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Archive for January 19th, 2009
Monday, January 19th, 2009
 Lake Okeechobee Today Capt Mark Shepard and I took the day to prefish and reflect on what has changed on the world famous lake over the years.
To reflect, you first have to phantom the size of this lake. It’s second largest body of freshwater in the United States, but only second to the great lakes that covers three states. The lake is an incredible average 9ft deep, the shallow depth we are fishing today on Lake Okeechobee are 2 to 4 feet. Okeechobee known for it’s vast region of spectacular freshwater bass fishing for a variety of reasons and species of fish. The lake unfortunately supports commercial use, which always has a way of being politically attached to most conversations when discussing the life of Okeechobee. While both of us agree, commercial interest have been a part of the long term present conditions of the lake. We both could not argue the point, that the hurricanes changed the lake more then man or industry could do so. The beauty that we both see in front of us today, was clearly created be a power larger and more powerful then we could imagine.
The sport fishing or tournament industry has help this lake become worldly renowned as one of the best fishing lakes in the world. Lake Okeechobee is nationally recognized for not only the quality but the quantity of its large mouth bass. In this outing you could not proved that to us, we both a well aware of the history on Okeechobee. That as famous as it is, fishing is still pure and not all days on the water are about the fish you catch. While we were out fishing today, we tried several patterns, flipping, top-water, plastic worm and Senko style baits of coarse. In the heavy grass, we covered lots of water with spoons, buzz-baits and spinner baits in the grass flats.
We could list many areas where we fished on Lake Okeechobee today, but as any true fisherman knows the big bass live in the water. While bass are comfortably in the there domain they only know of the true good fishing areas. Lake Okeechobee has been talked about a lot in the past few years, and rightfully so. Between Everglades restoration, Big Sugar buy outs and let’s not forget about low water conditions over the years. The media, as Sara Palin found out, does not always write things with there eye’s open. It seems to become a shaded deception of the truth or a partial denial of the facts. In some cases, it’s just a political benefit of someone or something.
Directly from our eyes today, there differently not seeing what we see. To understand the condition, the beauty and character of this lake you must first understand what diversity it has faced, the comebacks it has make and relate to the millions of happy fisherman it has entertained!
BassOnline.com is Florida Fishing largest Freshwater Guide Service, specializing in Florida bass fishing in the Florida lakes, canals and rivers for largemouth and peacock bass.
To learn more about Florida bass fishing, visit Bass Fishing BlogTill next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Todd Kersey (todd@bassonline.com) – BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS
Tags: Florida bass fishing, lake okeechobee, okeechobee, okeechobee bass fishing, okeechobee fishing, okeechobee fishing guide, okeechobee water level
Posted in Florida Bass Fishing, Lake Okeechobee | Comments Off
Monday, January 19th, 2009
 Florida Peacock Bass Today I had the pleasure of taking long time repeat customer Dave Stolarek and his son Daniel all the way from the frozen tundra of Chicago, IL. Dave and his whole family have been coming out with us for many years and we have developed a really good friendship.
Today was a very special day, as he brought his son down for two days of Florida freshwater fishing. I warned Dave about the cold fronts coming in and it may slow the peacocks down a bit. But, he really wants Daniel to catch a peacock bass, so off we when to peacock bass fishing in South Miami where the water is warmer. We started our day off with Daniel catching his first Tarpon, which started the day out pretty well. As the day moved on we picked away at the peacock bass, then I suggested to Dave, “lets check out one more spot.” That was where Daniel got this very nice 5 pound peacock.
I can’t wait to see the video of this catch, it was an awesome fight!
Looking forward to seeing tomorrow when we fish the Everglades.
Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS
BassOnline.com is Florida Fishing largest Freshwater Guide Service, specializing in Florida bass fishing in the Florida lakes, canals and rivers.
To learn more about Florida bass fishing, visit Bass Fishing Blog
Tags: butterfly peacock bass, Florida Peacock Bass, flpeacockbass.com, miami peacock bass, peacock bass fishing
Posted in Florida Peacock Bass, South Florida Fishing | Comments Off
Monday, January 19th, 2009
 South Florida Everglades Fishing Yesterday I took out our repeat customer Joel Jacobs and his son Josh from Inglewood, NJ. We went out of Holiday park in search of the Florida large-mouth bass. It wasn’t the best of days, although a great day to be on the water.
With water temp in the low 60’s and falling we had to work really hard to get a bite. They managed to catch a few fish with the biggest one being almost 4 lbs. Unfortnataly this is something that happen every year, you just don’t know when. The good side is this will create a great spawn the first sign of warming weather!
Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Tony Masiello (tonym@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS
BassOnline.com is Florida Fishing largest Freshwater Guide Service, specializing in Florida bass fishing in the Florida lakes, canals and rivers for largemouth and peacock bass.
