June 11, 2009

Bass fishing continues to be red hot on Okeechobee, today I fished with two inexperienced anglers from Ohio and we caught over 75 bass in six hours of fishing artificial baits. This is better than normal but we are averaging 40 to 50 per day lately. The water where we are fishing is aquarium clear and there are so many bass there you can literally see them swimming ahead of the boat. It has been quite some time since Okeechobee has been this hot for this long! Don't miss some of the best artficial bait fishing for bass you will ever find
anywhere, fishing Okeechobee now!


Bass fishing has been tremendous for the last month and continues to get even better as schooling bass are being found roaming shallow water schooling on small newly hatched shad. We have been lucky enough to catch these schoolies on several ocassions recently putting 25 to 30 bass in the boat in a relatively short time. Memorial day weekend I fished with 11 year old Lorenso Fuller, his father and his grandfather, we caught approximatley 35 bass on artificial baits and Lorensos caught an 8 pound bass on a plastic worm. Blue gill fishing is still spectacular we are catching them on Fly Rod with popping bugs and also on crickets using a bream buster pole.

May 8, 2009

Okeechobee is at it's fishing peak right now, we are catching 25 to 40 Bass per day on artificial baits. Every year at this time the same thing occurs, just as most of our visitors from the North head home the fishing gets really good! We have been catching Bass in the morning on many occasions and then loading up on big Blue Gill in the afternoon. We fished two full days for Blue Gill last week and caught between 250 to 300 large Blue Gills. The Blue Gill we are catching are 9 to 10 inches long and weigh close to a pound. They can be caught on a cricket or a Fly Rod. Fishing on Lake Okeechobee is as good as it gets right now!

April 24, 2009

We had what was probably the best shiner fishing trip of the year this week, we found what we thought were a bunch of school fish that we could catch on artificial or shiners. It turned out that the fish we found were a bunch of post spawn females that were on a feeding binge. We caught Bass for the first 2 1/2 hours of the morning on every shiner we cast out, it was incredible. The Bass averaged 3 to 4 pounds but there were many much larger, we had several 5 and 6 pound Bass, the big Bass for the morning was an 8 1/2 pound spawned out female that was very long and skinny, had she been carrying her roe still she would have weighed well over 10, we had a couple other big fish on that jumped off, but one Bass for sure that we all knew was bigger than the 8 1/2 pound fish we landed. It is a great time to be fishing Okeechobee.

April 14, 2009

Bass fishing is getting better each day as the water levels drop on Okeechobee, forcing the Bass toward the outside edges of the grass lines. Anglers are catching 25 to 40 fish per day on artificial baits with an occasional big fish showing up in the mix. We are starting to see some schooling action from the bass but so far it has been limited. Most of the bass have spawned and are looking to feed up to regain the energy they expended while spawning.

Blue Gill and Shell Cracker are spawning everywhere you look in the lake and in the local canals, good numbers of these hefty pan fish are being caught daily, crickets and grass shrimp are the go to baits at this time.

March 15, 2009

We finally got the warm weather we haver been asking for and the fishing this week was incredible! We are catching between 30 and 40 Bass per trip with big Bass in the mix every day. We had two fish over 8 pounds this week and 2 over 7 pounds. The number of 5 and 6 pound fish we are catching every day is incredible. The water has warmed into the low 70's and the Bass are on a major feed. Not all of the Bass have spawned yet so the new moon period should see another wave of fish move in to spawn.


March 9, 2009
Bass fishing is taking off exactly as it does every March! Artificial baits are working in nearly every area on the north end of the lake. Spinner baits, senkos, 10 inch worms, and skinny dippers are all producing some very nice Bass. It is possible to catch 10 to 15 fish per day on artificial baits at this time and the water is just starting to get warm! Shiner fishing has gotten better each day of the present warming trend and should continue to improve, our catch rate numbers have grown daily. We are catching 15 to 25 fish daily and the numbers should continue to grow as the fish complete spawning and move towards the outside edges of the grass It's big Bass time on Okeechobee!




February 28, 2009
What a way to end the month of February! We shiner fished all day and were catching some very nice Bass. We were nearly out of bait when a big Bass slowly pulled one of the baits down and pulled it along the surface for about 50 feet. My client reeled down and set the hook and the fish came off. I immediately hooked the last and largest shiner we had in the live well and threw it right where he had just missed the fish. The shiner went crazy swimming for about 30 seconds then sudddenly a giant Bass ate it leaving a big whirlppol where she took the bait. We let her run with the bait and when he reeled down and set the hook she went wild. After a battle for several minutes we boated a 9 pound 3 ounce sow that was so full of roe that she was weeping eggs out of her anal port. After we weighed her we photographed her and let her go to continue spawning. She is still there for some lucky angler to catch. The full moon is approaching March 10th and the spawning activitiy leading up to it should be eventful.

To see pictures of the big Bass go to www.OkeechobeeBassFishing.com
and click on fishing reports on the first page of the site.

