate and they don’t have to worry about destroying their boats while speck and bass fishing. When it comes to the guides and local tournament anglers, it really doesn’t matter since they’ll fish no matter what the conditions are.
Every angler has an opinion on which is better so I’m going to give you my thoughts on the subject. In the summer months I generally like the water levels lower, 13.5 ft. above sea level and lower. That means the outside edges of the grasses are 3 ft. and lower. What this does is concentrate the bass on the edges where they are much easier to catch. When the water is only around 3 ft you can get your baits much closer to the fish and this alone will help you catch more bass. Also in the summer months we generally don’t have a lot of wind so the water stays much cleaner, not just because of the lighter winds but lower water levels don’t generate large waves which can muddy up the lake.
In the winter months to me it’s a different story, we get a lot of high winds during cold fronts that makes it impossible to fish the outside of the grass even when the lake is at a lower level. So I really like the lake to be higher. I have a lot of fishable areas during high water levels way off the main lake where you can fish during any kind of wind. In fact sometimes these areas are much better when we have a cold front and very high winds. I have a lot of areas during the winter months that I need the high winds to push the water to one side and force the water through these paths of least resistance. I don’t care how cold it gets when you have clear water currents the bass will be catchable even in the coldest of water. So I really like the water in Lake Okeechobee lower in summer and higher in the winter. It looks like we will have high water levels this winter which is fine with me and it will be good for our guests that visit our great lake this winter. The speck fishing is predicted to be better than ever and we all know how good our bass fishing is going to be. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t catch bass on the BIG ‘O’ when the water is cold, I’ve won two Wal-Mart FLW events on Okeechobee when the air temperature was below freezing and caught 15 to 20 bass a day in open water, you don’t always need that flippin stick.
For more information on the fishing or guided trip of a lifetime catch HOOKED UP WITH STEVE & DEB the Voice of Okeechobee fishing Friday 4pm, Saturday & Sunday 10am eastern@renoviolaoutdoors.com, Saturdays 100.9fm wokc.com, & Sunday 100.5fm, wafcamfm.com, okeechobeeprostevedaniel.com. Telephone 239.560.2704
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