We wanted water in Lake Okeechobee and we now have it. The water level is up over fifteen feet above sea level and still rising in spite of the water they are letting out of the lake. We have been spared by the hurricanes except for the rain that we desperately needed. As far as the lake condition it is great the water is back in the grass and fairly clean in most areas. The main or middle part of the lake is a little dirty from the winds off the passing hurricanes but this shouldn’t be a problem once the lake settles down. We are now able to get into areas that no one except air boats have seen for over two years, areas like the Pelican Bay, the West and East Walls, Coots Bay, and Turners Cove. Yes as you can tell I’m pretty excited about being able to fish these areas once again.
Now that the bass have more places to go and have spread out throughout the lake it has made them a little harder to find. But when you do find them you will catch a few in one area usually. The fish that were in the rim canal have gone to the lake since the water flowing into the lake via the rim canal is mostly agricultural water and does not have much oxygen in it. I have not heard of anyone catching bass in the rim canal since the lake started coming up. If you haven’t been to the lake for awhile you will be pleasantly surprised as there is water everywhere and you can run around with your boat and not worry about hitting the bottom. With the water level over fifteen feet above sea level you shouldn’t have trouble going anywhere, except for some of the areas that were dry for two years and now have a vine type grass grow on them, this will soon die off and hopefully be replaced with the kind of vegetation we need on Okeechobee.
My clients and I have been catching bass on a variety of lures from worms to spinnerbaits. Two of the best producing lures this past couple weeks has been a Lake Fork Tackle 10” worm in junebug color and a Snag-Proof frog in black color.
I love fishing a frog and the Bobby’s Perfect Frog made by Snag-Proof has all the qualities I look for including a weighted bottom so it always lands upright, small bell inside for noise, sharp hooks and spinnerbait skirt material for legs that move around when you stop the frog and let it sit. The rod I use for fishing a frog is a 7’2” heavy rod made by Deep South Rods (www.deepsouthfishingrods.com) that has a heavy butt section to get the bass out of the thick stuff but has a moderately fast tip to get long casts. I use an Abu-Garcia Revo with the high speed gear ratio and 50 or 80 pound test PowerPro line (www.powerpro.com), I’m sure I wouldn’t get a lot of the fish out of the heavy grass without PowerPro line and my Deep South rods. For fishing the 10” worms that I have been using you will also need braided line in the 30# range as we are now back in the grass fishing. A lot of anglers like to use monofilament line and don’t like braided line, I for one love braided line and wouldn’t be able to fish without it. Some of the other lures I have been using are spinnerbaits and Heddon Zara Super Spooks along the out side grass line when you have a breeze pushing bait in along the grass.
The areas that I have been fishing are from Long Point up to Cochran’s Pass and everything in between. A lot of the decisions I make as where to fish on any given day are based on the wind, which direction it’s blowing and what direction and how hard was it blowing yesterday. You should try and fish areas that the water is fairly clean and if you have a nice breeze pushing bait into the grass without making the water dirty than that is a big plus. Some areas to try are Long point, the West side of Ritta Island, Coots Bay, and Turners Cove area. Don’t try to go back to far in the grass as the bass are just starting to move back in from out on the lake and are more toward the outside of the grass. Until next month good luck, tight lines and hope to see you on the water. If you see any trash out on the water do your part and pick it up, let’s make our waters as beautiful as we can. http://www.markkingfishing.com
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Starting to get primed up for the Ghost&Goblins T end of October 
Good luck to you Louis!!!!!!!!!!!!
