FISHING REPORT OVERVIEW
Fishing in general has been steady over the last week. In Lake Okeechobee smaller bass are on the feed with most of the bass being caught in the 2 to 5 lb class with a few 6, 7 and 8’s among the mix. For a better chance at getting one of the larger fish, be on the water before the sun comes up. That means leaving the dock before first light. If you’re not familiar with the area you’re fishing, throttle it back until conditions get a little brighter. If winds are laying low in the morning, the top water action can be explosive so give it a try.
WEATHER OUTLOOK
This weekend is shaping up to be another nice weekend on the water. A low pressure front will be pushing through the area late Saturday but will not bring much in the chance of rain except in the southern end of Lake Okeechobee and that is only at 35% in the late afternoon. For the most part, skies will be clear and sunny for the weekend. Throughout the weekend morning lows will begin the mid 60’s and rise to into the low 90’s in the Highlands and upper 80’s around Lake Okeechobee. Barometric pressure will be falling Friday and Saturday and will bottom out on Saturday night. Winds will be light and variable on Friday, increase to 10-15 mph from the west on Saturday and then work their way to the east at less than 15 mph on Sunday. Once again the winds will do a complete 360-degree turn over the course of the weekend. Friday’s sunrise will occur at 6:36am and set at 8:03pm. The moon will rise at 1:13pm, set at 1:41am and be 48% reflective and working its way to a Full Moon next weekend. The AM:Major will occur at 6:13am while the PM:Major occurs at 6:37 pm. Add approximately 45 minutes for the next consecutive days Major events. All together is looks like a fine weekend to get a line wet.
WATER LEVELS: 05/11/2016
Lake Okeechobee: 13.85 ASL ↓ 0.15-ft Temp 78° am
Lake Istokpoga: 38.78 ASL↑ 0.02-ft Temp 75° am
Istokpoga Canal S68: Head 38.76 ASL, Tail 31.68 ASL, Flow 235 CFS
Arbuckle Creek @ DeSoto: 3.5-ft ↑ 0.4-ft
Fisheating Creek @ US 27: 1.42-ft ↑ 0.17-ft
Fisheating Creek @ Lakeport: 13.83 ASL ↓ 0.01-ft
Peace River @ Zolfo Springs: 5.43-ft ↑ 0.72-ft coming off 9.1 spike
Kissimmee River @ S-65E: Head-20.91, Tail-13.70, Flow-1747 CFS
Caloosahatchee River
Moore Haven Locks S-77: Head 13.62-ft, Tail 10.72-ft, Flow 1986 CFS, 7-day avg 1,368 CFS
Ortona Locks S-78: Head 10.71-ft, Tail 3.18-ft, Flow 1696 CFS, 7-day avg. 1,707 CFS
W.P Franklin Lock S-79: Head 3.33-ft, Tail 1.63-ft, Flow 2027 CFS, 7-day avg. 2,119 CFS
Lake Okeechobee Locks
St Lucie Lock S-80: Head 13.61-ft, Tail 0.59-ft, Flow-615 CFS, 7-day avg. 655 CFS
Port Mayaca Lock S-308: Head 13.76-ft, Tail 13.68-ft, Flow 702 CFS. 7-day avg. 619 CFS
Lake Okeechobee South End
Slim’s Fish Camp, Belle Glade; 561-996-3844: Fishing in general has been good on the south end of the lake. Bass, bluegills and even crappie have all been active. The bigger bass are being taken early in the morning before the sun gets too high in the sky. Spinner baits, rattle traps, and swim baits are all producing nice size fish as well as plenty of smaller dink bass. Panfish such as Bluegill and Crappie are being taken near Tree Island and in most of the cuts between the small islands. Crickets and minnows are your best bet for these panfish though jigs are also producing for crappie. With the wind constantly changing direction, look for the color edge between clear water and dingy water. You’ll find panfish and bass near this line as well as in the currents.
The Bait Shop at Harney Pond, Lakeport; 863-946-0170: Ed from The Bait Shop at Harney Pond reports lots of small to mid-size bass being caught throughout the Monkey Box has turned on and guys are catching plenty of bass in the 2-5lbs class. The morning bite is the best time to catch these fish and spinner baits like the Hildebrandt in white and chartreuse are consistently producing. Buzz baits, chatter baits and jerk baits are also producing well. There has been a nice crappie bite going on in the same area as the bass bite. Guys jigging the lily pads with chartreuse or peanut butter colors jigs are just about limiting out. There was also a nice shell-cracker bite taking place near Tin House Cove but the school was quickly pounced on by anglers and beat up pretty good. So you’ll have to search for them again. Catfish have been so active that they are an annoyance to guys fishing for bass with shiners. The water temperature is in the upper 70’s to low 80’s which is early for this time of year.
