Lake Okeechobee (Slims) & Everglades (US27) 9/15/18

[Capt. BassinLou]

Lake Okeechobee Report

Conditions:
Sunny skies
Outside Temps: hot and humid
Wind: From the SW  5 mph
Water temps: 86-88
Water clarity: Stained
Fished from: 7:30am -12:30pm
Total fish caught: 6

Rick and I arrived at Slims just at sunrise, and made a run to Pelican, Rick broke the ice about an hour in to the trip, with a little bass. We moved a couple of times in the area until Rick found a rhythm throwing a fluke. I finally caught my one and only bass of the outing while fishing a swim bait. At around 10:30 we made a run around to Boy Scout and fished an area that has treated me well in the past. We arrived to the sounds of very nice bass blowing up in different areas. To make a long story short, nothing we threw coaxed those bass to hit either of our offerings. Believe it or not, dragon flies were on the menu!! Since I couldn't compete with dragon flies, I called the trip at 12:30pm. Rick caught 5 fish and I caught 1. Total: 6

Everglades Report

Conditions:
Outside temps: Very hot and humid
Water Temps: 89-90
Skies: partly cloudy
Winds: W/SW 5-10 mph
Water: Clear
Water Level: High
Fish caught: 19
Fishing time: 1:30 pm - 5:30pm

With the Lake being a bust, we were hell bent on catching fish, so we headed to US 27 since it was on our way home. We had the entire area all to our selves. (Yay!! college football season). Thinking we were going to clean house as soon as we arrived, we were greeted with high water and non-active bass.

After a little while, Rick continued his streak and caught the first fish, and I shortly caught one as well. The fish were not making it easy on us, they were playing really hard to get. Once I figured out what I was dealing with, I knew the fish were there, but I was going to be casting A LOT to get them.










By 5:30pm both Rick and I were toast. The sun took a toll on the both of us, and combined with the amount of work we put in looking for fish, made for 2 tired dudes.  Looked at the fish counter before we left and we managed to boat 19 fish.

Day in Perspective: Rick, I had a blast as always. Appreciate those wings for lunch.  Lake O was a bust for me again. Goes to show me, I still have a lot to learn on this body of water. No worries though, I love to learn. As far as the Everglades, lesson learned. Regardless of recent reports, the fishing was not easy.  We had to work for every bass that was caught.  The recent influx of rain has definitely changed the water levels, and the water is much higher than the last time I was there. None the less, the Glades still produced some decent fish, and fortunately saved the day for us. Thank you for reading.

[SFL BassHunter]

Okeechobee

As Lou mentioned we spent some time working some areas of the lake that weren't productive then moved to one that had some activity. I figured out a pattern with the fluke in this area, casting it as close to the edge of vegetation long the bank as possible, letting it drop and waiting for the strike. I probably could have caught around 10 in this area but I missed a bunch due to the wrong gear. Because the only rod with mono was my glass rod, I threw the fluke with it. The rod has too much give, plus the stretch of mono made for bad hooksets. I was getting bites every other cast in this area. I should have switched the reel to my other rod, but that would have taken some time and I didn't want to miss out of fishing, so I just set harder and that's when I started connecting better.
When we moved and found the area with bigger fish blowing up on the dragonflies the fluke no longer played a roll. That pattern no longer worked in other areas we fished.





Everglades
I struck quick in the glades with the frog. But the fishing was tough. I caught a couple decent fish along with some smaller ones. I fished the frog and did fairly well with it till my back started acting up. I then went back to the fluke and started catching them there as well.







Overall the fish made us work for them, but it was fun and tiring at the same time. Thanks for the invite Lou, I had a blast as usual.

Adjusting to what the fish want is critical. I was fortunate enough to find a pattern and get bites on okeechobee, and while not the most exciting technique, the fun comes in catching fish so I stuck with the weightless fluke letting it sink slowly to get bites. Both at the lake and the glades.

[FLO GROWN]

That's a long day guys,glad you guys had fun and got fish ,thanks for the report.I spent the weekend getting my rods ready for 27 on Friday and Charlotte harbor Saturday love me some snook fishing!!!

Sent from my Z982 using Tapatalk

[Donald Garner]

Lou & Rick congrats on the catching there    Tks for sharing those pictures with us also.

[big g]

Nice report guys.  It was unbearable hot all morning on the Alley, I can imagine how hot you two were.  At least you got some AC on the way to the 27 ramp.  Good job out there!

[Deadeye]

Nice Report.

[SFL BassHunter]

Thanks guys.

George the drive from the lake to the glades is always a welcome one. It kind of refreshes you and gives you that second wind to be able to keep going.

[FlatsNBay]

Dang fellas, that's a long day of fishing in this heat. You guys sure are persistent! Nice job!

[Lipripper]

Thanks for the reports Lou and Rick and glad y'all endured the heat and stuck with it to catch them fish. 

[Capt. BassinLou]

Thanks guys. Pretty day yesterday but the heat was tough. Fortunately we hydrated through out the day.

[basss]

Hate fishy looking water with no fish ... no hungry fish anyway.

Way to give it hell!

[LgMouthGambler]

A 2 for day! At least there are places to stop while heading back. I think its gonna be a while till the lake gets back to its old game mode where I like it. I know there are still plenty of people catching quality fish out there, but you better know where they are.