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Lake Okeechobee Fishing Report
(Click link above to get the most current report)
by Captain Mike Shellen
April 22, 2009 - It's turning out to be a typical April in Okeechobee. As our visitors from the north trickle back toward their homes, things on Lake Okeechobee start to heat up. bass anglers are having a great time catching fish near the outside edges of cover that surrounds the lake. Bass were caught on a variety of lures last week. Of course, the skinny dipper is still producing, but willow-leaf spinner baits produced more strikes for us last week. Speed works and flappin' shad were also in the he mix. If you can't get the bass to cooperate with one of the above-mentioned lures try flipping creature baits back into the thick grass five to ten feet.
Pan fish and blue gill mostly are still being caught in big numbers, both from the lake and the local canals. The Kissimmee River is still yielding big blue gill to those familiar with fishing on the bottom in deeper water. We fished in numerous spots last week in the lake and in several of the canals surrounding the lake, and ran into anglers catching blue gills at nearly every spot we hit. A cricket seemed to be the bait of choice for the anglers who were catching best, but there were a few anglers who were simply wearing them out on a small minnow like jig fished on very light line. The fish being caught by the fishermen using artificial baits are running more on the large side; angler using crickets will probably catch more fish, but will have to weed through a lot of smaller fish to fill their bag limit.
We ran into two anglers in the river that were catching cat fish. They had a mix of fish in their bucket but were very excited when they landed a speckled cat of eating size. Speckled cat fish are one of the tastier fish in Lake Okeechobee, with white mild-tasting meat that is superb when fried up fresh. The bait of choice for cats varies greatly. Chicken parts, hot dogs, bacon and red worms were being used by the anglers and each was providing some level of success.