This weekend is shaping up to be a mixed bag of weather but a good weekend for fishing. A weak cool front is expected to be pushing through on Saturday and may stall out around Lake Okeechobee. This will make conditions iffy for Saturday and Sunday. Friday we’ll start with high pressure and see it falling through-out the weekend and bottoming out on Sunday. For the south-central Florida region, expect temperatures ranging from morning lows near 70° to daytime highs in the mid to upper 80°’s.
In Highlands County, on Friday the winds will be light and start from the ENE and gradually shift to the WNW for Saturday and Sunday. Chance of rain is approx. 60% in the late afternoon for all three days. On Saturday & Sunday, the location of the rain will depend on the clash between the eastern and western sea breezes.
For the Lake Okeechobee area winds on Friday will be from the ENE at less than 10 mph. On Saturday and Sunday winds shift to the West and then NW for the remainder of the weekend. Expect gusty winds near storms. Rain chance is 60% around 4:pm Friday and remains the same throughout Saturday. On Sunday we return to afternoon showers with the rain chance at 60%.
For those who follow the moon’s phases, this weekend we are on the tail end of a waning moon with Monday being the New Moon. So for those fishing for crappie and even bass, this could be a great weekend of fishing with a falling barometer, cool morning temperatures, and a waning moon.
LAKE LEVELS
Lake Okeechobee: 14.75 ft, holding steady from last week
Lake Istokpoga: 39.33-ft, up 0.08 from last week
Fisheating Creek at US 27, Palmdale: 5.60-ft, down 0.32-ft from last week.
FISHING REPORTS
Lake Okeechobee South End
Slim’s Fish Camp, Belle Glade: Jim reports that the lake is at 14.80-ft and holding steady though some rain is expected over the weekend. Specks are being caught inside the Rim Canal with minnows and jigs being the preferred bait. Bass remain scattered though flipping weed lines around Rittal Island and rattlers on the open lake are producing some nice bass in the 4 to 5-lb. range. Jim also informs us that there are some thick islands of floating hyacinths and lilies in the Rim Canal and if you’re speeding along they come up quickly, so be careful and keep an eye out for these floating obstructions.
Roland Martin Marine Center, Clewiston: Mike Krause reports conditions are pretty much the same as last week. This past weekend the Roland Martine Marine Center produced some nice bag weights in the 20-lb plus range. The northern tip of Rittal Island and Long Point remain active. Senko worms and other plastic worm rigs are producing well. Near Bird Island and the Shoal, fish the outside hydrilla edges in 4 to 5-ft of water. Along the wall, look for spots where floating plants like water lettuce and hyacinth bunch up against the reeds and either flip jigs with plastics or swim baits. Water temperatures are in the high 70°’s to low 80°’s range which is helping the bite in the later part of the day.
The Bait Shop at Harney Pond, Lakeport: Ed reports specks are moving in around the Bird Island area and along the edges. Jigs with minnows are still the best producers. Most of the specks are just under 10-inches, the legal size, so you’ll have to catch 4 or 5 before getting one big enough to keep. Night fishing for specks is doing better with a few boats bringing in around 40 keepers for a 3-man outing. This weekend is the end of the waning moon with Monday being the new moon, so night speck fishing could be hot these next few days. Schooling bass are being caught from the Shoal area and Bird Island to the weather tower. Patches of pepper grass near Horse Island have been very active. The early morning bite still remains strong with bass favoring plastic worms, swim baits, and of course wild shiners. Spinnerbaits such as the white Hildebrandt spinners have also been effective in the early morning bite.
Lake Okeechobee North End
No Bad Daze Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee: Tyler from NBD B&T reports that the morning bite for bass remains strong. After the morning bite switching to swim jigs and fishing the Kissimmee Grass seems to be where the bite moves to. After that moving to the staging areas around Tin House and fishing with rattle traps and crank baits is producing some nice sized bass. Also check out patches of eel grass for staging bass. Specks continue to congregate and are favoring light colored jigs and minnows.
Garrard’s Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee: Larry Wright reporting for Garrard’s says the bite has been off this past weekend. Fishing in the Oakview Baptist Church Christian Team Trail Tournament, the winning bag weight was just over 21-lbs which is light for a tournament with over 50 boats. Still some nice size bass are being caught at the north end of the lake. The bite remains an early bite with white swim jigs, topwater frogs, and bass colored spinner baits performing well. With water levels remaining higher than earlier in the summer, the bass are scattered and on the move. One day you catch them in the Kissimmee or eel grass and the next day there is nobody home. Specks still remain in the deep water though there are signs of small ones venturing into the shallows. Specks are also being found in the rivers especially near structures like weirs, pilings and other structure. Cooling water temperatures and shorter days will improve the conditions overall.
Highlands County
Tale Tales Bait & Tackle, Avon Park. Rob at Tall Tales reports bass fishing remains slow but steady. With the cool temperatures and lower humidity, both the fish and the fisherman should have a pleasant weekend. Specks remain in deeper water though fishing with minnows has been improving.
Admiral’s Cove Bait & Tackle, Lake Placid: Ed, the ‘Admiral’ reports better fishing over the last few days. The deeper lakes like Lake Placid and June-in-Winter remain steady. The shallow lakes like Grassy Lake and Huntley Lake remain slow though with cooler temperatures the bite should improve.
Lorida General Bait & Tackle, Lorida: High water and warm water temperatures remain the dominant feature on the lake. Bass remain scattered and specks are hit and miss. The spillways are still discharging large volumes so activity in these areas remains strong. In-flows into the lake are decreasing though there still remains plenty of water in the fields upstream along Arbuckle Creek.
Caloosahatchee River
With three locks along its route from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico, fishing the river is heavily segmented and dependent on the water flow from the spillways associated with the lock system. As part of this report we’ll provide the present water flow at each lock which over the long run will help you determine what to expect fishing wise.
Moore Haven Lock S-77: All Gates opened 0.00, Flow 0.00cfm.
Ortona Lock S-78: Gate # 3, opened 0.5, Flow 175cfm.
W.P Franklin Lock S-79: Gates #2-6, opened 1.0, Flow 1060 cfm
Miller Bait & Tackle, LaBelle: Bass fishing has been scattered east of Ortona Lock. In this river section gar fish have been showing up in numbers and being an annoyance. The same is true for bait stealing otters. Lake Hicpochee remains slow with bass scattered into the flooded areas. Along the river, most fisherman have been targeting catfish with good results. Specks have yet to show up in numbers.
West of W.P. Franklin Lock where the water turns brackish, snook and tarpon are finding their way into the backwaters and into the Mangroves. Along the Peace River, 100-lb+ tarpon have been showing upstream as far as Peace River Canoe Outpost.
That concludes this week’s fishing report. Though Mother Nature might not be providing the best of weather conditions this weekend, it should be a good weekend to get a line wet.
Best of Luck!
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