Okeechobee trip 2020

Just got back yesterday from a 11 day trip fishing lake Okeechobee. I should probably clarify & say the Kissimmee river in the Buckhead Ridge area. This was my 5th & possibly my last trip down. I have an 85 year old uncle who has wintered there for the last 35+ years, but sadly he finalized the sale of his place & pontoon this past week. He's still there for a few more weeks & the new owner was gracious enough to allow him to continue the use of both till he returns to Kentucky next month. It was a great trip as always & we caught a load of fish. It truly is an amazing fishery with an unbelievable amount of wildlife. Cleaning fish every morning from the previous nights fishing was an adventure into itself with a wide array of birds coming into the yard for their breakfast. You Florida guys may be used to this but this old Ky. boy enjoys that almost as much as the fishing. Well not really but it is a blast. Standing just a few feet away from a pelican & flipping rib cages into the air for him to catch is not something we see here in the Ohio valley. LOL

We fished the river banks upstream from the Okee-Tantie ramp during the evenings in the 16 to 18 ft. range. Caught a limit a couple of nights, came close a couple of others & caught good fish every night. We did get blown off the river the last night & had to set out one other evening due to high winds. Fishing from a pontoon is liking setting on a big sail even with 2 anchors out. We caught some really nice crappie along with catfish, warmouth & bluegills. Also lots of short fish this year bodes well for the future down there. We were entertained by manatees a couple of evenings & saw a large alligator almost every night. My uncle also hooked into what is the largest gar I have ever seen. We have some big ones here in the Ohio river but this one had to be 5ft.+ & big around as a milk jug. Quite the battle on a 12 ft. jig pole. He had to intentionally break it off as it had the closest 4 poles in quite the mess. I had to laugh even though we had to completely re-rig those poles.

All in all it was another great trip. We have caught more fish on past trips but this possibly being our last trip to Okeechobee together it was special. We have a standing offer from a couple of his friends to come back next year but not sure we will make it with his advanced age. I know his heart is hurting knowing he doesn't have his own house & boat down there waiting on him. But he has a lot of memories in what is truly a special place. I can't put into words how much fishing with him means to me. I only wish I had started going down long before. Thanks Florida for all the memories.