September, 2020 fishing report for Lake Okeechobee by Capt. Angie
Bass fishing in the month of September and October can be a fun time whether you choose to use live-bait or throw some lures and cover water using lures ranging from hard top baits to the flipping/pitching technique AND time to book your Crappie trip using artificial lures. During those months you can expect some variations in weather pattern such as cooler days; high temperature days; some wind and rain as we push towards the Winter timeframe months but typically the Fall months produce some big bass and fun times on the water as they feed up in the shallows and some offshore areas in preparation for the first spawn of the season. If it’s the excitement of top water lures you love, this is the time to throw them along the edges of the grass; open hole areas surrounding by vegetation and isolated grassy areas. A devils horse is my favorite, modified and using monofilament line…the type of blades whether pointed or round for the time of year makes a difference as well as the choice of line and knot you tie. For the flipping/pitching technique a creature-style lure or mid-size jig works well depending on the Anglers skill level, water temperature, current weather conditions and vegetation. My favorite plastic style lure for flipping/pitching is the Gene Larew hawg craw. A good jig that works well is the Medlock jig with either a june bug; black/blue or crawdad colored skirt is a good choice. Big worms as well as senkos always works here on the big O, I typically use senkos in thicker, grassier areas so the worm doesn’t hang up as much and use the big worms in more sparser , less grassy areas…sometimes adding a rattle whether inserted into the worm or as your weight can add extra bites. This is also a good time to fish more open-water areas to catch schooling bass which produces some fun and fast excitement and when you find schoolies it normally doesn’t matter what’s in your hand they will typically bite it because they are in a feeding mode. Deeper water areas of the lake such as the canals and River can be just as good fishing as the lake especially on windier days. A mid-deep crank bait can be very productive as well as big worms worked up ledges and drop-offs as well top water lures worked slowly especially along rock rip-rap and where deeper water comes up quickly to shallower water areas. The crank bait color choice can be shad; crawdad; bluegill and chartreuse depending on water clarity and time of year. Rattle traps and Spinner baits can cover a lot of water and on windier days you definitely need to have one or the other tied on. I use a gold colored trap or silver w/blue trap depending on water clarity/time of year and a chartreuse/white or all white colored spinner bait skirt with either a double willow-leaf blade or single, again depending on water clarity and time of year. I hope this information helps you to have a better, more fun time on the water.
To book your next fun-filled, productive day fishing on Lake Okeechobee call 863-228-7263 or log onto my newly revised website at www.southfloridabassfishing.com I can accommodate multiple day trips as well as group trips. My Sponsors include: G-Loomis rods; Lews; Gill; Maui-Jim; Mercury Marine; Real Magic; Pradco Brands; Mega Strike; BnM Poles; Bullet weights; Mid-South Tackle and Gene Larew.