salmicropterus

Something's amiss. I can understand zero-ing in the canals as there are times you might as well be fishing in your bathtub but when the flatmeisters are struggling, there is something not right about the fish population. What a difference a year makes. Last year, even hackers like us were getting 20#

I'm just overcommitted on other fishing things but may do the Gambler version at Clewiston. It's been a little scary how bad it has become out there. As mentioned, even the flatsmeisters are struggling. Saw that about Aymon and Hank K and Mike L weighed 10# also in a tournament a few weeks ago. I had heard reports about a tremendous number of large fish getting stranded in the flats when the water went so low and I hope it hasn't changed things dramatically.

I did go and it was very good. Front came through about 1:45 with vengeance. Now, with the front, I don't know how useful the day was as a pre-fish for this upcoming Saturday. I wonder if it'll keep the girls off the beds. I'm thinking water temps may get into low 50s by Thursday AM.

See if this downlink works: http://m.pbpost.com/pbpost/pm_11247/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=auoob4ok Sad news indeed. I was rumbling through Belle Glade this morning about the time this happened. Everything seemed so peaceful and optimistic. Hard to beleive such evil can co-exist. Thoughts and prayers to the family and all his many close friends

Not to get too political here but this is another example of the importation of our national drug problem unto other people. Among the major free-market countries, we have the highest % of the population in jail and a very high % of that is in for rather minor drug offenses. "Just say no" is about effective now as Prohibition was in the 20s. It breeds criminal behavior because of the extraordinary profits that come from illegality, just like in the 20s.

PM me if interested. Meet @ 7AM or somewhere near 595 @ 5:45.

"Salmicropterus I didn't mean to insinuate that you went in on him I was just using that situation to comment on the topic of "information". I apologize if sounded that way. It probably deserves its own thread." Gar, I didn't take it that way at all. We were at opposite ends of a large flat and they were moving one way and us the other. When we recognized who it was we said "we must be in a good area" . BTW, I agree that information, if it means spots, is fairly useless. I used to chase information too and if I made any improvement at all this last year in my thinking it's in listening to the feedback from the fish and not the dock talk. The "spot" I mentioned in my post above at Kissimmee was a first stop on Saturday where I told my "non" I thought we could catch a quick but small limit and we did. Then inexplicably, the fish just kept upgrading all day-same phenomenon Sunday. If I told any of you the spot, you would laugh and say that you have been there many, many times as it's usually a community hole. But, for some reason, no one was there but us the entire weekend. We did have a rocket-launcher on board just in case.

Good stuff all that. Just to clarify, we were in a spot in an area and the mentioned angler came in later, obviously not coming in on us. We didn't have information-we just went to an area we thought was promising. My joke was based on the idea that we were all doing the same thing-flinging dippers. I totally agree with all said. In a team tournament up at Lake Kissimmee about a month ago, we worked a 300 yd area back and forth for two days. Within the area, there were three spots, 5-10 yds wide and within that a very specific type of varied vegetation, that consistently produced quality fish. We won the T by 14+ #. Let's just say we were dumb enough not to outsmart ourselves and move out of there. We locked in on 2 patterns that changed as the day progressed. Saved a lot on gas too.

PS- course none of this explains why when I was fishing 150 yds from Brandon, he's catching 6s and I'm catching 3s LOL. At least I knew I was in a good spot

I think you two are on to something. Think about it logically: this time of year and for the next several months there are going to be three types of fish: the pre-spawners staging, the actual on-bed spawners and the post-spawners. Looking at it the way Gar and FD say, you are working with 2 of the 3 groups at worst and all 3 at best. Thinking about it further, when I have my good days, it's pretty much doing what you are saying to do. I just won a club tournament doing that all the while wishing I was sight fishing. Duh!! Where's the emoticon for hitting one's self in the head with a hammer?

I pretty much suck when it comes to pure sight fishing on beds. My strategy is to go to known bedding areas and long cast senkos, lizards, 10" worms. What I am seeing is that most of the fish at the Lake are in pre-spawn staging positions but I'm thinking that could change soon. The really good sticks can do what I can't do and when they come in with 30#+ bags. I am sure they are on bedding fish.

I missed this in the paper. Guess I was too busy enjoying the Lake at its present level: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-lake-okeechobee-releases-resume-20111217,0,4248319.story It's only for seven days and it looks like it started already. Hope it isn't as drastic as last year's releases. I would think the agricultural releases would be started soon also. Hope it can stay 12+

2011 Accomplishments: Won a couple club tournaments and Big Basses within some of the tournaments. Learned to pattern the fish a bit better toward the end of the year. Salvaged some bad days with some good decision making. 2012 Goals: Get within top 3 in AOY in my club standings. To do this, I'll have to be more consistent and eliminate the bad tournaments. Learn how to produce on Lake Okeechobee when the wind is blowing 20 out of the north. Become more productive when pitching and flipping. And yes... not fall off the boat.

I'm a little surprised no one has really touted Lake Okeechobee. The FLW record was set last February by Brandon McMillan at 106# for four days and since the water has come up in October, if you don't have 25# you shouldn't bother to weigh in. The FLW tournament in February will be an absolute slugfest and I think 4-5 will come in in excess of 100#s. And, your time frame of Jan/Feb is complete prime-time for the Lake

Everybody has a right to their opinion of Roland and there are a lot of stories and I have one too but not shared here. I am surprised at including the marina in the negative comments though. I am there probably 4-5 days a month, which is a lot but I am hardly a local insider. I've never experienced anything negative or rude or seen it either. That whole operation is under Mary Ann and I think she sets a tone for good treatment of people. Just my .02

I saw the boats running up the Shoal, back down and back up again. I've heard the shows will be televised next fall. With so many FLW and BASS guys in Clewiston these days, it makes sense to film where they are. It should be an excellent series, showcasing the Lake

Good job. I was out there today and pretty much had all your negatives but only a few of the positives. Caught some bucks and saw a lot of beds but no inhabitants on them. With the wind and cloud cover it was tough to see and I'm not that great at it anyway. You are right though-look for the clean water-that is where all my, albeit limited, success was. Who's fishing the Toys for Tots on Saturday? My club is embedding its monthly tournament into it for the charity.

Ryan, I will PM you some stuff on the Okeechobee as I'm sure others will do. Always happy to help a Demon Deacon.

The dredging is old news and with the Lake back up to 13.75 it is pretty near optimal. Weather during January will be important. It might be good to build in a little flexibility around the weather. I would certainly recommend a guide to maximize the quality of the fishing. I will PM you some names.

I've been wanting to fish the flats but have been waiting for the duck hunters to clear out the trails a bit. It'll be the only game for the KOTG for at least awhile. I was out at Holiday last Sunday running some props and the water was just a smidge from coming into the parking lot and judging by the water moving in under 27 from Sawgrass, it's gonna go higher still

Most of that green that shows up on maps on the west side of the Lake is not navigable-it is almost like land. Read Capn Shane's posts this past week on Moonshine Bay-even at near 14 ft it is tough for a boat like his. There is a canal that runs up from Moorehaven into the lower end of the Monkey Box. That is a worthwhile area to go to and pick apart in small pieces but...overall you'll be better served and your learning curve will be faster launching from Clewiston and going from there. But the Box is an area that can hold huge bags. The Rim Ditch itself can hold fish and even the most brazen lake-runner will stay in there on 30 mph wind days. It is generally deep but there are humps and bumps that can be fished and the cuts into the Lake usually hold fish as well. The real experts on the Lake, and I'm not in that group, know the structure out in the Lake-the rockpiles, the holes etc-that is Lake O fishing at an advanced level. For me, the "structure" is the grassline and learning how the fish relate to that. Are they outside, inside the outside, well inside? etc etc. It depends on water levels and the seasonal movements of this fish. Gar-tracker made an excellent point when he said the entire Lake holds great fish at all times. Don't be thinking you should be north when you are south etc. I would expand that by saying that the Lake doesn't lend itself to pattern fishing the way a lake in Missouri or Tennessee does or how you might read about in magazines or see on TV. The spawn is a perfect example-at any time from November through even May there are substantial amounts of fish in pre-, post- and actual spawn patterns. Fish those small areas that Gar-tracker talked about (and look for clean water as Everglades said-maybe the best post of all) but probe outside and outside-cover water as he said. Remember this-the Lake can confound even the good sticks-you can go to a spot and load the boat one day and the next day nada (well maybe that's just me LOL). You've received a lot of good advice on this thread from a lot of Lake rats,...now get out there and post how it is going. The Lake is an incredible resource in our backyard. People fly in here to fish there and most of us can drive there in a hour or two. It's like having a membership at Augusta National and living in Augusta for a golfer.

A guide friend of mine who focuses on Peacocks spoke with FWC last week. They said they have been doing extensive shocking of the canals in Palm Beach County to get a handle on populations. They confirmed the presence of P's in the C-16 but said that was the only place they've been found by their shocking. They suspect those were transported from down south. Not to say there aren't others and I hope and wish there are-just haven't been found by their shocking process

Ha! It took me about 5 years to learn what you so correctly said in 3-4 sentences and....it's still a work in progress!

I have a friend who just bought a very similar rig and he is having a great time with it. Like anything you have to fish the conditions and with a body of water as large as the "O" you have to respect the conditions and respond accordingly. There are a lot of days when you can't just go do what you want to do. Yes, the Lake can get choppy to say the least and unless you're fishing for a $100k, I can't see running from Clewiston to Eagle Bay in three footers LOL. Most any of the tackle stores sell those hand drawn maps on vinyl. While maybe not perfect as a map, they are good enough and they are great because they identify all those place names we use like West Wall, East Wall, Joe's etc etc. There is one for the South End from Clewiston west to Moorehaven and a lot of the Shoal on one side and on the reverse side over south toward Belle Glade. Another tip, learn to use the Rim Ditch as a way to get around on a day when it's "choppy". It's a great connector highway and with the Lake high enough there are many entrance points to get into the Lake. Again though, you are gonna hear things like "run over to Bare Beach and take the cut in" so that's where that cartoon map comes in handy so you can learn those places. Can't answer the question about the gas consumption though my friend says it's been great with his new rig. I think you'll just have to learn what your consumption rate is and gas up as necessary. As Cap Shane said, your boat is perfect for SoFla. You might not be able to do and go everywhere my aircraft carrier can but there is lots you can do that I can't do.

Congrats on the new boat and hope you enjoy it a lot. At near 14', water level is not much of a problem as you can pretty much run anywhere, put down anywhere and get up on plane anywhere. I do recommend having a good GPS system and a map. I'd suggest learning the lake in small bites maybe working outward from Clewiston. For example, run over to West Wall and poke around over there; then maybe next time after that go further north up past Joe's or go east and fish off of East Wall. This may sound a little cautious, but a small breeze at the ramp at Clewiston can mean 3 foot rollers out by the water tank. You didn't mention what size boat etc and maybe you've been on the lake a million times on someone else's boat, but some caution is a good idea on the Lake.