Wow what a month of fishing on the big O (Lake Okeechobee) with huge numbers fish of all sizes some on the beds during the full moon phases,  some schooling bass and cruising bass every were. This month started with my friend Allen of Hilton head, SC… he fished 6 days in a row and has fished with me for many years. Allen has been on many adventures with me and tells me often that Lake Okeechobee is the best he has ever seen it in the many years he has been fishing it. We averaged 50 to 100 plus fish a day on top water baits,  crank baits, frogs and plastics of all kinds. We also were flipping and site fishing on days that permitted it. This years spawn was awesome, with all the new grass on the lake, it has kept the water very clear and you can see fish all over and of all kinds.

This month has made fishing fun for everybody of all ages and skill levels. We  have used no live bait, 100% artificial lures on our guide trips. It has made for some good opportunities to teach the basics to many, while it has let others learn new techniques to add to there angling talent. I would like to thank the Alderman family Pete Scilla and friends Ed Romanoz and all the others for having the opportunity be part of there fishing adventures.

Good fishing and God bless,

From Staff Writer Capt Mark Shepard (marks@bassonline.com )
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

The Kopek family and friend Nate went on a Bass & Peacock  fishing adventure on April 26, 2009.   There’s only one place to do both in South Florida and that’s Lake Ida and Lake Osborne chain of lakes. The trip end with a mess of fish and good time was had by all.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

Today I had the pleasure of taking out repeat customers to Lake Ida for a short afternoon trip. We bounced around to different holes and bye the end of day we caught 20 different fish up to three pounds.

We used mostly shiners, which we caught peacock, largemouth  and two nice clown knife fish.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

What a month this has been with cold fronts. The temp has gone from low 50′s to med 70′s and when the water goes below 60, it is very hard to get bits on live bait or artificial.

This month we had the two biggest tournaments of the year with good weather for a change, accept the last day of the final day of the FLW series. The lake produced some great fishing for these tournaments,  some of the bait’s used were frogs and swim baits.  I was using Reaction Enervation Skinny Dipper and the little beaver. The go to bait was the JDC baits.com Skip-N-Pop which I was blessed to get 17.2lbs off of on the final day. End the tournament in 16th with a pay day of $21.733.00.

This coming month should bring more stable weather and other great spawning opportunities. As the water goes down, it will push all of the fish to the out side grass lines. We should have some great bass fishing over the next couple of months, with some great Bluegill fishing in May and June.

Be careful the water is getting low and I hope we get some rain soon we have a lot of spawning yet to go with bass and bluegills. Fishing in the grass flats is getting skinny and easy to spook the fish so be as quiet as you can. The flats still have good fish in them and lots of bait and little bass and bluegills everywhere. If we don’t get any rain, keep a eye on the outside of the grass lines, bass should start schooling. When fishing the outside grass lines allow for other bait choices such as spinner baits, rattle traps and all kinds of plastics.

So, I hope you get to go fishing soon the lake is healthy and beautiful with lots of good fishing to come.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Mark Shepard (marks@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

 Today we had the pleasure of fishing with the Ron Wise and family visiting from Canada. Because of the size of the group they needed two boats, so Captain Donny Biggs and I worked as a team and had a great time do so. We only had a short time to take out the Wise family, as a lot of our vacationing families do they built the trip around other family activities. We start mid-day and with the short amount of time we had, I would say it was a good and fun trip. The family caught a total of 16 and finished it off with a great family photo.

Looking forward to seeing them again next year!

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS