Florida Fishing Reports
 

"The Long way"
Local Okeechobee pro wins Stren Series opener wire to wire
By Rob Newell - 28.Feb.2009

CLEWISTON, Fla. – After catching the biggest limit on day one of the Lake Okeechobee Stren Series event weighing 24 pounds, 3 ounces, Kevin Long of Clewiston, Fla., refused to relinquish his lead over the next two days to win the Southeast Division opener with a three-day total of 49 pounds, 14 ounces.

“I’ve been dreaming about this since I was

Kevin Long loads up for big lead at Big O
Local pro and fishing Guide finds key areas while at work

By Rob Newell - 26.Feb.2009

CLEWISTON, Fla. – Pros who fished the Walmart FLW Series event on Lake Okeechobee several weeks ago are discovering a different lake this week at the Stren Series Southeast event.

At the day-one weigh-in of the Stren Series event today, weights did not live up to the expectations that were created by the great catches in the FLW Series event in January.

As some predicted, many bass were caught, but the numbers of big bass and big limits were off a bit.

The biggest bag of the day belonged to tournament leader Kevin Long of Clewiston, who sacked up 24 pounds, 3 ounces to take a 7-pound lead in the event.

Lunsford launches ‘Big O’ bomb with 25-15
Okeechobee springs to life with seven limits over 20 pounds

CLEWISTON, Fla. – If you have ever wondered how Florida bass fisheries function in the winter time, let the 2009 Walmart FLW Series BP Eastern event on Lake Okeechobee serve as a standard lesson called Florida Bass Fishing 101.

Five nights ago a thumbnail moon hung over Lake Okeechobee and low temperatures dipped into the 30’s. Water temperatures hovered in the mid 50’s and daytime highs reached 60 degrees.

Fast forward five days, jack up the day time temperatures to around 80, warm Okeechobee’s shallows some 15 degrees

Wow...what a deference a month makes for bass fishing here on the Lake Okeechobee, The bass are spawning all over the place and the weather has been great. The bass are moving in hard this week and the

Merry Christmas.... The bass fishing on lake Okeechobee has been heating up for the past few weeks and the bass are starting to spawn pretty hard. Capt. Mike last week put his customers on two big pigs 10 lber and 7.5 lber

Christmas time is almost here and the Bass are showing up on Okeechobee and moving in to spawn. There are some great reports from our guys saying they are spawning good and the big fish are

Lake Okeechobee fishing reports:
The Bass fishing over the past week on Lake Okeechobee has been pretty good overall, the wind blew a bit after "Turkey day" and made it a little hard to fish in some places. The quality of the bass being caught is very good right now; it just seems the quantity is a bit off than usual. The water is really cooling off and this should bring

The bass fishing is going along pretty good and the blue gill fishing is great! The wind has been blowing this week but the great new about Lake Okeechobee is that now when the wind blows you have miles and miles of

Okeechobee is firing up!
Lake Okeechobee water temps have finally came down into the 70's and the bass fishing is starting to get pretty good. The bass are still moving around a lot and are a little hard to stay with on some days. The great news is the size of the bass are very good. We have been catching all solid bass with

Lake Okeechobee is starting to really produce some good fish with the water temps finally starting to fall a bit.
The quality of the bass has been great, big and healthy; it is that the quantity for the past few weeks has been off a little. The water on Lake Okeechobee is starting to come down and the fishing should go crazy very

The fishing on Lake Okeechobee has been for a lack of a better word “strange”. You can go out one day and catch them good and than the next day they move and you are having to find new places. I think that the bass are still out roaming around and haven’t settled into any type of fall pattern yet. But with the cool temperatures that we are getting this week it

Good one day-Scratching your head the next!
September has proven to be somewhat a little off month fishing here on the Big “O”. The bass have been really scattered out, you may catch few fish in an area and than you have to find another area to catch them in, this is true even with wild shiners for bait. The water has slowed down flowing into Lake Okeechobee and has even gone down some in the past couple weeks to

