FISHING REPORT OVERVIEW
This will be a tough weather weekend to be on the water. There will be nice periods and if you’re in the wrong place there will be nasty weather. If you time it right you could have some great periods of fishing because fish become very active during these types of weather patterns. It never fails that big fish come to feed during these approaching storms. Some of my best fishing has been looking down the barrel of an approaching hurricane. You just need to know when to pull the plug and get your butt to safety and pray your engine starts. This is also a great weekend to pay a visit to your favorite culvert, spillway, or stream mouth. These waterways will be flowing with fresh rainwater and delivering food to eagerly waiting fish so don’t pass up a great opportunity to locate congregating bass.
WEATHER OUTLOOK
This weekend is going to be a roller coaster ride with pulses of wet humid Gulf air pushing through the area during the afternoons and into the evenings. Periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms will ride these pulses of energy. Some of these storms could be pretty intense so when you go out onto the water keep an eye out for building storms. Over the last few days some of these storms peaked out at over 50,000 feet in altitude. That’s 20,000 feet higher than a commercial airliner flies. These sized storms will have strong winds, a strong squall line, possibly mirco-bursts, plenty of lightning and torrential rains and chances of hail. Don’t mess with them and get to safe harbor if you see them coming. For all three days the morning temperatures will be in the low 70’s and daytime highs will reach into the mid to upper 80’s. In the Highlands winds will generally be out of the West and then shift to the SW during one of these pulses. Near Lake Okeechobee the winds will be light out of the SE during the calm periods but shift to the SW as the storms build and develop inland. The barometer will be on the rise through Friday night and begin to fall around 12:00am Saturday morning and continue to fall until Monday morning. Sunrise on Friday will be at 6:32am and set at 8:07pm. The moon will rise on Friday at 7:13pm and set the following morning at 5:55am. The moon will be at 98% reflectance on Friday with the Full Moon occurring on Saturday and Sunday. The AM:Major on Friday will occur at 10:54am and the PM:Major will occur 11:17pm.
WATER LEVELS: 05/11/2016
Lake Okeechobee: 13.65 ASL ↓ 0.20-ft, Temp 78° am
Lake Istokpoga: 38.78 ASL↑ 0.07-ft, Temp 75° am
Istokpoga Canal S68: Head 38.82 ASL, Tail 31.96 ASL, Flow 439 CFS
Arbuckle Creek @ DeSoto: 3.3-ft ↓ 0.1-ft
Fisheating Creek @ US 27: 1.42 4.5-ft ↑ 3.08-ft
Fisheating Creek @ Lakeport: 13.93 ASL ↑ 0.10-ft
Peace River @ Zolfo Springs: 10.88-ft ↑ 5.45-ft
Kissimmee River @ S-65E: Head 21.17-ft, Tail 12.84-ft, Flow-1703 CFS
Caloosahatchee River
Moore Haven Locks S-77: Head 13.84-ft, Tail 11.76-ft, Flow 1200 CFS, 7-day avg 2,066 CFS
Ortona Locks S-78: Head 10.71-ft, Tail 3.18-ft, Flow 1696 CFS, 7-day avg. 1,725 CFS
W.P Franklin Lock S-79: Head 3.41-ft, Tail 1.48-ft, Flow 1784 CFS, 7-day avg. 2,128 CFS
Lake Okeechobee Locks
St Lucie Lock S-80: Head 13.86-ft, Tail 0.97-ft, Flow-612 CFS, 7-day avg. 641 CFS
Port Mayaca Lock S-308: Head 14.00-ft, Tail 13.90-ft, Flow 611 CFS. 7-day avg. 574 CFS
Lake Okeechobee South End Fishing
Slim’s Fish Camp, Belle Glade; 561-996-3844: Lake levels continue to improve and the bass bite is continuing to be strong with wild shiners. With artificial baits, the early morning period seems to be the best with topwater and spinners producing well. Towards the afternoon the bite becomes sporadic. This weekend’s full moon and rain storms should produce a good bite though do be careful around the storms.
The Bait Shop at Harney Pond, Lakeport; 863-946-0170: Ed at the Harney Pond Bait Shop says the fishing has been real good. Plenty of small bass, in the 2-4 lb class are been caught on both artificials and live shiners. The early morning hours remain the best time and lipped crank baits dragged across the bottom or spinners across the top water have been producing solid numbers. Reports of 30-40 bass for a morning’s outing have been frequently mentioned. Active areas include the NorthShore up into Tin House Cove, the topside of the Monkey Box, and the east side of Fisheating Bay. As for panfish, a nice school of Shell Crackers appeared on Monday and Tuesday in Harney Pond Canal and they got hammered pretty good. Many of them were in the 12-13” range which makes for some good eating. Some have been showing up in the McTush Canal and out into Old Sportsmen Channel. Bluegills seem to be everywhere as well as channel cats. Guys targeting specks in the lily pads on the east side of the bay end up pulling out catfish instead. With the recent rains, Fisheating Creek should increase its flow and if the water isn’t too dirty it could create some exciting fishing.
