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Author:
PECo
Date:
Feb 21, 2012
Subject:
Lake Okeechobee, FL 02/21
Message:
My daughter wasn't feeling very well last night, so my father-in-law (aka Joe) and I headed out without her very early this morning to meet our guide, Captain Mickey Maynard (aka Captain Mick), at Lake Okeechobee. We met up at the Alvin L. Ward Sr. Memorial Park boat launch ramp on the Herbert Hoover Dike, just ouside the town of Moore Haven, FL. We saw the sun rise at 6:30 am and were on the water before 7:00 am. It was slightly foggy and a [i:2c8db33cc7][b:2c8db33cc7]cccold[/b:2c8db33cc7][/i:2c8db33cc7] 50 degrees, but we could tell that it was going to be less windy than it was yesterday. An osceola tom turkey that was perched in a tree across from the ramp saw us off. We headed up a rim canal on the western side of the lake: [img:2c8db33cc7]http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/9074/img1591v.jpg[/img:2c8db33cc7] After a 30 minute run to the area we were going to fish, we began fishing in vast beds of pads next to a channel. The water was heavily tea stained, but clear down to the bottom, which was never more than 3-1/2 feet down. :shock: Yes, the lake is really [i:2c8db33cc7][b:2c8db33cc7]THAT[/b:2c8db33cc7][/i:2c8db33cc7] shallow in the entire area that we fished. We spotted a lot of large empty spawning beds on the bottom. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the air quickly warmed up: [img:2c8db33cc7]http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/3986/img1593eq.jpg[/img:2c8db33cc7] It wasn't long before Captain Mick boated the first fish, which was a nice three pound, four ounce largemouth bass: [img:2c8db33cc7]http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/6497/img1594x.jpg[/img:2c8db33cc7] It took an hour before I boated my first bass, which was just a short: [img:2c8db33cc7]http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/2300/img1595ku.jpg[/img:2c8db33cc7] However, just 15 minutes later, I boated a three pound, 13 ounce bass: [img:2c8db33cc7]http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/7906/img1596e.jpg[/img:2c8db33cc7] We each caught several bass, although most were small. My theme of the day was missing fish. I missed more than I boated. I threw a bullfrog colored Zoom Horny Toad every once in a while, but missed several strikes. I missed what probably would have been my best fish of the day when I set the hook on a bass that created a huge wave behind the frog before hitting it and the 15 pound PowerPro braided line broke right at the eye of the hook. :x That's why I use 40 pound test or better, Stephen! I also threw a spinnerbait for a little while. A couple of casts after I got a "Thump, thump!" miss, I hooked into a small bass that was able to leap free of the trailer hook. The air temperature eventually hit a high of 78 degrees under mostly sunny skies. As the temperature rose, clouds of tiny black flies appeared and covered us. It got so bad that every little breeze we got was greatly appreciated. On the bright side, at least the flies didn't bite. :roll: The only other negative thing about our day was the nearby spraying of herbicide by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, using noisy airboats. The herbicide they used smelled like your typical lawn fertilizer with weed control. We tried to stay upwind of and as far away from the spraying as we could. Now, although I booked an eight hour trip with Captain Mick, I have to say that he was gracious enough to keep us out on the water for [i:2c8db33cc7][b:2c8db33cc7]A LOT[/b:2c8db33cc7][/i:2c8db33cc7] longer than that. The reason I mention this is that I had the lunker until 4:24 pm, when Joe thought he got hung up on some lily pads (again :roll: ), but soon realized that he actually had a fish on. And it was one heck of a fish: [img:2c8db33cc7]http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/3976/img1597d.jpg[/img:2c8db33cc7] Yeah, that's a 24 inch long, seven pound, one ounce [b:2c8db33cc7]POST-SPAWN[/b:2c8db33cc7] bass. After boating a couple of more small bass, we stopped fishing at 5:45 pm in order to get back to the ramp before dark: [img:2c8db33cc7]http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9922/img1600aw.jpg[/img:2c8db33cc7] [img:2c8db33cc7]http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4210/img1601k.jpg[/img:2c8db33cc7] We arrived back at the ramp as the sun began to set and were greeted by the same osceola tom turkey that saw us off at sunrise. We finally got off of the water at 6:15 pm, after 11-1/2 hours! :shock: All told, we boated over 20 largemouth bass, including the two three pounders and the seven pounder. We also spotted several large gars and a bowfin. Thanks for another terrific outing, Captain Mick! http://www.luckycharter.com/ We'll see you after you get back up to Lake Champlain for the Summer. http://www.angelfire.com/home/lake/fishing/lake.html
Author:
DirtyDawg10
Date:
Feb 22, 2012
Message:
Nice report, Phil! That is a beast of a fish your father-in-law caught. So I just have to ask...how many senkos did you throw?
Author:
SeaDog1
Date:
Feb 22, 2012
Message:
Hi DD, Heck! I'm waiting for that 10 pounder for Phil to catch! :shock: If he does? -> Whooo Hoooo! :D SeaDog1
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