Lake Okeechobee South Bay 6/23/18

[Capt. BassinLou]

Fished solo today on Lake Okeechobee, South Bay out of Slims.

Before the report, here were the conditions:

Skies: Partly cloudy,
Winds: WEST: 5 mph
Temps: Low to mid 80's in the a.m.
Water Temps: 85-87 degrees
Water Clarity: Stained Visibility 1.5-2ft
Lake Water Level: 14 ft
Fishing Time: 7am to 11 am

Arrived at Slims at around 6:30 and launched from the big ramps, taking advantage of the nice docks.  Ran into the first cut and used the short cut to make it into the 3rd cut and went straight to my first spot. There was a nice breeze from the West, which I welcomed, considering the temps we have been having lately.    I started fishing with a new frog, which I'm doing a review for  and focused my attention around pads. After 30 min of not seeing or hearing the slightest sign of fish feeding, I picked up and ran West to the opposite side of the flat, and switched over to a Nu-Tech Chatterbait. Managed to land a little guy shortly after I started fishing, around some sparse vegetation. Continued for a little bit more but I just wasn't feeling it in this area as well. I picked up and ran to boyscout.



Right before I reached the Lake, I turned into one of the trails and was happy to see the water clarity was a lot better in this area. Again, threw the chatterbait, frog, and pitched a bit, and again 0 signs of life. Picked up, ran into the outer fringes of the Lake and noticed how stained the water was, along with an algae bloom. I made a 180 and ran straight back to the trail I was at before with the clean water, but this time, I ran further up the trail, to an intersection of another trail, which opens into an expansive beautiful flat. Here I saw several boats and was welcomed to the sound of rice krispy treats. I found life!! Bait fish were feeding in the pads and birds were all around.   




I started with the chatter bait again, and on one of the casts around a clump of pads the water erupted around my lure, upon it entering the water. I set, but missed!! Quickly grabbed my frog rod, made 2 follow up casts and on the 2nd cast the water exploded and my frog was out of site!! I set the hook into a beauty of a fish that weighed just shy of 5 lbs.



Curious if I was on to something I continued fishing with the frog covering a lot of water, and being rewarded with a missed blow up or a follow of some kind. On one particular cast, I cast into some pads and right when the frog cleared the vegetation, I saw a brief flash opposite to the flash of my frog. 2 seconds later, the water blew up and my  frog vanished.  I set hard and again was rewarded with another 5 lb fish!!





Happy that I found a pattern, I continued working the area and caught another smaller fish and a few misses. Clouds were forming out in the distance and I thought I better be safe than sorry and called the trip. I was reluctant to leave since I was on fish, but I just didn't want to get caught in a storm on my little tin.

Day in Perspective: I had to cover a lot of water, but fortunately stuck it out, listened to my gut and found a very productive area that was holding a lot of quality fish. I'm disappointed the outing finished so early, but I had to do what I had to do. I will not be fishing for a while after today, but this outing gave me something to look forward to when I get back on the water.

Thanks for reading.

[Lipripper]

Thanks for the report Lou and sounds like you had to do a lot of running to find some fish but you stuck with it until you founds an area with that rice crispy sound of feeding fish in the pads. 
Nice fish.

[SFL BassHunter]

This dude...

Most people follow up a missed fish with a worm. Guy throws a damn frog after missing with a chatterbait and catches the fish. 

Thanks for the report Lou! Glad you had a pretty good morning out at the lake. Too bad you couldn't stay longer but you got yourself 2 quality fish! Well done sir.

[Capt. BassinLou]

This dude...

Most people follow up a missed fish with a worm. Guy throws a damn frog after missing with a chatterbait and catches the fish. 

Thanks for the report Lou! Glad you had a pretty good morning out at the lake. Too bad you couldn't stay longer but you got yourself 2 quality fish! Well done sir.

Thanks bud. 

[Capt. BassinLou]

Thanks for the report Lou and sounds like you had to do a lot of running to find some fish but you stuck with it until you founds an area with that rice crispy sound of feeding fish in the pads. 
Nice fish.

Thanks Lip.

[LgMouthGambler]

Nice job man. Good thing you got a few really solid fish before the rains came. Nice looking area out there.

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[Capt. BassinLou]

Nice job man. Good thing you got a few really solid fish before the rains came. Nice looking area out there.

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Thanks bud.

[FlatsNBay]

Great job Lou. It's nice to see an Okeechobee report come in. If you don't mind, what frog are you testing out? Looking forward to the review.

[Capt. BassinLou]

Great job Lou. It's nice to see an Okeechobee report come in. If you don't mind, what frog are you testing out? Looking forward to the review.

Thanks Flats. Once I wrap up my review, I can talk about this frog. My review will  be done over the next couple of days.

[Lipripper]

Thanks Flats. Once I wrap up my review, I can talk about this frog. My review will  be done over the next couple of days.

Was it the last frog you got. If so either way I will be  for that review. 

[Capt. BassinLou]

Was it the last frog you got. If so either way I will be  for that review. 

No Lip, this is not one of the frogs I purchased. This particular frog is a UB lure  review.

[Lipripper]

No Lip, this is not one of the frogs I purchased. This particular frog is a UB lure  review.

Ok then I think I know which one it is and will wait to see the report. 

[Canesfan]

Good job Lou. Looks like you found them for sure.

[Capt. BassinLou]

Good job Lou. Looks like you found them for sure.

Thanks Dave.

[Donald Garner]

Lou congrats on the catching and tks for sharing the report and pictures with us   That is some great looking water there

[Capt. BassinLou]

Lou congrats on the catching and tks for sharing the report and pictures with us   That is some great looking water there

Thanks Donald.

[big g]

ThANKS for the report.  Its been a while but nothing like the Big O.  Congrats on catching some before the storms.

[Capt. BassinLou]

ThANKS for the report.  Its been a while but nothing like the Big O.  Congrats on catching some before the storms.

Thanks George.

[Deadeye]

Well if you got to not fish for awhile, might as well go out with a Bang with two nice quality Fish.

Way to figure them out Lou.

[Capt. BassinLou]

Well if you got to not fish for awhile, might as well go out with a Bang with two nice quality Fish.

Way to figure them out Lou.

Thank you Fred.

[BarryFL]

When are you putting up the boom boom frog review?

-Barry-

[Capt. BassinLou]

When are you putting up the boom boom frog review?

-Barry-

I'm in the hospital at the moment...lol!! But seriously speaking, I should be done by early next week and then Mike Cork will announce when the review will be posted.

[BarryFL]

Sorry. I saw a review of the boom boom by Mike and figured you were reviewing the same frog. Hope your wife's recovery is going well.

-Barry-