September is flying by here on Lake Okeechobee and the fishing has been really good as the water level continues to rise. For some though the fishing has been a little tough as they learn to fish in the grass of Okeechobee all over again. The bass are not everywhere and you will not catch a lot in one area but when you do find them you will be able to catch a fair number in the general area. With the water level at 15.15 feet above sea level it is no

We wanted water on the Big “O” and now we have it, water level is at 14.60 feet above sea level and going up every day. The fishing has been really good, which is more than I expected with this water coming up so fast. Most of the bass that my clients and I have been catching are holding on the outside of the grass for the time being. The non aquatic grass that has been

I’m writing this as tropical storm Fay is approaching the Lake Okeechobee region and everyone has their fingers crossed for lots of rain. The lake level has already come up to 11.34 feet above sea level before this storm so with Gods grace we will get a good amount of rain from this storm. The fishing on Lake Okeechobee has been improving the last couple weeks as some eel and pepper grass has stated to pop up in some areas. The grass is just in

The fishing has slowed down as water continues to pour into Lake Okeechobee. With the water level at 10.72 feet above sea level Lake Okeechobee is filling up with water at a pretty fast rate, just hope it continues. The bass fishing has slowed down the past couple weeks here on the south end of the lake. Most of the bass being caught are out on the main

As the dirty water continues to flow into Lake Okeechobee from the farms surrounding the lake the fishing has gotten a little tough if you can’t find clean water. Yes we needed water in the lake but this red or tea stained water that is flowing and being pumped into the lake does not have much oxygen in it and has the bass

The fishing has been a little tougher as the water continues to drop on Lake Okeechobee. The fish we were catching two to three weeks ago would need shoes to walk around with in these areas. So the bass are on the move looking for deeper water and bait fish to eat, but this is making it tough to find them from day to day. You might go out one day and really catch them and you go back to the same area the next day and can’t even catch a bass.

The water level is dropping fast on Lake Okeechobee with the level at 9.44 feet above sea level and the fish are starting to move out of the shallow water areas just as fast. Fishing this past week has been a hit and miss deal, one day you catch the fire out of them and the next you struggle to catch just a few. As the water drops the bass will move to deeper water areas and then they will be easier to pinpoint but for now they are roaming around

You want to catch up to 30 plus bass a day? Then Lake Okeechobee is the place to be now if you like catching bass on artificial lures. The main lake is clearing up daily as the wind has finally giving us a break and the bass are almost everywhere in the shallow water flats looking for something to eat.

The water level continues to drop on Lake Okeechobee as fires burn on the lake from Moorehaven to Clewiston. The lake level is at 10.03 above sea level and dropping pretty fast, but we are still higher than we were last year at this time when the lake level was at 9.33 feet above sea level. The fishing continues to be awesome from the rim canal out to areas on the lake and

The wild shiner bite for bass slows down a bit on Lake Okeechobee but the artificial bite is still on. And by on I mean that you can catch bass on topwater to shakey heads and anything in between. The bass have not really wanted to eat wild shiners since the record setting cold front came

The water level in big Lake Okeechobee continues to rise and the fishing also keeps getting better. The lake level is 10.50 above sea level and that is six inches higher then it was last year at this time. Everyone keeps talking and reporting about how bad Lake Okeechobee is well I’m here to tell you that the fishing is great and the Good Lord has provided us with enough water to maintain a good lake level for the vegetation to grow back and

We have all heard the words “should have been here last week the fish were really biting”, but this is not the case on Lake Okeechobee as the bass just keep biting week after week. The water level has come up a little to 10.25 feet above sea level and the wind has slowed down some the past few days.

