Lake Okeechobee fishing report for May, 2026 submitted by Capt. Angie, Okeechobee, Fl

 

Over these past few months, Okeechobee’s water level continues to get lower, current water level as of 5/1/26 is 11.60. The lake is known for a rocky-bottom and when the water drops a great place to fish for bass and bream, this time of year are the deeper water areas such as the Kissimmee River and the Canals like Indian Praire, Harney Pond and J&S canal on the East side. This is a great time to brush up on your deep diving crank bait skill sets as well as Carolina-Rigging, working jigs up ledges and drop-offs. A good color choice as a trailer on jigs; crank baits and plastics can be june bug; red bug; plum; white; tilapia patterns; bream patterns; green-pumpkin and watermelon-red. The bluegill spawn is in full swing and big bass are having a feeding frenzy on/around the bream beds so book your fun time on the water, early morning and late afternoon is a great time to go. Areas on the lake to try are Buckhead Ridge area; Tin House; Indian Praire; Harney pond and Observation Shoal/Dupree bar and spots in the Mondey box. Crickets, red-wigglers and beetle spins rigged on spinning ultra-light tackle with 4lb test line. The bream will be on beds throughout the upcoming months so book your trip today. If you have a group, I can accommodate with multiple boats and multi-day bookings. If you are wanting to brush up on your deep water bass fishing skill sets, now a great time to book your trip, as the snowbirds have travelled back north and the big bass fishing tournaments are pretty much behind us. If you would like more “trip” info, log onto my website: www.southfloridabassfishing.com or pick up the phone and call me at 863-228-7263. I can accommodate up to 3 adults; 2 adults with small Children and even offer one-person discounted trips and discounts for our Vets. No need to bring anything, I supply bottled water; sunscreen; rain gear and most of all a fun, productive and knowledgeable day on the water.

 

 

Lake Okeechobee fishing report, April, 2026 submitted by Capt. Angie Douthit, Okeechobee, Fl.

Over these past few months Okeechobee’s water level continues to get lower and lower and most, if not all bass and pan fishing will be done in the Kissimmee River and the canals such as Indian Praire; Harney Pond and J&S. This is a great time to brush up on your deep diving crank baits; Carolina rigging and throwing jigs working the ledges and drop-offs. A good color choice are Junebug plastics and skirts for the jigs; white; watermelon/red; tilapia; plum and red bug. The pan fish have already started spawning, catching them on live-red wiggler worms and crickets on light spinning gear tipped with 4lb mono line. Fishing around the moon phase, catching the bream when they are the most active on/around the beds will provide non-stop, fun action and is a good time to take the kids and enjoy a beautiful day on the water and fresh caught fish to take home for some tasty meals. The two main areas to launch when fishing on the north-end of the lake are the Scott Driver boat ramp located in Okeechobee on the Kissimmee River and Harney Pond canal, located on the west-end in Lakeport. Areas that are still accessible and easily to get to if you’re wanting to fish out in the lake: East side of Kings bar; West-side of Grassy; outside grass edge from Buckhead to 4th point; outside grass edge of Tin house on down and past Indian Praire; and outside edge of the Shoal area. As the water temperature starts heating up, typically June moving forward, can pose a challenge when bass fishing with live bait (shiners) due to the water temperature difference between the holding tank water that the shiners are kept in before purchasing your bait and the lake water temperature. Fishing deeper water such as the Kissimmee River is a good choice for this time of year to help keep the bait alive longer. To book you’re next fun time on the water call 863-228-7263. You can check out my website at www.southfloridabassfishing.com I can accommodate groups; multi-day trips; offer one-person and Veteran discounts; provide all tackle; ice; bottled water; sunscreen and raingear if needed. For all your tackle needs and bait stop by Big Water Bait & Tackle store located in Lakeport near the Harney pond canal boat ramps.

