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First of all I would like to wish everyone a healthy and happy Thanksgivings. Will be headed for Okeechobee January3 Never been there before. My method of fishing is spider rigging. Will be staying on the north end of the lake. Would you recommend fishing the lake or would the river be my best bet. Thanks for any advice.
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If you're set on spider rigging, the river. Most people on the lake will be jigging in the thick stuff.
Just put a live scope on my boat. Haven’t used it in heavy cover. Will it work ok in the thick stuffQuote:
Originally Posted by swat1018
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Good question, I'd like to know, myself. Lots of the thick stuff is just floating with a void from the top foot or so to the bottom. I could see it picking up fish under the mats. You need to report back, I'll be on the north end from Dec 10 to Jan 17.Quote:
Originally Posted by watergate
try the lake spider rigging if it`s calm. if not fish the river. i do well spider rigging in both. the lake is esasyer to fish. the river you have to stay right on the bank on ether side .
Swat1018 i will be there the the month of January. Starting around the 4th. Will be in a black Xpress. Stop and say hi. Will let you know what I find out with live scope.
Captain k. When you say fish the bank’s. Do you mean the brake line or as close as possible.
We have snow on the ground this morning in Kentucky. Can hardly wait to get out of here
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I do best in the river on the break from 10 to 18 ft. When the bite is going good it gets busy and hard to maneuver around the other boats. I usually anchor with 2 anchors and use live minnows. Night fishing is usually better but have done well early morning at times. Attachment 389777
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Go to Fast Break tackle shop and spend 15 or 20 bucks on a couple telescopic rods.
Then get into the tall grass along with most others. lol
Actually its a pretty cheap way to get into spider rigging as well.
Will do, I'll be in a old red 20' nitro with a new 175 Suzuki.
You made a good choice with Suzuki. It’s my understanding they’re pretty much bulletproof.Quote:
Originally Posted by swat1018
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it`s been windy for the last month .haven`t been out when it has been calm , had to work. will let you know when i get out hopefully this week.big o should be getting good now first cold front last week .
,Quote:
Originally Posted by watergate
I bought my 97 Nitro / Merc 150EFI used in 98. I retire in 3 years and wanted something with better fuel economy, quiet, and with warranty. I'm excited to run it for the first time!
would be excited also . I would like to know about the fuel the fuel economy my self. I have a 200 Yamah. Can’t get past a gas station
How should the fish be in January. Was on Sant John river and Cresent lake last year. Wasn’t as good as i had hope for. But it wasn’t bad. Thinking about moving south. Trying to get a hold on where i want to be
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I've been going to Okeechobee since 93, have had a place since '03. I wouldn't go anywhere else, many days it's 10 degrees warmer than Orlando. The fishing has been steadily improving for me since the 10" limit went in place. I see a lot of KY boys on the water!
How is the fishing in March guess my cousin and I are coming from Ohio leaving March 8th last yr we was there end of Feb and the fishing was poor for us so he decided to come a little bit later
Once it starts it usually stays good. My buddies come home the middle of April, they were catching fish like crazy until they left.Quote:
Originally Posted by slimdaddy
Any where to avoid the wind for your own comfort is a good spot. There are so many fish in the lake it’s hard to choose a bad place to fish. Just look for the other boats(hundreds of boats)
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Lots of limits being caught, at least on the north end. I'm catching fish, but haven't found the mother load yet. 20 today.
I think 20 is a good number. Don’t want to deal with any more. Are the fish are catching quality fish. Can hardly wait to go south.Winter is just getting started and I’m already anxious for warm weatherQuote:
Originally Posted by swat1018
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Pics pics pics
First limit of the year for me today. All nice fish, never threw any back.
Watergate and all, Just a KY guy that spent 1 week in February at the North end of the Big O a few years ago. Drove 17 hours to fish 3 hours/day,night for the week I was there. My friend had a place just north of the lake, on the river about 1/4 mile north from the bridge. He had a pontoon, generator, lights set up for night fishing in the river, (we fished from the bridge south to the lake). We caught our limit within 3 hours after dark, along with probably 50 other boats anchored along the river bank each night. We set the size limit in our boat to 12" and still got our 50 each night. So, if you fish the river at night, and there are not at least 25-50 boats out there with you, the crappie are not there yet. You CANNOT fish/anchor/drift in the middle of the river at night. So stay from 20-100 ft from each bank when fishing at night.
Awesome area to fish. This will be the 1st February in years I didn't make it down. So many great memories there around Buckhead Ridge.
