If you are visiting South or Central Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best bass fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached @ (888) 629-BASS or email us  fishing@bassonline.com

Capt Brett
bretti@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
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www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com

OKEECHOBEE — This small lakeside community and its even tighter-knit fishing community was shaken Sunday by news that one of its well-known anglers and business owners was suddenly gone.

Paul “Bubba” Helton, 57, of Okeechobee fell from his bass boat Saturday afternoon while returning to Okeechobee from across the lake. Helton’s boat was one of six that had spent the morning fishing and having lunch in Clewiston.

At about 3:30 p.m., Helton reportedly slipped from the deck of his 21-foot bass boat about 10 miles south of Indian Prairie Canal after stopping for a short break from the 30-mile boat ride.

“There was a little bit of a swell on the lake, and he stood up and slipped overboard,” reported Capt. Larry Wright who spoke to the three passengers on Helton’s boat. “They said he popped right back up, but showed no signs of struggling or distress.”

Helton was not wearing a life jacket. The depth of the water was about seven feet.

Wright said that he appeared to dive back beneath the waves, perhaps to retrieve his glasses from the lake bottom, thought the other boaters. But after a few minutes, Helton failed to return to the surface and the passengers took action.

One called authorities while the other two threw out anchors to stop the boat’s drift and then jumped into the water to physically try to help Helton. After hours of searching, they were unable to find him.

Law enforcement officials arrived about an hour later. Officials searched for Helton until darkness Saturday. His body was found Sunday afternoon at about 5 p.m. by an aerial search by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He was found about a half mile from where the incident occurred.

The cause of death is unknown. An autopsy will be performed in Fort Myers.

Helton will be missed.

“He was like a brother to me,” said Red Altman of Okeechobee, a former fishing guide and bass tournament angler who worked on the lake for years along with Helton. Altman was best man at Helton’s wedding to Margaret over 15 years ago. “He moved to Florida from Tennessee 22 years ago and was a big Volunteers fan. I’m a Gator fan. It was about the only thing we didn’t see eye to eye on.”

Wright will miss Helton’s straightforward approach.

“We had our moments where we would bump heads, but it was over as soon as it began,” said Wright who guided out of and often helped man Garrard’s Bait and Tackle owned by the Heltons. “He was the kind of friend that if you called him at 3 a.m., he wouldn’t ask questions, he would just be there.”

Helton was often an outspoken critic of water management policies when it came to Lake Okeechobee’s water level and quality. He told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers in June 2007 that in his opinion, the mismanagement of Lake Okeechobee that spring sent small businesses into an economic tailspin.

Altman said there will be a remembrance for Helton from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at Buxton Funeral Home, 110 Northeast 5th Street, Okeechobee. For directions visit www.buxtonfuneralhome.com or call (863) 763-1994.

From Staff and Wire Reports
BassOnline.com
888-629-BASS (2277)

 Today I fished with Tony Patterson from Oklahoma and went down to Miami to experience the mighty hard fighting peacock bass.  Tony was here with his fraternity bothers on business, and decided to sneak away for a half day of fun to experience Miami and it’s mighty peacock bass.

 It started of a little slow but as soon as the sun started to shine the peacocks started to bite. We had non-stop action for the next three hours. When it was all over Tony boated 18 peacock bass up to 4 lbs and lost 2 others around  5lbs. I had a great time with Tony and looking forword to seeing him again.

If you are visiting South or Central Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached @ (888) 629-BASS or email us @ fishing@bassonline.com

Good fishing,

Capt Tony Masiello
tonym@bassonline.com
BassOnline.com
888-629-BASS (2277)
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com

  Today I had the pleasure of doing an interview with Richard Myron, owner of flyfishingdiscounters.com. We decided to go into Miami for peacock bass on fly rods. When we got to our first spot I knew the fish where not their by the color of the water, so I moved to a diferrent spot close by. We started chipping away at a couple of spots and caught a few peacocks while Richard video taped me. He plans on using us cathing fish for his website. We decieded to move on to a couple of other spots and at the next spot we stopped, we caught 9 more peacocks at that spot. By the end of the trip we ended up with 15 peacocks on flies.

Looking forward to seeing Richard again on our planned Lake Ida trip!

If you are visiting South Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best bass fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached @ (888) 629-BASS or email us fishing@bassonline.com

Capt Brett
bretti@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com

The livebait bite was realy good, we moved around a lot catching peacock at every stop and by the end of day we ended up with over thirty peacocks.

If you are visiting South Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best bass fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached @ (888) 629-BASS or email us fishing@bassonline.com

  The South Florida area is one of the hottest spots in the country for vacationing and bass fishing. For proof of this, you don’t have to look any further than the amount of bass fishing guides in the area. There are plenty of South Florida bass fishing guides, and each one promises an enjoyable fishing trip.

If you are an experienced angler and know your way around a body of water, chances are you won’t need the services of a fishing guide. There are plenty of prime bass spots that can offer great fishing in South Florida.

South Florida Fishing Guides

The number of South Florida bass fishing guides is due to the popularity of this area as a vacation spot. These services are great for someone who is in the Naples, Ft Myers, Palm Beach, Ft Lauderdale and Miami area for a family getaway or even a business trip. They are also great for people who are not exactly experienced in bass fishing. Hawghunter.net, south Florida’s largest bass fishing guide service offers guaranteed catches with it’s industry trend setting fishing policy, NO FISH, No PAY! Many of the other services will charge you regardless whether you catch fish. That fact alone tells you how confident the guides at Hawghunter.net are that you will catch fish with them.