 

 

Lake Okeechobee fishing report for March, 2026 submitted by Capt Angie Douthit, Okeechobee, Fl

Current Lake Okeechobee water level is around the 12.25 ft mark so please use extreme caution when navigating the lake, when in doubt, stick to fishing the Kissimmee River or the Canal’s. The fact that we are dealing with low water conditions and will continue to get lower, it’s a great time to brush up on your deeper water angling skills for bass, such as Carolina rigging; deep water crank baits; jigs worked up the ledges and drop-offs and etc. We still have the snow birds here and mixed with lower water levels, you’ll experience more than usual boat activity in these deeper water areas, especially on the weekends, so please use patience and common courtesy, we all want to enjoy our time on the water. The bass bite has been good giving up some fun days catching quantity and quality on lures and some live-bait. The crappie bite has been kind tough all season long, even when fishing with minnows, some days you’ll catch a limit and other days not, but still provides a lot of fun and you’ll go home with some great tasting fish that provides some nice meals for the Family. Bass lures that are producing bites: swim jigs/chatter baits/swimming senkos/flapp’n shad/swim bait; worms; shallow crank baits (out on the lake) and deeper cranks for the River; top water and flip’n pitching craws/senkos/. Color patterns are: white; bream/shad colors; tilapia; black/blue; Junebug; redbug and watermelon/red; plum and watermelon/purple. Areas to try for Crappie and Bass have been the Kissimmee River; Harney Pond and Indian Praire canals; Buckhead Ridge to 4th point; point of Horse Island; certain parts of Observation Shoal on down towards Clewiston around the Blue Hole area; West-side of Grassy, Kings Bar; some areas on the East side around Hendry Creek and J&S. Crappie lure body colors can be: Chartreuse; Green’s; White; Yellow’s; some shades of Pink. I hope this information helps you to have more productive day fishing. To book a trip call me at 863-228-7263 and be sure to check out my up-to-date website www.southfloridabassfishing.com I am happy to answer all your questions/concerns; have availability to accommodate “group” trips; Veteran discounts; one-person discounts; offer hotel discounts and suggest “things to do” for those Family members who’d rather take in the local sites.

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Lake Okeechobee fishing report for February, 2026 submitted by Capt. Angie Douthit, Okeechobee, Fl.

Lake O’s water level has been around the 13.4 ft mark which makes for safe boating a priority especially if you are unsure where you are as you navigate Okeechobee’s expansive fishery. Bass and crappie fishing has been somewhat consistent with quality and quantity size bass and limits being caught for the crappie. If you haven’t booked your fun time fishing on beautiful Lake Okeechobee now is a great time to get your trip of a lifetime booked for bass and/or crappie before the spawn season ends. Bass are being caught on a few major areas on the lake such as: Observation Shoal; Dyess Ditch/Horse Island areas; Indian Praire/Tin House; Buckhead Ridge area; Kings Bar and a few areas on the East side around Nub N Slough and some small areas around J & S. Some areas of the lake have lots of eel grass and other vegetation that is taking hold and growing back and both crappie and bass love those areas. Lures for bass are: senkos; popping frogs; swim jigs/baits; cut tail worms; spinner baits; shallow crank baits and some top water. A good color pattern for this time of year is Junebug; Redbug; White; Crawdad; Tilapia; Green-Pumpkin/Gold flake. For the crappie bite, both drifting/pushing/pulling with live-minnows are working in the deeper water areas such as Canals and the Kissimmee River. Lure colors for crappie for jigging are: chartreuse; white; orange; pink and green…water color/clarity can depict color to use and well as color for the jig head but I prefer simple black with chartreuse/white eye. Areas for crappie are pretty much the same as for the bass. Some crappie are being caught in mixtures of various vegetation clumps. To book you’re fun and educational day on the water call 863-633-0034 or 863-228-7263 to find out more information on booking a trip and what all is included check out my website www.southfloridabassfishing.com hotel discounts available at the time of booking with a top hotel in Okeechobee as well as Veteran/One-person discounted trips. My Sponsors include: Toho Marine; Mercury; Lews; Bullet Weights; G-Loomis; Gill; Real Magic; BnM Poles; Mid-South Tackle; Tru-Turn hooks and Road Runner crappie lures

 

Lake Okeechobee fishing report for January, 2026 submitted by Capt. Angie Douthit, Okeechobee, Fl.