Lake Okeechobee North End Fishing
Garrard’s Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee; 863-763-3416: The bass fishing on the north end of the lake has been great. Last weekend’s tournament had five teams over 20-lbs and it took 30.33lbs to win. Areas like Tin House Cove, Harney Pond Northshore, and the back side of King’s Bar have been producing some nice fishing. In the morning it’s still a topwater bite but flipping the reeds with jigs and big soft plastics has had a good showing. As for panfish, Bluegills still remain very active and Shell Crackers remain scattered. This weekend should be a good one.
No Bad Daze Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee; 863-484-8126: Tyler reports the bass along the east side have become somewhat scattered. It also seems the bass have moved further into the grass as opposed to hanging out around the edges which could explain why the bite is hit and miss since many guys don’t venture deep into the grass. Near Henry Creek some nice 5-pounders where being caught. Favor of the week seems to be fluke baits in the baby bass color. Sounds like fishing the hatch to me. As for panfish, Bluegill remains the dominate panfish being caught. Shell Crackers have yet to show up in force. Catfish are very active in the Rim Canal.
J&S Fish Camp, Okeechobee; 772-597-4455: Terri reports the J&S Lock is still socked in with weeds and they are waiting for the Corps to remove them. Fishing in the Rim Canal has been slow though there are plenty of catfish and bluegills around.
Highlands County Fishing
Admiral’s Cove. Laker Placid; 863-465-0982: In the shallower lakes in south Highlands, the early morning and late twilight bites are the best. Here topwater baits like frogs, chatterbaits and spinners are being productive. As the day heats up it’s becoming a workout just to get some bites. Depending on the vegetation your fishing, jigs, worms, and soft plastic swim baits will be your best bet, unless you decide to fish live shiners and then it’s a whole different ballgame.
Performance Marine Bait & Tackle, Lake Placid, 863-465-2814: The deeper lakes have shifted into summer mode. So as summer progresses and the lakes get hotter search the shallows for deep channels that lead to open water and fish those during the early morning and then hit the open water and search for brush piles and schools of bait with your fishfinder in the afternoons. Once you locate deep holding fish, use deep diving jerk and crank baits or Carolina rigged worms or other soft plastics and either drift or cast over the brush piles. In these deeper lakes, a successful angler needs to know how to use their electronics.
Lake Placid Marine: The Lake Placid Team Trail had their season-ending Classic this week on Lake Placid and what an ending it was. The team of Andy Markham and his grandson Cody Wiggins bested the field with a 5-fish limit of 31.26lbs. Besides 1st Place in the tournament they also took 1st and 2nd Place in the Big Bass pool with a 8.42 lbs and 7.83 lbs fish. Lake Placid holds a lot of quality fish you just need to know how to locate them.
Lorida Bait & Tackle, Lorida; 863-655-2323: With the bait shop downsized for the summer, few anglers are coming in and telling their fishing exploits. We do know a few tournaments over the weekend produced some nice weights for some anglers while others were less than average. This lake has its hot and cold moments and if you catch it on the upside, it can be a great day. The summer vegetation is filling in and this lake is a well know jig-man’s haven. Early mornings before the sun comes up it the best time to be on the lake and topwater is the way to go during the first hours of the morning.
CAM Okee, Avon Park: This past weekend I took the kayak out to Bonnet Lake. It’s a smaller lake with a max depth of about 10-ft and it is lined with mostly hyacinth pads though there are patches of cattails and other vegetation. Over a period of about 6-hours I landed eleven bass with (2) 4-lbers and (3) 3-lbers and the rest dinks. I found them to be most active on a trolled jerk bait and a Gambler Mega Daddy crawfish in Florida Five-O, though I did catch a few on spinnerbaits and a few other soft plastics. There are a few canals cuts that lead out of the lake and I found success in most of them as well as in the area of Carter Creek on the east side of the lake. With the yak I was able to get into the creek itself but found portions protected by brooding gators. Still a nice day out on the water.
Caloosahatchee River Fishing
Mickey’s Bait & Tackle, Moore Haven: Tom reports guys going out near Lakeport have been catching Bluegills, Shell Crackers and a few Crappie. The canals and trails around Fisheating Creek, Old Sportsman Channel and the Lakeport Canal have been the active spots. Crickets and red wrigglers seem to be the preferred bait. As for bass on the Big ‘O’, they are catching good numbers but mostly in the 2-4 lb class. On the Caloosahatchee River, snook are still active near the spillwas and bluegills and shellcrackers are being taken. After recent rains, the increased water flow out of the spillways, culverts, and mouths of the feeder streams will be tracking the bass.
Miller Bait & Tackle, LaBelle; 863-342-8264: Recent rains have livened up the river. Snook are still at the spillways and taking crank baits and other stick baits. Bass fishing has picked up with the new fresh runoff water so don’t pass up flowing streams and drainage pipes. As for panfish, bluegills are the main attraction and catfish are everywhere.
IN-CLOSING
The month of May has seen an uptick in bass activity. The bass seem to have been feeding up after closing out the spawning season. Guys fishing artificial are finding the fishing to be spotty, one day or one hour you’re killing them and the next day or hour you can’t buy a bite. Those fishing wild shiners are having more consistent results and seem only limited by the number of baits they have. This weekend has a forecast of storms and potentially heavy rains. This could be some prime times to fish areas of newly flowing water.
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