To learn more about Florida bass fishing, visit Bass Fishing Blog
Tags: everglades bass fishing, Everglades Fishing, Florida bass fishing, South Florida Fishing
Posted in Everglades Fishing, South Florida Fishing | Comments Off
Monday, January 19th, 2009
| SNOWDEN GETS IT DONE IN FLA. |
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| Missouri Pro Wins First PAA Event at Lake Toho |
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Story by Pete Robbins
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Posted – January18th – 10:51am CST
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| Norman, OK – When morning dawned on the final day of the inaugural PAA Series tournament on Lake Toho, Shaw Grigsby found himself with less than a pound lead over a charging Steve Kennedy. With conditions similar to the previous two days, cold and windy, the remaining anglers knew that each bite would be crucial if they were to write their name in the record books as the first Carrot Stix PAA Series champion.With the shallow spawning waters cooling to the mid 50s, Grigsby found that his spawning fish had pulled a vanishing act and he came to the scales the final day with only one fish weighing 1.50 pounds.
With the door open, Steve Kennedy brought in a respectable 11.36 pounds on Saturday to remain in second when the scales closed. Lurking near the top of the leader board since the opening day, Todd Faircloth finished in third, after a final day effort of 14.52 pounds.
But the day belonged to Brian Snowden who entered Saturday in 3rd place nearly four pounds out of the lead after a nine pound bite anchored his Friday limit. On the final day, Snowden’s 17.75 vaulted him to the top of the leader board, where he stayed. With the win, Snowden takes home a $40,000 Phoenix bass boat and $10,000 in cash.
Overall, many of the anglers were impressed with the number of quality bass Toho surrendered throughout the three day event. In what Steve Kennedy called, “The cold front of the century” for Florida, Snowden’s final weight of 52.44 pounds made the win even more impressive.
Followers of the 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series may remember that last year, Snowden had nearly a 10 pound lead in Florida on the Harris Chain heading into the final day, but blanked and finished a disappointing 2nd. There were no ill effects on Saturday as his come from behind victory made him the first winner on the Carrot Stix PAA Series.
Here is what Snowden and Kennedy had to say about their tournament performances:
Brian Snowden
“It was slow but steady today. I didn’t get a bite until about nine this morning and then I ended up catching two real quick and then caught a 6 ½ pounder to fill my limit out by about two in the afternoon.
“I caught every fish on an XCalibur Xr75 rattle bait in 6 to 8 feet of water fishing the hydrilla and eel grass in Toho. I found the bite a little bit in practice and then when it got colder during the tournament, I decide to just stay out there and throw the rattle bait. Each day I’d get about seven bites and have five to six keepers.
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“Even though they were spraying grass on Toho, they hadn’t sprayed the area that I was fishing in recently so it actually probably helped the way that I was fishing. The key was to find the grass that was still kind of green. Some of the bass were post-spawn and some were pre-spawn, so I caught a little mixture of both.
“It’s really just a great honor to win the first PAA Series event. I think this is something that is going to be really great for the future of our sport so it’s an honor to be part of the PAA. To get the win in the first one is a great feeling. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the year and the growth of the PAA. It’s pretty exciting times for the anglers I think.”
Steve Kennedy
“This morning started out perfect. I went running down to my trap fish and I fired out there on my first cast and caught a bass outside of where I was expecting to catch one. When I got over to the little edges of the grass, I called my shots three casts in a row. My cameraman said that I was ‘Babe Ruth’en them.’ I had another little sweet spot off shore and it took me three casts to catch my fifth one. Within 15 minutes I had a limit.
“I fished my trap for about an hour after than without a bite and went to my flipping stuff and the little ones were biting good. I probably had eight bites in the first hour and I had one big bite and she shook her head and came off so I don’t know how big it was. As cold as it was, they were just really finicky.
After that, I went all day without a big bite and was only able to cull up a few ounces. The morning was as good as it gets. Yesterday morning I did the same thing – it just so happened that they were four pounders then.
There were several other boats that had worked through the general area and I think we just beat them up. I was throwing the KVD special, the Strike King Red Eye Sexy Shad – I watched him do it on TV down here. When I came down here I thought, ‘If Kevin can catch them on it, I can do it.’ It almost worked out. I was flipping a Kinami Palm Tree and a Beaver both in black and blue color.
I didn’t win it but it worked out pretty well for the amount that I practiced. I put in Monday at one in the afternoon and found those fish around three. I also went out Tuesday around ten in the morning just looking for a flipping bite and I didn’t practice Wednesday.
“Overall, it was pretty awesome and I really hope this turns out to be something big.”
Todd Faircloth
“I started out today with a flipping rod and that’s what I did all day. I had a limit by around eight this morning and caught a ton of fish today. I just only caught one big one right at the end of the day and I think the bigger one started biting later. I probably caught 25 fish today. I caught more today than any other day.
“I had two patterns that I was working. One was fishing a Sebile Flat Shad in the hydrilla and the other one was flipping a Yamamoto creature in the gnarliest stuff I could find. It seemed like the hydrilla bite faded on me and the flipping bite got better as the tournament went on. With the exception of the first day, all my fish came from flipping.
I fished Toho the whole tournament but the fact that they were spraying the grass really didn’t affect me at all.
“Overall, I think it was a good start for the PAA organization. We had 147 guys there, guys from BASS, FLW, and some guys who don’t fish either. I think that overall it was ran really well and a good start. |
Tags: central florida fishing, Florida bass fishing, Florida Tournament, kissimmee chain of lakes, lake toho, orlando bass fishing
Posted in Tournament Fishing | Comments Off
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