Captain Michael Shellen
Shellen Guide Service
863-357-0892
www.OkeechobeeBassFishing.com


2-17-09
We have had great weather for the last couple weeks and the water temperatures have risen into the low 70's. The Bass in Okeechobee and the surrounding area are full of roe and looking for a place to spawn. Our catch rates have been steadily rising with 15 to 30 fish per trip and we are catching some big Bass as well. Yesterday we caught a fish close to 8 pounds and had one on that we thought was bigger. The full moon upcoming should be the prime time spawn for this year. There are a lot of fish that moved off the beds when the cold fronts hit us last month that will be in the shallow water making beds.

1-29-09

The brief cold spell has passed and Bass are moving up shallow to spawn all over South Florida. Okeechobee is hosting the FLW tournament and the pros are catching big Okeechobee Bass as I write this piece. Fishing has improved daily with 3 days in a row near 80 degrees. The water has heated up and so has the Bass fishing. If you are interested in catching big Bass now is the time, full moon is approaching and the fish are on a tear. We caught 25 bass to 5 pounds on our shiner trip this morning.

1-15-09

Bass fishing has been very good and seems to be getting better each week. So far this season our customers have caught 2 Bass over 9 pounds (9 pounds 4 ounces) (9 pounds 10 ounces) and 7 Bass over 8 pounds with many fish in the 6 to 7 pound range mixed in. Numbers have been good almost daily with some days as high as 30 fish. The big Bass are in the shallow water to spawn which puts them in range to be caught on a live wild shiner. The fish are very fat and full of roe and will continue to stay in the shallow water until they have completed spawning.






1-7-09

Bass fishing continues to be good. The weather forecast is for a cold front to move through our area for the next few days. If the water cools considerably the Bass that have moved shallow to spawn may move off of their beds. Some of the Bass in the lake have already spawned but we still have not seen the huge influx of Bass in the lake move inshore to spawn. Fishing with shiners is the most productive way to catch Bass right now for numbers and size. Artificial bait fishermen are struggling to catch big numbers consistently, although somewhere on the lake each day there are anglers that are having success. As is usually the case during this time period a live wild shiner is the ticket to catching Okeechobee Bass.


12-28-08

Today was the best fishing day for big Bass we have had since last years spawn. We fished with Tom Orr from Ontario today and used wild shiners. Lucky Tom caught 25 bass on the trip, there were three big Bass in the mix though that really made the day special, first Tom caught an 8 pound Bass, then an 8 pound 8 ounce Bass and then to top off the day he caught a 9 pound 10 ounce giant! The fish are full of roe and are looking to spawn! The next full moon phase should provide some great fishing!


12-25-08
May 26.2009

Okeechobee Bass fishing continues to be about as good as it can get we are catching 20 to 30 Bass per trip on artificial baits. I fished with 11 year old Lorensos Fuller Memorial weekend, it was his first endeavor at catching Bass on artificial baits. He is a very good and lucky young man, he caught an 8 pound Bass on a plastic worm. He caught 8 or 9 Bass himself on that trip as did hgis father and grandfather. We had a great day of fishing catching many bass. On anither trip this weekend we got into Bass schooling on shad and caught bass after bass as they were schooling all around the boat. It was a great time. Blue gill fishing is still very good, the next full moon is coming up in early June and we should see the great big fish move back toward their spawning areas. We have been catching blue gill on Fly Rod with poppers and also on crickets with a bream buster pole.


We are coming up on the January full moon, big Bass are starting
to show up more each day as they move into the shallows. We caught some big bass around the last full moon and we expect another wave of big fish will be caught during this full moon phase too. We are seeing a lot of movement out of the bass as they start to feel the spawning urge, judging from the number of fish that spawned last month we are yet to see a peak spawn. If the weather remains stable it could get good very quiuckly. It is entirely possible to fish an area in the morning and not even get bit and go back later in the day and load the boat with Bass, it happens every year,patience and perseverance will pay off.



11-30-08

Bass fishing on Lake Okeechobee has gotten better with each passing week, we are catching greater numbers of Bass on our shiners trips, but more importantly we are starting to catch big Bass consistently.Our customers have caught 7 and 8 pound Bass the last 2 days. The fish are incredsibly fat and healthy and are moving into the shallower water to prepare for the spawn.

11-17-08
Big Fish Moving Shallow!
This past weekend I fished with Barbara Baker and her 16 year old grandson Chad. Barbara took Chad on a guided fishing trip for his 16th birthday present. We had a great day! Barbara showed her young grandson how to catch big Bass. She caught a 7 pound Bass and a 8 pound Bass on back to back cast.

Shellen Guide Service

Captain  Michael Shellen
Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Crappie, Flyfishing
www.OkeechobeeBassFishing.com
info@okeechobeebassfishing.com

Toll free 888-203-3474
863-357-0892

 
17 year old Jordan Schere caughtn these two                       Nancy Lupko with one over 8 Pounds
 giants on back to back cast on 12 pound test line!
One weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces
the other weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces