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Tags: 5 Responses to “What is the best time to bass fish in Florida, specifically lake okochobee?”
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Between Thanksgiving and Easter. In my opinion.
Lake Okeechobee like any lake known for big bass “anytime is good” if you are using the right bait, in the right place, for the specific conditions in weather, barometric pressure, moon phase and no front system moving through. Roland Martin has a guiding service on that lake and quite frankly he employs about the best guides money can buy. Because of the climate and consistent temperatures there in Fla it’s not when is the best time to fish bass but more so when not to go and not being wild about humidity I would not go during the hurricane season which this year is June 1st – Nov. 30th. Seriously a very good friend and one of my original bass instructors tells me the best time on this lake is always on superbowl sunday…. He is retired and lives really close to there now. If you go, look for him guiding, his name is Vic Morris.
Late spring. I’m sure a lot of those Lake Okeechobee bass wouldn’t think twice before hitting a 10″ plastic worm. I’d use a 10″ culprit plastic worm, 5/0 Gamkatsu EWG hook, and a 1/4oz bullet weight for the BIG fish. A big jig ‘n craw would work fine also.
While not in Florida, my best guess would be the spring time spawn. This is the best time to catch big fish anywhere else in the US. Why not Florida?
Any time that you can get on the lake, is the best time to go, however, the best time for BIG bass, is from mid december thru early march.
The BEST bait for BIG bass, is wild shiners, that are between 8 & 12″ long.
If you are looking to catch some bass to eat, Okeechobee, is a POOR lake to fish.
The reason being, about 2 years ago, the tournament fishermen & the local guides, pressured the FLOWIDA WILDLIFE COMMISSION, to raise the minimum size for a keeper bass, to 18″. Anything below that, has to be immediately released.
Up untill our MASSIVE hurricane season in 2004, the size limit was 14 thru 17 “, you could keep, as well as 1 bass over 22″. after the hurricanes, the South Florida Water Management folks lowered the lase level to a point that about 100,000 acres of spawning grounds, were without water for almost 2 years, during which time the vegitation took over to the opint that when the water level was allowed to raise again, most of the spawning grounds were & still are unfishable, unless you fish from an airboat.
Now, with the water back up, the state has several compinies spraying to kill the vegitation, the sporaying also causes the fish to move from the sprayed areas.
If you still plan on fishing Lake Okeechobee, plan on hireing a guide ( prices generally go from about $200.00 for a half day & up to over $ 300.00 for a full day ). If you plan on using shiners for bait, add 12-18 dollars per dozen & most guides want to have at least 6 or more dozen shiners on board, for a full day of fishing & for your money, the only thing that is guranteed, is a boat ride.
I have lived near & fished Okeechobee, for over 50 years