The largemouth bass and bream bite is excellent – focus on the early morning and late afternoon timeframe. For my guide customers we fish a “split day” which is typically the crack of daylight until about 11:00 am then we head back to the ramp for lunch. We meet back at around 3:00 pm and fish until dark. This helps to avoid the hot mid-day heat and bass are more likely to be feeding in the early hours and before dark, which can make for some exciting top water action and schooling activity in the grass and out in open water not far off the grass edge for rattle trap and spinner bait bites.
Lures for this time of year can be frogs and swim jigs worked through the isolated grass clumps. Big worms worked parallel to a grass edge can produce the “bigger” bite. Also try pitching a creature-style lure or jig into thicker isolated grass clumps. If you want to brush up on your Carolina-rig and crank baits, head to the Kissimmee River where you’ll find rock ledges and good drop-off depths. The River is a good place to bream fish, the bream move right up onto the River’s edge to spawn and most beds can be seen on a sunny day. Live red wigglers and crickets is the best bait to use but don’t be surprised if you catch some smaller size catfish too.
I am always asked by people “when is the best time to fish Okeechobee”? I like October, November up to mid-December. The weather has cooled off, the first big wave of female bass are feeding up ready to go onto the beds. The rest of the winter and spring is great fishing too. Call or text Capt Angie at 863-228-7263 or check out the new website www.southfloridabassfishing.com to book your trip. Capt. Angie’s sponsors are: G-Loomis rods; Lews; Gill; Maui-Jim; Mercury Marine; Real Magic; Pradco Brands; Mega Strike; BnM Poles; Bullet weights; Mid-South Tackle and Gene Larew.