Took my sons yesterday from 10:00am to 12:00pm and caught 10 in 14ft water with minnows. There were a lot of other boats but plenty of fish for everyone Attachment 391390Attachment 391392Attachment 391393
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I bet those kids got a kick out of that. You were using minnows. I like to use plastic with a nibble.How does that work on Florida water. Guess I will find soonQuote:
Originally Posted by Want2fish
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108. Thanks for the informationQuote:
Originally Posted by watergate
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Watergate, forgot to tell you we ONLY used minnows when fishing at night with the lights over the side(8-12 ft deep in 15ft of water). My partner had over 20 poles/rod holders on the pontoon boat. The pole lengths ranged from 3ft to 16 feet staggered between the rod holders to keep them somewhat separated as far as distance from the boat. I was only able to keep up with 4 poles, he used up to 10. IF you happen to get hooked up with a gar, you will have a big mess as he did a few times. It will end up wrapping up a pile of your lines before you can get it cut off or removed.
I most likely won’t be night fishing. I’m not set up for that. No generator no lights. I understand the bugs eat you up. Would be a lot of expense to get set up.Do you guys fishing nights where bug netting or will repellent workQuote:
Originally Posted by perchjerker108
If you wanna get into night fishing don't worry about bringing a generator...you can leave that in the shed. Get you some small led lights bars and you're in business. I ordered mine from ebay and they are cheap...got 10 7" bars for $50. I used a piece of conduit and made 2 brackets for my lights. The end of the conduit is bent and it locks in the center of my boat cleat and hangs off the side of the boat and I've got 2 light bars mounted to the end at a 45...I use one in the front and one in the back and it lights the place up. The LEDs draw very little power so I hook them up to one of my trolling batteries and can fish all night without issue. When you're done fishing the light brackets pop right off.
As far as bugs go I'll fire up a couple thermocells if they get bad...that'll do the trick. If you use bug spray don't get it on your hands or you might end up killing your minners reaching in the bucket.
Right now the day bite has been on fire. We've been getting 2 and 3 man limits in 2 to 3 hours
Hey Sliknquik, you in the river or out on the lake? Single pole in the grass?? Thanx.
Been fishing out in the lake...usually 2 poles jigging in the grassQuote:
Originally Posted by B-52 Guy
Watergate/Slinkquick. Slinquick I agree, you don't need a generator, but that is the 'standard' for fishing at night on the north end in the river at night based on what I saw. Watergate, In KY I set up the following for crappie fishing at night. Went to a store that had RV supplies. Bought 3 50W 12VDC bulbs, also got 3 clamp-on lights to clamp on to the side of the boat. I used a multiple outlet strip, removed the 3 prong plug, and replaced it with a cable with red and black clamps to plug/connect onto a deep cycle battery. Plugged in the three clamp on lights into the strip with the 50W 12VDC bulbs. (the strip is now connected to the battery. I clamped the lights to one side of the boat and the light produced worked good. With a 90Amp hour battery, this should work for a while. 90 amp/hours, 3, 50W bulbs will use 12-15 Amps/hour, so based on your battery amp/hour rating, you will know how long the battery will last. Hope this helps.
Was considering coming down for a week. Love jigging in the grass and pads!! Are there decent accomodations in the area close to north end?? Thanx
There is a Holiday Inn and a Hampton in O-town that are relatively new. There are also several smaller mom/pop type motels and campgrounds.Quote:
Originally Posted by B-52 Guy
how about motels and resteraunts on south side? Any good guides to recommend who work out of south? couple buds about to go there and they are clueless!
good tackle store south who can educate new folks to area? thanks.
hdhntr, for what it's worth. Spend about 5 days at Belle Glade on the south end several years ago in late January with 3 other guys. Intent was to BASS fish. Me and my partner bought about $40 worth of shiners the 1st day and caught a pile of 'Mud fish', and a few Large mouths. We decided to switch to crappie/bluegill fishing and killed the crappie while the other two guys continued to try to catch LM Bass. They did catch some, but nothing like what we did on the panfish. We stayed with a friend in his trailer, so don't know about accommodations there. All I know is they have a McDonalds with an Orange tree overhanging a dumpster from someone's back yard. Spend every morning when we got breakfast there climbing up on top of the dumpster and picking oranges for us all. There is a place called Sims Fish Camp you may need to check out. I'm sure they have a pile of guide service and information you may need to fish the south end. I did not like the area personally. Seemed to be run down in most areas.
If you want a guide theres only 1 I'd recommend...his name is Brad Gibson with G3 outfitters. Not sure if he fishes the south end but if you wanna get your limit and learn a few things along the way hes your man. Hes been putting 2 and 3 man limits in the boat day after dayQuote:
Originally Posted by hdhntr