Lake Okeechobee North End
Garrard’s Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee; 863-763-3416: Lief reports that bass are starting to school off of places like the Shoal. The usual bass holding areas around Tin House Cove and Kings Bar are also doing well. The bass seem to range in the 2-5lb class with a few 6’s and 7’s in the mix. Wild shiners are the preferred baits but artificials are performing well. In soft plastics, swim baits, speed worms, skinny dippers seem to be the hot persentations. So is flipping jigs with creature baits. As for colors, darker colors are out performing the lighter coloedr baits. When going after schooling bass, remember to stay off the school and when you do hook a bass, get him away from the school before you start to play the fish. You don’t want to spook the school and force them to leave. As for panfish, bluegills are still going strong and shellcrackers are still scattered.
No Bad Daze Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee; 863-484-8126: Tyler reports bass action is good on the northeast side of the lake towards Nubbin Slough and onto J&S Locks. Both in the Rim Canal around Henry Creek and along the outside shorelines the bass are biting. In the morning throw frogs and devil horse type baits and lip-less crank baits along the edges of submerge grasses. As the day heats up, get into the grasses and search for open pockets. Panfish like bluegills are still very active and taking crickets. Shell-crackers are around but not in large numbers.
J&S Fish Camp, Okeechobee; 772-597-4455: Terri reports access to the lake via the J&S Lock has been restricted the last 4-days due to vegetation blocking the lakeside of the locks. There is over 100 yards of weed and debris blocking the channel. Hopefully SFWM will be rectifying this situation before the weekend. In the Rim Canal bream and bluegills remain active and the bass bite has been scattered. There has been no rain in the last few weeks to bring in freshwater to excite the fish to feed.
Highlands County
Admiral’s Cove. Laker Placid; 863-465-0982: Ed reports the shallow lakes are quite warm and the bass are in the shallows feeding in the morning and late evening and then seek shelter during the heat of the day. Spinners, buzz baits and propeller baits are attracting the feeding bass in the morning. Change up to plastic worms and swim baits as the day gets longer.
Performance Marine, Lake Placid, 863-465-2814: Fishing the deeper lakes is slowly taking on a summer time bite, meaning fishing brush pile, ledges, underwater structure and searching for schools of bait. The early morning bite is a mixture of top water and swim baits but as the day progresses, move to the deeper parts of the lakes to look for structure. During the summer months, you’ll depend on your electronics more so than the winter months.
Lorida Bait & Tackle, Lorida; 863-655-2323: Bass fishing on Istokpoga has been steady though not on fire. Water temperatures are consistently in the 80’s during the afternoons so fish are getting into the summer mode that is seeking shelter under vegetation cover. The morning bite is still strong and topwater frogs and noise makers are producing well. After the morning bite, it’s jig and creature baits in the vegetation. Bluegills are still pounding away at crickets and catfish remain active. The lake has risen a few inches since the recent rains so the spillway is release some water is has attracted fish and fishermen. Shell-crackers are being caught though not in great numbers. Just a reminders, the Lorida Bait Shop has cleaned it tanks for the season so minnows or shiners are no longer available. You can still get crickets, worms and tackle though you’ll need to see Scott in the general store first.
Caloosahatchee River
Miller Bait & Tackle, LaBelle; 863-342-8264: Recent rains have increased the flow of the river and activity near the spillways. Though the west coast snook season is now closed until Sept 1, they are still very active near the spill ways. Elsewhere on the river, bluegills, bream, and catfish all remain very active. Bass are scattered though they are being taken near vegetation beds and structures such as boat docks and culverts.
Peace River Arcadia: The river had a major spike in water level this week after recent rains. Water levels jumped from less than 5-ft last Wednesday to over 9-ft of water on Thursday. Since that time water levels have been declining and are now almost where they were a week ago. During these periods, fish will congregate in eddies and behind structures that break the force of the river. They’ll also scatter deeper into the woods and brush along the river’s banks. As the river recedes, they been return to the deeper holes in the river bottom and become aggressive feeders again.
IN-CLOSING
Summertime fishing is here for the shallow lakes like Lake Okeechobee and Lake Istokpoga. The deeper lakes in Highlands County still need some warming up to do but it won’t take long for them to get there. With the recent weather providing us an extended dry-spell, water levels have fallen nicely and Lake Okeechobee is finally under 14-ft which should start driving fish out of the backwaters. As water temperatures rise fish are getting prepared to move offshore for the summer so fish the edges and deeper channels into the lake.
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