Lake Okeechobee is hot, once again this past weekend it took a five bass limit over twenty five pound to win a tournament. Most all of the guides here at Roland Martins Marina and Resort have been catching good numbers of bass and some big ones on both wild shiners and artificial lures. Bass

The fishing continues to be great here on the Big “O” with bass being caught by everyone. Yes I said that almost everyone has been catching bass both on artificial lures and on wild shiners. Last week my clients were still using from eight to ten dozen shiners a day and it wasn’t taking a day to use them

The fishing here on the Big “O” couldn’t be better, with big bags of bass being caught in tournaments and even more being caught by guide clients on wild shiners. When I say we’re catching a lot on guide trips I mean I have been using up to ten dozen shiners in less than a half day. The artificial lure bite has been awesome too with a good number of two to five pound

The past few weeks on Lake Okeechobee has been pretty busy with the FLW Series tournament and normal winter fishing. The news reporters keep reporting about how bad it is on the Big “O” but FLW angler JT Kenney from Port Charlotte Florida has a different story to tell, after winning the FLW Series tournament with a four day total of sixty eight pounds and thirteen

What a great couple weeks it has been here for fishing on the Big “O”. With Christmas over the folks from up north are making the trip to sunny south Florida to catch some nice bass. And Lake Okeechobee has been producing some nice ones for sure and the number of bass being caught on almost

The first cold front of the year for south Florida had everyone scrambling for coats and gloves this past week, but the bass fishing continues to be awesome. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year. The past couple weeks has been great bass fishing here on the south end of

Clewiston----- what a great couple weeks my clients and I have enjoyed on the south end of Lake Okeechobee. We have been catching bass from seven to ten pounds on almost every guide trip with a good number of three to five pound fish also being caught. One trip last week produced five bass over nine pounds with the biggest one weighing in at 10.2 pounds. Wild shiners

As we’re heading toward the Thanksgiving holiday the fishing on the Big “O” continues to improve. The water temperature has been dropping with the cool weather that we have been having for the last couple weeks. And the water level has been staying around 10.35 feet above sea level without much change. The wind has let up a little from what it was the past few

Wow what a great week on Lake Okeechobee this past week. The bass fishing has really improved by the day with good numbers and bigger bass being caught almost every day. How does three bass over seven pounds caught in one day and then a nine and seven and a half pound bass caught

Cooler water temperatures and fall approaching have the bass on Lake Okeechobee starting to move in toward traditional spawning areas. Now will they be able to get to these areas will be the question. But not to worry they will still find places to spawn even if the have to stay out a little from the

Clewiston----- The summer rains are finally starting to put some water into Lake Okeechobee even if it is just a little at a time. The lake level is at 9.19 feet above sea level and ever so slowly creeping up. The fishing here at the south end of the lake continues to be good for both bass and bluegills, with

The fishing has been improving as the month of September flies on by, and with October just around the corner better fishing and cooler weather is on the way. The lake level has been staying steady at around 9 ? feet above sea level in spite of the rain and water that has been flowing in from the

Clewiston-----Well were finally getting some of the desperately needed rain to the Lake Okeechobee region and the lake level is slowly going up with the level at 9.03 feet above sea level. The other great news is that with the low water level and the water clearing up so good that we are starting to see some shrimp grass growing here on the south end of the lake and hopefully the eel and pepper grass will follow. Mother nature has started the healing

Clewiston-----Summer and the fishing continue to heat up on the Big “O”. With temperatures in the 90’s and the water temperature almost the same, the bass fishing is heating up almost daily. On most guide trips the past two weeks the bass have been eating wild shiners as fast as you can throw them in the water, and the artificial bite has been equally as good. Most bass have

Clewiston-----I have a lot of good news to report on the conditions of Lake Okeechobee at Clewiston, first we have been getting enough rain almost everyday that they are not pumping much water out of the lake for the surrounding agriculture. The lake level is at 8.96 feet above sea level and

Clewiston----- What a great couple weeks we have had here on Lake Okeechobee. The fishing has been the best it has been for over six months, and the lake level just continues to go down. With the water level being so low it has concentrated the bass in areas that have deeper water such as channels and dynamite holes. I have been using up to ten dozen wild

