OVERVIEW
After recent heavy rains, there is high water everywhere and more coming down from the watershed. Rivers are carrying lots of water which is heavily stained and sedimented. The best bet during these times is to search for color changes and cleaner more oxygenated waters. The smaller lakes with smaller feeder streams are having better luck maintaining good water quality and the fish are responding accordingly. In these lakes both bass and Crappie have been biting well. In the larger lakes where water levels have risen sharply, bass are using the extra water to go deeper into the vegetation. Word of caution, in lakes with large alligator populations, the gators have also been displaced by the high water and are seeking drier living conditions. Large cattail and bulrush stands make great floating mats for the gators so when pitch’n and flipp’n these areas be mindful of these new inhabitants. FYI, this weekend is the FLW Walmart Tournament at Roland and MaryAnn Martin’s Resort. Besides stopping in and checking on the daily results, if you’re planning on fishing the south and west end of the lake, expect heavy boat traffic.
WEATHER OUTLOOK
This weekend will be another rollercoaster ride weather-wise. There is a cold front from the NW moving through the area late Thursday and into early Friday morning. It will bring a chance of rain but more importantly increased winds and cooler temperatures. On late Saturday the cooler air gets reinforced again for a chilly Sunday with high temperatures maybe reaching the 60° mark. Winds on Friday will be from the NW at around 15mph in the Highlands and in the 15-20mph mark around Lake Okeechobee. On Saturday the winds will drop off under 10mph and be mostly out of the north. On Sunday the winds pick back up again with a WNW component between 15-20mph through-out the region. After the Thursday front passes, the barometric pressure will begin to rise through late Friday after which it will trend downward through the remainder of the weekend. Sunrise on Friday will be at 7:06am and will set at 6:06pm. The moon will be at the end of its waning period with the New Moon arriving on Sunday night. Friday’s moonrise is at 4:23am and will set at 3:28pm. The AM:Major for Friday occurs at 8:26am and the PM:Major occurs at 8:52pm. This should make for a great weekend to get some evening Crappie fishing in.
Water Levels – 02/04/2016
Lake Okeechobee: 16.25 ASL ↑ 0.71-ft Temp 68°
Lake Istokpoga: 39.28 ASL ↓ 0.09-ft,
Arbuckle Creek @ DeSoto: 5.0-ft ↑ 0.50-ft
Fisheating Creek @ US 27: 6.34-ft ↑ 0.34-ft
Peace River @ Zolfo Springs: 11.89 ↓ 0.30-ft
Kissimmee River @ S-65E: Head 20.92-ft, Tail 16.08-ft, Flow 3778 CFS
Caloosahatchee River
Moore Haven Locks S-77: Head 15.85-ft, Tail 11.49-ft, Flow 5324 CFS, 5-day avg 4,176 CFS
Ortona Locks S-78: Head 10.90-ft, Tail 3.7-ft, Flow 8069 CFS, 7-day avg. 16,210 CFS
W.P Franklin Lock S-79: Head 3.34-ft, Tail 2.88-ft, Flow 10,648 CFS, 7-day avg. 12,339 CFS
Lake Okeechobee Locks
St Lucie Lock S-80: Head 13.74-ft, Tail 0.61-ft, Flow 2805 CFS, 7-day avg. 3,158 CFS
Port Mayaca Lock S-308: Head 16.24-ft, Tail 14.24-ft, Flow 1392 CFS. 5-day avg. 1,060 CFS
LAKE OKEECHOBEE SOUTH END
Slim’s Fish Camp, Belle Glade: 561-996-3844: Jim reports both the Crappie and Bass bite have been doing really well especially where you find clean water. Recent SE winds have helped clean out the south end of the lake producing clean water just outside Boy Scout Cut and on both sides of Ritta Island. The Ritta Island area in particular has produced some sizable female spawners. Shiners are the preferred bait for these larger females. Having clean water has also improved the artificial bite with swim baits and spinners producing nicely. The War Eagle TroKar spinnerbait in mouse color has been the hot spinner on the lake for a few weeks now.
Roland Martin Marine Center, Clewiston; 863-983-2128: Mike Krause Jr recommends searching for clean water deeper in the vegetation to find spawning females. Overall the dirty water on the edges has turn down the artificial bite though shiner fishing remains consistent. If fishing with artificials, start the day with swim baits and change over to slower presentations during the day. In dirty water, noise producing baits will help in producing reactionary strikes. In fast rising lake levels, the fish react similar to a cold front and take a few days to acclimate to the new conditions.
