FISHING REPORT OVERVIEW
With the mild temperatures and minimal amounts of rain, lake temperatures and levels have stabilized and the fish are loving the steady conditions. So they are doing what comes naturally to them in their post spawn period, they are putting on the feed bag. If you’re fishing a lake with schooling bait fish, locate the school and you’ll find feeding bass all around them. It’s also a great time to get out early for that morning topwater rush. That first explosive strike makes that early wake-up call all worth it.
WEATHER OUTLOOK
This weekend is shaping up to be another wonderful weekend to get out on the water. A small low pressure front will be moving through the area early Thursday and after it clears it will leave behind sunny skies, mild temperatures, and mixed bag of wind speeds and directions. On Friday the morning low will be in the upper 50’s and under clear sunny skies climb into the low 80’s. Winds will fluctuate between W to NW at 5 – 15mph. On Saturday the morning temperatures will start in the upper 50’s but will climb only to the mid to upper 70’s during the day. Wind will begin to shift from the NW to the N and should remain below 15-mph. On Sunday the morning temperatures should be a few degrees cooler and be in the low to mid 50’s in the northern end of Highlands County but near 60° around Lake Okeechobee. Highs for Sunday should be in the mid 70’s. However the winds may become a factor on Sunday with the wind expected to shift from the N to the E and increase to 15-20+ mph. So boaters take precaution by mid-day Sunday. Throughout the entire weekend the barometer will be on the rise and peak early Sunday afternoon. This weekend also marks the new moon which will occur on Thursday. On Friday the moon will rise at 8:08am and set at 9:21pm. Sunrise for Friday will occur at 7:05am and set at 7:43pm. The AM:Major for Friday occurs at 12:33am while the PM:Major occurs at 1:02pm. For this weekend add one full hour to the Major for each consecutive day. With a relatively new moon rising approximately an hour after sunrise, the morning bite should be a good one.
WATER LEVELS: 04/06/2016
Lake Okeechobee: 15.06 ASL ↔ 0.00-ft
Lake Istokpoga: 39.25 ASL↓ 0.08-ft
Istokpoga Canal S68: Head 39.27 ASL, Tail 31.96 ASL, Flow 201 CFS
Arbuckle Creek @ DeSoto: 3.80-ft ↓ 0.30-ft
Fisheating Creek @ US 27: 2.64-ft ↓ 0.05-ft
Fisheating Creek @ Lakeport: 15.31 ASL ↑ 0.06-ft
Peace River @ Zolfo Springs: 8.96-ft ↑ 1.10-ft
Kissimmee River @ S-65E: Head 21.00-ft, Tail 14.89-ft, Flow 5209 CFS
Caloosahatchee River
Moore Haven Locks S-77: Head 14.69-ft, Tail 10.84-ft, Flow 3074 CFS, 7-day avg 2,186 CFS
Ortona Locks S-78: Head 10.73-ft, Tail 2.98-ft, Flow 2742 CFS, 7-day avg. 2,107 CFS
W.P Franklin Lock S-79: Head 3.02-ft, Tail 0.85-ft, Flow 3867 CFS, 7-day avg. 2,963 CFS
Lake Okeechobee Locks
St Lucie Lock S-80: Head 14.08-ft, Tail 1.43-ft, Flow 1456 CFS, 7-day avg. 1,195 CFS
Port Mayaca Lock S-308: Head 14.93-ft, Tail 14.39-ft, Flow 1319 CFS. 7-day avg. 831 CFS
Lake Okeechobee South End
Slim’s Fish Camp, Belle Glade; 561-996-3844: Jim reports there is plenty of clear water in the south end of the lake. So clear that bass can be easily spooked by shadows and unwanted noise. So put yourself into stealth mode if you find yourself under sunny skies and clear water. The bass bite of the past few days has been scattered. Anglers are doing well one day and the next having a slow go of it. There is plenty of baitfish around so the artificial bite is taking a back seat to the shiner fishermen. There are still plenty of big bass around they’re a just playing hard to catch.