You don’t have to drain your pocket book to enjoy these fishing trips either. Many of the South Florida bass fishing guides offer trips that are quite affordable. An eight hour trip for two people can be purchased for anywhere from $350-$400. There are various amounts of time that these trips are available in for less money. Some of these guides will also offer lessons and refresher courses in bass fishing. They give you the opportunity to spend a day on the water with a bass fishing expert.

These guided trips are a great addition to any Florida getaway at an affordable price. You can either take the whole family, or split off by yourself instead of going shopping. There are many South Florida bass fishing guides to choose from, we suggested this one because of it’s #1 ranking on Google. They should be able to find a fishing adventure that suits your needs and preferences. There is an abundance of information online about many of these services. Take your time and research them before making your choice. Make sure you book as far in advance as you can, because many of the South Florida bass fishing guides book up quickly, especially during vacation season.

Other great reasons to book a fishing trip in the South Florida area include the weather and the number of other things to do in the area. Not to mention that it is some of the best bass fishing in the country, whether you use a guide or not.

We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us if you would like to help or suggest a body of water in your area. If you have any questions on the videos or if you are interested in a fishing trip in Florida. Our if you would like additional information on the fishing trips or fishing videos please contact us on this form, thanks you and good fishin!.

From Staff and Wire Reports
BassOnline.com
888-629-BASS (2277)

 We had the pleasure of going fishing with the Willins Family from NY today. Bruce his wife Cheryl and daughter Sam, it was really cool. Sam is a girls softball player and they were in town for a 4 day long tournament. So, dad decided to do a family fishing trip in there off time which was a blast.

While I did not get any pictures myself, they did with there family cam. It was like we were filming a new peacock fishing show almost, I still can’t believe my battery went dead in my camera.

Sam started things off with a 4lb jack, what a great fighting fish. You can tell she fishes with her dad, catching blues in NY because her form was almost prefect. Then Bruce missed a few, I think it was more of a lite bite then his skills. He then followed up with a 2lb peacock bass which jumped off at the boat. After a few location changes and adjusting our retrieve of the lures everyone started to hookup. It was one fish after another for a while, I think Bruce broke off on the largest fish of the day. But, ended with a nice 3 lber on almost the last cast of the day.

The Willins family will be down again next year and we look forward to fishing with them again.

We have a Peacock bass website just for the South Florida fish, you can visit it at www.flpeacockbass.com. To keep up with our fishing reports visit our peacock blog often.

Remember the summer days were made for Peacock bass fishing, they love the heat!

Tight Lines,
Capt Todd
todd@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com

Today once again, I had out Paul Bednarz and his son PJ from Georgia. This makes Paul’s 6th trip with us so far. They did not mind that it was real hot today, because they were pretty busy catching fish and there was a very nice breeze. These two are always a blast and so funny to be with, especially when there catching fish…haha.

A side note on todays trip, a lot of guide(s) are running around crazy simply because they can’t figure out the pattern, which is generally because they are just not experienced enough to know any different. You can always tell the professional guide because they obey the laws (like no wake zones), don’t get caught up in that situation trying to save a few dollars. It’s just never worth your time or money in the end. The fishing is not real easy this time of the year, it takes a experienced guide to find these fish day to day!

Our trip finished very well today, we got to laugh at the “want-a-be” guide as he ran all round looking for peacock bass. While we boated 30 plus fish, with several in the 4 and 5 pound range with even 3 snook added for icing on the cake.

Don’t be fulled by a imposer, dressed like a fishing guide.

Use the largest most reputable guide service in the state of Florida. (www.flpeacockbass.com)

Tight Lines,

Capt Tony (954) 205-2535

tonym@bassonline.com

If you are visiting South Florida and want to experience the best fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call first then try the rest. We can be reached @ (888) 629-BASS or email us at fishing@bassonline.com
www.bassonline.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.basson-line.com
www.bassauthority.com

Another good day of fishing for peacock bass in Miami, Florida . Today I took out Larry and his friends Brett from Missouri. On the way down to Miami they told me there sons where going to meet us later around noon time . So, I took the parents out first and we crushed the fish by noon. We had 17 peacocks in the boat when the kids arrived, the parents left to go explore South Florida so I took the kids back in to the canal system for a different look and new experience new ways of catching the peacock bass. When we arrived to the location I saw the water looking a little different so I went to a couple of spots inside a small lake and we didn’t catch anything. So, I left and went to another location and found them stacked up. The kids proceeded just to ware them out. All in all, a great day of peacock bass fishing. The lessoned learned today about peacock bass, never stop hunting them because they move like the wind!

Thank you for coming out with me Brett, Larry, Jonathan and Bryce

Capt Brett
bretti@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com

Today I had the pleasure of taking out one of our Lake Okeechobee guide Mark Shepard and his regular repeat customer Alan from Hilton Head, SC. They called me the night before to see if I could take them out for the day peacock bass fishing and if coarse, I said okay. So, I met them in the morning at the bait and tackle shop. When we got to our location Alan, like a lot of people did not know this type of fishing was even available in Miami. Mark said, “just wait your about to get your arms ripped off from these fish. ” Alan and Mark always fish artificial so that is what we did. By the end of the day we had caught over 40 peacocks on artificial lures only. This was an awesome day to say the least, I hope to see Alan again real soon for another great day of Peacock bass fishing in South Florida.

Capt Brett
bretti@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com