Clewiston----- The water keeps getting lower and the fishing keeps getting better here on the Big “O”. With the lake level at 9.66 feet above sea level almost every area that you can get into has pretty clean water and lots of bass. The bass seem to be getting use to the water being low and have

Clewiston-----This week we are going to concentrate on the low water level on Lake Okeechobee, with the current level at 9.85 feet above sea level. The low water conditions are not a bad thing like I keep hearing from outside sources that are not around the lake on a daily basis. With the water low it is letting the lake bottom recover from the past high water levels and

Clewiston-----Wow the Big “O” is back to producing good numbers of bass on almost every guide trip, Thank God. The weather has been great this past week and the fishing has really reflected on this, with bass being caught on wild shiners and artificial lures just as well. All of the areas that we have

Clewiston-----What a week here on Okeechobee with the Stren Series tournament finishing up on Saturday and Glenn Browne from Ocala Florida winning on the pro side with 60-02 pounds that netted him $25,000.00 and a full rigged Ranger boat, while on the co-angler side Chuck Webb from

Clewiston----- It has been a busy week here on the Big "O" with tournament anglers practicing for the upcoming Stren Series tournament January 3rd through the 6th with most good areas covered up with boats. The fishing is improving by the day as the bass are on the move into prime spawning

Clewiston-----Hope everyone had a Happy Holidays and got to spend some time with the family. The bass fishing has really started to improve with everyday this past week my clients catching good numbers of quality bass. With the full moon approaching the week after next we caught a lot of small

Clewiston-----The bass bite has been improving by the day as we start into the winter season, and if we could get the wind to blow a little less everything would be great here on the Big "O". The bass were really eating good the beginning of the week and than as the weekend approached and another front came though the area the fishing got tough again. The East

Clewiston-----The condition of the lake and the fishing continues to improve everyday, with reports of big bass being caught on wild shiners and artificial lures alike. The water level is dropping rapidly and the water in most of the areas that we are fishing is clear to slightly stained. Most all of the guides

Clewiston-----The week started out slow with the temperatures in the 40s at night but as the week progressed the fishing has improved. Most of the bass that I have been catching on my guide trips this past week were north of Clewiston from Uncle Joe's Cut up to Horse Island. This water has remained fairly clean even with the north and east winds we had all week, but the water level is really starting to drop fast with today's reading at 12.26 feet

Clewiston----- The weather has been cooling off but the bass fishing is heating up on the big lake. Reports of big bass being caught on wild shiners are starting to come in daily and it's about time with the month of December approaching fast these bass should be in off the main lake and getting ready

Clewiston-----It has been another slow week fishing here on the Big "O" with the bass being rather allusive for the most part. Not to say we are not catching some nice bass they are just few and far between, in my opinion it has to do with the cold fronts and the wind pushing dirty water into most

Clewiston-----The wind the past week has been relentless on the big lake, with north and east winds blowing up to twenty five miles and hour the lake has become muddy on most of the south end of Okeechobee. The West Wall has remained fishable but it too has become dirty from the wind, I did ok on

Clewiston-----The fishing on Okeechobee is improving by the day not to say it is great yet but we are starting to catch more and bigger bass almost everyday. The nights are starting to cool off and the water temperatures are also dropping a few degrees and all of this have the bass starting to feed

Clewiston-----The bass fishing this past week has taken a turn for the better in spite of the cold front that came through at the end of the week. The lake level is at 13.07 above sea level and dropping slowly and the water is clean in most areas from Ritta Island to Tin House Cove. I had a great week

Clewiston-----It has been another fickle week here on the Big "O" with the bass fishing being great one day and ok the next. We had a couple cold front move in and than a high pressure system moved in over the weekend and made the fishing a little tougher. The bass on the East Wall are eating

Clewiston----- The bass this week on Okeechobee seem to be in one of those moods if they feel like eating you can have a great day and if they don't they feel like eating it can be a long day. Most of the bass that we caught this week on guide trips were under five pounds and it didn't matter

Clewiston-----The bass fishing this past week on the Big "O" has been great for some and slow for others. The fish are chasing the shad around the lake if you can find baitfish the bass are close by, but these bass are hard to pattern they will be in an area for a day or two and then they are just gone. The rising water has slowed down some and it

Clewiston-----After tropical storm Ernesto went through our area and did little damage except for the rain that has the lake level rising and the fishing really starting to pick up. The water is really flowing in from all intakes and the Kissimmee River and most of the water is clean so it is not making the water dirty at all. On guide trips this past week I started to catch good

Clewiston------As hurricane Ernesto is headed our way most everyone is installing storm shutters and lashing down everything that can blow around and saying a little prayer that it leaves the lake alone. The fishing this past week has still been good, I had clients out on the West Wall catching some

Clewiston-----With the heat of summer upon us and the lake level staying low, the fishing hasn't slow down much. You will want to try and get an early start so you can be in before the afternoon thunderstorms,as they can be real bad ones this time of the year. The bass

Clewiston-----It's been another beautiful week here in sunny south Florida and the fishing has been good all week long. I'm still catching some good sized bass on the West Wall using wild shiners, you still need to get out early in the morning because the bass slow down biting about eleven o'clock. I had a great day with a couple boys named Austin and Xavier Pearson who

Clewiston-----This past week has been a little challenging to catch bass, the water is continuing to clear up and the getting very warm as the sun gets high in the sky. Bass are still eating wild shiners on the West Wall, off the point of Ritta Island and around the shoal at Cochran's Pass. The point of Ritta Island has been good for fishing with shiners for the past week, this

Clewiston-----The Lake Okeechobee bass fishing has been good this past week with a good number of three to four pound bass being caught on every guide trip. The better fish are still being caught on wild shiners and the West Wall is still producing the best for me. The water on the West Wall is real clear so the best fishing is from around 6:00 in the morning till about

Clewiston-----It's been a hot one this week on the Big "O" , both the temperature and the fishing. The lake is clearing up and the water temperature is on the rise, fishing has been great early in the morning and as the sun gets up high in the sky it slow down some. The West Wall is still producing some nice bass on wild shiners early in the morning, they are still

Clewiston-----Lake Okeechobee's bass fishing continues to be hot this week from Harney Pond Canal to Clewiston. The lake level is up a little to 12.24 above sea level and the water continues to clear up the fishing has been great again last week. The area from Observation Island to Cochran's Pass is producing some good sized bass on

Clewiston-----The summer time heat is here and the fishing is still hot on the Big "O" ! The bass fishing this week has been as hot as the temperature outside with good numbers of two to four pound bass being caught on wild shiners and a few bigger fish up to eight pounds also being caught on almost every guide trip. The West Wall is still the place to be if

Clewiston-----Lots of big bass are being caught on the big "O" this week from the West Wall to Cochran's Pass. Most of the big bass are being caught on the outside grass line as long as the wind isn't beating it up to bad. The lake level is down to 12.27 above sea level and the water

Clewiston-----Wow !!! That's about the best word to describe how the fishing on Okeechobee has been this week. Lots of big bass were caught on just about every guide trip I had this week, on Sunday we had ten bass over six and a half pounds, with several eight pound bass weighed in this week. The wild shiner fishing was

Clewiston-----This week has been another great week on Okeechobee, as we continue to catch bass on every guide trip. The water level is down to 12.61 above sea level and the lake is looking better every day. The water on the shoal has been looking real good and the bass seem to be on that outside grass line. On most days if the wind isn't blowing too hard a Gambler Cane Toad or Zoom Hornie Toad worked from about two feet inside the

This is a Peacock Bass Fishing Report Test.