Roland Martin Marine Center, Clewiston; 863-983-2128: Schools of baitfish are abundant throughout the area. You’ll find plenty of buck bass chasing the schools. In the morning spinners and top water presentations are working well. As the day gets longer you’ll need to start looking along the bulrush walls and in the floating vegetation for those fish missing out on the schools of baitfish. Still good numbers are being brought aboard.
The Bait Shop at Harney Pond, Lakeport; 863-946-0170: Ed from the Bait Shop at Harney Pond says the fishing has been excellent these past few days. Plenty of male bass in the 4-6 lbs range are being caught with some bigger females in the mix. The water has cleared nicely with the favorable winds and the water level has been holding steady which is making the fish settle down into more consistent patterns. The morning topwater bite is very active and swimbaits are doing well in the mid-morning period. As for panfish, the Bluegill bite is picking up while the Crappie bite is slowing down. Shellcrackers are also showing up in good numbers and with decent size.
Lake Okeechobee North End
Garrard’s Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee; 863-763-3416: Lief reports the bass bite is picking up with wild shiners leading the way. Topwater frogs, chatter baits, and spinners are producing in the morning. As the day progresses, many guys are finding success by changing to senko’s and speedworms. Most of the bass seem to be males with a nice mixture of 4-6lbs fish being taken. The Speck bite is starting to slow down though some nice schools are still being found and responding well to jigs. Bluegill activity continues to improve with crickets being the primary bait. Shellcrackers are just beginning to get active.
No Bad Daze Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee; 863-484-8126: Tyler reports fishing in general has picked up nicely. The bass bite is improving both on shiners and artificials. The quantities are there but sizes are in the 3-5 lb range. For artificial baits try June Bug or green colored Senkos and straight worms. The panfish bite continues to improve with Bluegills being caught in Henry and Taylor creeks and areas within the Rim Canal. Also in the Rim Canal are Oscars and Mylan Cichlids which are taking crickets and red worms. Speck fishing has been slowing down but some nice size fish are still being caught. Jig fishing has been producing better than minnows.
Highlands County
Admiral’s Cove. Laker Placid; 863-465-0982: The lakes on the south end of Highlands County are producing consistent bass fishing. They’re not on fire but consistent. With the longer days the early morning hours are faring better than mid-day under bright sunny skies. Speedworms and swim baits are what most guys are throwing.
Performance Marine, Lake Placid: The surface water and the shallows of the deeper lakes are warming up which is increasing the temperature difference between the thermoclines. This creates two fishing worlds, one of topwater, swim baits and speed worms in the shallows and another of deep crank baits and drop-shot style rigs for the deep ledges and bait balls. As the temperature difference increases, for those fishing catch-n-release, bringing deep water fish into warm surface waters or hot live wells places added stress on the fish so extra care should be used when landing these fish. As for the spawn this year, the condition of the bass recently caught appear in great shape with little signs of being roughed up by the act of spawning so we are most likely in between stages at the moment. Overall the fishing is on the upswing in all the local lakes.
Lorida Bait & Tackle, Lorida; 863-655-2323: Lake Istokpoga has been producing some nice bass as of late. This past weekend the Xtreme Bass Series Tournament was on the lake and the winning weight was just over 30-lbs on a five fish limit. There were quite of few very healthy looking 7-lbs bass brought to the scales along with a nice complement of 5 & 6’s. So it’s a good time to put Lake Istokpoga on your go to list.
Caloosahatchee River
Miller Bait & Tackle, LaBelle; 863-342-8264: The Corps continues to pulse outflows down the river. The snook fishing has been very good downstream of the spillways and outflows. The west coast season remains open until April 30th with a slot limit of not less than 28” or greater than 33” so get them before the season closes. In these waters live bait work the best but the snook respond well to a variety of stick baits and soft plastics. Bass fishing on the river has also stabilized but still fish outside the main current. Shoreline vegetation is always a get holding spot for river bass.
IN-CLOSING
This weekend should be a repeat of last weekend, good weather and a steady bass bite. So there are no excuses to getting a line wet this weekend.
