Florida done ruint me

[SeaRay]

That seems to be the best way to summarize my week trip to Okeechobee and the Everglades. It has "ruint" bream fishing for me. We left last Friday at 7 am and stayed at a hotel in Davenport Fla where my fishing buddy, Rick, joined us to make 4 boats and 8 guys. The next day we went into Clewiston to the Roland Martin Marina and resort. This is a fishing town, even the lights on the street poles have fish on them


We had planned to fish the "O" for bream and then go to the Glades for Oscars, but the fishing was slow on the lake and high winds made it difficult, so we headed to the Everglades and put in at Everglades Holiday Park, a popular tourist gateway to the glades via dozens of airboat tours, which we were subject to off and on. I must be in 50 different people's cameras as they snapped pictures of us fishing the canals.
I was suspicious of my friends claim that they bought crickets by the thousands, but the first day he bought 3000 and put them a "cricket condo" which they brought with them. All told we used about 7000.

We hit the mother lode as the Oscars were biting fast and furious and we caught between 500 and 600 the first day. Note these are an invasive species like the white perch are to us and the DNR wants as many removed as possible. We did our share. Here is my cooler from one day's fishing.


Below the cooler shot is a strange looking catfish I caught. He went back in, wasn't sure what he was. The next fish is a beautiful transplant called a Mayan Cichlid. They are intermixed with the Oscars and both species are delicious to eat.
The next cooler shot is a 48 qt. cooler filled with fillets from one days fishing. The next shot is the Oscar which was our main target. Most weighed around a pound, with several going to 2 pounds. As I said this has certainly tainted my view of typical bream fishing in SC. These guys are like having a 5 lb hybrid bream/striper mix on your line. I found the perfect outfit for them was my 10 ft. B&M jig pole with 12# braided line. We used slip corks and crickets initially, but later caught them on Beetle Spins and even one on a small crank bait.
Good news was there is an excellent cleaning station at the marina and all 8 of us could work at once. These guys have been coming down here for 34 years so the had a routine down pat and it did not take as long as you might think to clean that many fish, but still 2 hours one day was a lot of work.
We left Clewiston at 4 this morning and I pulled into my house at 4 this afternoon. It was a long drive but worth every minute and was a lot of fun. We quit each day by 2 so we could come back and clean the fish and relax a bit before we ate dinner. (It was a 60 mile drive to the Everglades from our condo but once you leave Clewiston, there is no place to stay) We cooked at the condos each night and I probably gained a pound or two that I don't need.

[SeaRay]

Here are some more shots from our trip. We were fishing down in the lily pads so the braided line eliminated most break offs.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]158414
[/ATTACH]These guys are so well organized they handed out plastic aprons each day. Believe me you needed one
This last picture is of Rick in the Rim Canal which circles the lake. This was on the first day, before the wind ran us to the glades.

[have-a-crappie-day]

Wow! Now that's a great report! Thanks for taking the time to thoroughly record this for us.

Was the fishing great because of the spawn or do they bite year round?

[coolbreeze]

I am glad that the oscars are back. they got decimated several years ago when that big freeze came through. my son and i went down after that but did nothing. 11hrs down/11hrs fishing and 11 hrs back. might have to plan another trip shortly. the canal fishing is fun but you are right about the air boats.
glad you guys had a big time. those are some good eating fish. so are the cichlids.

[SeaRay]

Wow! Now that's a great report! Thanks for taking the time to thoroughly record this for us.

Was the fishing great because of the spawn or do they bite year round?

As someone mentioned the fish were decimated a few years back by a cold snap that killed thousands of them. Very few of the ones we cleaned had eggs in them so I don't know if it was pre or post spawn for them. The guys Rick and I went with have been going for 34 years and they said this was the best it had been in the last 3 or 4 years. I was amazed at how you could catch so many from one spot. I must have caught 30 out of a hole in the pads no bigger than a dinner plate. They just hit as fast as you dropped a cricket in there.
As far as year round, my friends always come in the first part of April so after 34 years they found this to be prime time. However, they originally came for bream so it had a lot to do with bream bedding also. They even printed shirts for the event. Hats one year, shirts the next. I am not use to this much organization,

Tommy, I went brain dead on the jigs. You had told me to try them and I had my RT309s with me, but I got so blown away by the fishing I forgot to try them. I am also kicking myself for not sticking with my fly rod longer than I did. I caught several bream and small bass on a popper, but I should have put on a slow sinking bream fly, but again, I was brain dead. If nothing happens, I will be going back next year and maybe get another shot with the jigs and fly rod.

[STUMP HUNTER]

Looks like y'all had a great time!! Has to be a awesome time catching the Oscars that size. Great report and awesome pics of the week, congrats.

[R00tyT00ty309]

Sounds like you may go back oscar fishing, they are a lot of fun to catch. Next time you go try jigs for the oscars they work real well and catch bigger fish. Thanks for the story and the great pic, hope to get back their one more time myself.

[jimp]

Sounds like a worthwhile trip. Glad it was a good one for all.

[Speckanator]

Really enjoyed your post....great pictures

[chuckauten]

Good job. Thanks for sharing.