Fishing on the big O has been steady and consistent for the bass bite with lures and live-bait in and around the lakes grass edges and pockets. For the crappie bite both lures and trolling with minnows has been catching limits of 25 crappie per person, per day, 10 inch limit !! The Kissimmee River and Canals can be the safest area to fish on windy days when fishing the lake becomes challenging, there’s always the next day when boating conditions are safer. Jigging for crappie in the shallows with lures can be very productive and provides lots of fun for everyone ranging from youths to Grandparents. A quick 5 minute lesson is all it takes to feel that “thump” and arrangements can be made for cleaning fish for my customers to take home, just inquire when booking your trip. I would like to mention the water level on Okeechobee; please use extreme caution when running your boat, please come off plane on the outside grass line/edges then troll or idle to the inside area you want to fish, the lake level is not as high as it was last year and A Lot of Okeechobee has a rock bottom and I see a lot of boaters running where perhaps they don’t know that the rock is just inches below their boats lower unit. ...the time will soon approach where you’ll have to do that anyway, why not start exercising boater safety now. Areas that bass and crappie are biting: the Shoal; outside points of the Monkey box; north/west side of Dupree bar; some spots around Dyess ditch; outside/mid areas around Horse Island and Indian Praire; parts of Tin house; 2nd-4th point; Buckhead area; some areas on Kings bar/Grassy. The water on the east side is clearing up and have been told that there are a few areas from J&S to Nub and Slough that fish are being caught so on a calm wind day you may want to venture over and check it out. Lures for bass are: worms; frogs; swim jigs; spinner baits on windy days; flipping/pitching in colors: Junebug; redbug; white; golden shiner; Okeechobee craw and tilapia. Lure colors for crappie: orange; chartreuse; pinks; greens and white. To book you’re next fun day fishing Okeechobee for bass and crappie call me 863-633-0034 or 863-228-7263 and be sure to check out my website http://www.southfloridabassfishing.com that is current and up-to-date with customers and their catches; trip pricing; hotel accommodations; toll free number to purchase a fishing license and etc. I am booking trips to fish Headwaters lake, just inquire when calling me.

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Lake Okeechobee fishing report for Nov/Dec, 2025 submitted by Capt. Angie Douthit, Okeechobee, Fl

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Lake Okeechobee’s water level has been hovering just below the 14 ft. mark so exercise caution when boating by coming off plane with your boat on the outside grass edge then idle or troll to the inside areas you are wanting to fish. Okeechobee has a lot of rock bottom and lower units are costly to replace. I’m seeing some areas of the lake that the eel grass and hydrilla are starting to come back and should really thrive and be plentiful in looking ahead to the very near future. Areas on the lake that are producing bass are: Kings Bar; Buckhead Ridge area(s); Tin House; some spots around Indian Praire and on down towards Dyess Ditch. Outside areas around Dupree bar; some parts of the Monkey box and areas on the Shoal as you make your way South. On the East side, Nub and Slough and around Hendry Creek. Live-bait for bass is catching numbers along with bigger female bass that are spawning and the lure bite is really good throwing frogs; swim baits/jigs; worms; flipping/pitching; some top water and spinner baits. Lure colors are: june bug; red shad; white; tilapia; bluegill patterns (shallow crank baits) and black/blue. Boaters are scattered as they fish, you’ll see some back in against hard walls of vegetation; some out in the middle area and others keeping to the outer edges. I’m booking a lot of crappie trips for the jig bite fishing in the shallows so get your prefer date(s) in before the crappie season is over in late March/early April. Every year, the lake does change so explore your old spots and check out new areas that look fishy! I’m anticipating a very active but tricky bass and crappie spawn this year, which means that they could be in areas that you couldn’t or didn’t find in the past. To book you’re next fun-filled day fishing Okeechobee, call me at 863-228-7263 or check out my updated website that contains a plethora of information at www.southfloridabassfishing.com I can accommodate 4 people on my new 21.5 foot Caymas bass boat that is rigged with forward-facing sonar and offers a really nice-comfortable, roomy ride with tons of storage for you to bring your own tackle/lures if you choose to do so, but I do supply top of the line rods/reel, all terminal tackle for artificial trips for both bass and crappie; bottles of water; ice; sunscreen and light rain gear. I also have access to another guide boat to accommodate group trips; offer active Military and One-person guided trip discounts. Cleaning your days Crappie catch can be arranged. I AM TAKING BOOKINGS TO FISH HEADWATERS LAKE LOCATED IN FELLSMERE, FL. I hope this information helps you to have a better, more productive day of fishing. Tight Lines !!

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