The Bait Shop at Harney Pond, Lakeport; 863-946-0170: The Bait Shop at Harney Pond reports the Speck fishing around Bird Island is just off the hook. Day or night anglers have been bagging their limits with plenty of 2+lbs slabs being brought in. Live minnows are producing the best results but once you locate the school, jigs are producing nicely as well. Some nice female bass spawners are beginning to show up and they are being found in the cleaner water. Fisheating Creek is flowing heavily these past few days delivering dirty oxygen depleted water into Fisheating Bay. So the trick is to follow the current and search for color changes off to the sides. Areas just north of Horse Island is off the main flow and is holding cleaner water and fish. The same is true for the area just south of Bird Island. In these areas females in the 8 to 9-lb class are being taken along with plenty of 5 to 6-lb males. This weekend’s NW winds should help flush out the bay somewhat but Fisheating Creek and the smaller runoffs need to slow down before overall water quality will improve.
Lake Okeechobee North End
Garrard’s Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee, 863-763-3416: Lief reports Specks and Bass fishing remains strong on live bait. For Specks minnows still out pace jigs. In clear water Andy jigs in green, white, or silver are being effective. With the high water levels, bass anglers fishing with artificials are venturing deeper into the cover and producing a few nice fish. Sunshine Bass, a.k.a. stripers, are showing up more frequently now in the river and areas where there is moving water. These fish will take small spinners, minnows, and shiners. They have smaller and softer mouths than bass so you need to reel them in with a little more care. This weekend’s weather should bring NW winds which will push out some of the water and help clean out some of the back areas.
No Bad Daze Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee, 863-484-8126: The report from No Bad Daze is all about the Specks. The area around Nubbin’s Slough has been on fire when you time it right. Guys are catching them in the rocks, in the Rim Canal side and on the drift on the open lake. Only thing is sometimes it’s a morning bite and sometimes it’s an evening bite. Minnows and Peanut Butter & Jelly colored jigs are producing equally well. Also at the spillway near Nubbins is attracting Sunshine Bass which are being caught in the moving water. As for largemouth bass, shiner fishermen are doing well. Guys using artificals are having a tougher go at it. Overall, water clarity has been improving the last few days and this weekend’s NW wind should speed up the clearing of the water.
J&S Fish Camp, Okeechobee: High water levels have flood the grasses along the lake’s outer edge. Specks have moved into these areas and bass have become more scattered. Alligators are relocating to the edges of the bulrush and cattails in the inner trails. This might not scare the fish but you do need to approach with caution.
Highlands County
Admiral’s Cove. Laker Placid, 863-465-0982: Ed reports great Crappie fishing in the local lakes. Bass to have been active. Minnows are your best for Crappie and jigs are producing in the clearer lakes. Chartreuse remains the preferred color for jigs.
Performance Marine, 863-465-2814: Bass fishing has been tougher with the rising water levels and inconsistent water temperatures. In the deeper lakes search for bass on the ledges in the morning and in the shallows as the day’s temperatures heats up. The artificial bite has been slower than normal but shiner fishing remains good. Lake Istokpoga remains one of the more consistent lakes despite dirty water conditions.
Lorida Bait & Tackle, Lorida, 863-655-2323: Scott reports the Speck bite remains very strong. Quantity and sizes remain good. Like minnows consistently produce. With the approaching New Moon the Speck bite should be hot. As for bass, spawning females are being taken though mostly on shiners. Artificals remain a tough bite though smaller bass are being taken.
Tale Tales Bait & Tackle, Avon Park 863-452-2248: The smaller lakes in the Avon Park area are producing quality Crappie and bass fishing. The water quality of these smaller lakes remains good even though the lakes are experiencing higher than normal water levels. Live bait such as minnows for Crappie and shiners for bass still remain the best bet.
Caloosahatchee River
Miller Bait & Tackle, LaBelle, 863-342-8264: There is a lot of water being pushed down the river. The water in the middle channel comes from the Big O and is turbulent and heavy with sediment so unless your catfishing it would probably be best to avoid this water. Fishing along the edges of the river, near small feeder streams and oxbows are producing some nice bass fishing. Crappie are laying in areas off the faster moving waters. The crappie are feeding readily on minnows. Bass are taking spinner and crankbaits.
IN CLOSING
With the recent surge in water levels, the change in bass patterns is making it harder to produce consistently. Smaller lakes with lesser amounts of incoming water seem the least impacted while lakes like Lake Okeechobee and Istokpoga are feeling the greatest impacts. As they say, ‘shit flows downhill’ and these lakes are seeing the negative impacts of dirty water. The trick to locating fish during these times is to watch the direction of the wind and the currents. The wind helps push the dirty water out of the bays and into the open lake while creating water currents in the process. Finding clean water and these currents will improve you rate of success.
