Lake Okeechobee
RECEIVE FISHING REPORT UPDATES!
Rating - Very_Good
Monday, Feb 03 2025
In the cool months ahead, bass will be spawning in the shallow marsh vegetation such as isolated stands of bulrush (buggy whips) and isolated pickerel weed (arrowheads), a good mixture of plants is key. Dropping water levels may have the fish spawning on the outer edges this season, areas like South Bay and the West Wall along with Tinhouse Cove and Worm Cove in the western marsh will be good starting points to find fish. Warming temperatures into the afternoon this time of year can really turn on the bite after 2pm and put you in a frenzy of big fish. Around the time of a full moon and new moon pay close attention to astrological feeding windows and key on the best areas during these times. Try casting around a BIG EZ on top to find and locate fish in dense vegetation, use shad designs and bluegill colors to target fish around vegetation edges and in the rim canal. Spinner baits have made a huge comeback on the lake making short casts to lure a big one out. Chatter baits, plastic worms, creature baits, and flipping jigs in the heavier cover are all still great ways to catch bass on Okeechobee. Keep colors simple and basic white, black and blue variations and bluegill colors. Golden shiners are the best live bait for largemouth bass either under a bobber or trolled closely behind the boat.Okeechobee has had some unbelievable crappie seasons the last several years with this one predicted to be just as good if not better. The black crappie (speck) season should only improve with the cool winter months approaching. Staff biologists are predicting a good speck season with plenty of chunky specs feeding on threadfin. Fishing in the Kissimmee River will be best from Christmas to middle of March and when the river is flowing, especially after cold fronts. The Harney Pond Canal and Indian Prairie Canal have also been incredibly productive the last couple years for speck and are worth checking out when the crowd at the river goes upward of 100 boats. The southern end of the lake from Cochrans Pass to Bay Bottom have been also producing good limits of speck jigging. Within the lake, focus efforts near the edges of vegetation stands where specks will be spawning and foraging. The best angling will occur early and late in the day with night fishing becoming phenomenal this time of year. Minnows should be suspended at various depths to locate schools. Jig fishing is most productive, as you can cover a great deal more area and target dense vegetation by punching your jig. The secret to successful crappie fishing is to move often, until you locate a school and if you have some good electronics, it will be much easier to keep up.Bluegill and redear fishing usually slows during the winter. However, large numbers of bluegill and redear of varying sizes have been seen throughout the lake during recent electrofishing and trawl surveys. Start looking for spawning redear and bluegill in the late winter and early spring. Most redear are taken on live worms or grubs. Beetlespins and crickets are the preferred baits for bluegill.Mayan Cichlids (Red Devils) are becoming more prolific in the lake and recent electrofishing surveys have shown high abundance all over the lake. Mayan Cichlids are a non-native species with no bag or size limit so anglers may keep as many as they can catch. They are a very tasty delicacy only available to south Florida anglers and with their aggressive behavior they can be targeted easily with live worms, crickets, or even small artificial baits. Anglers do very well from the bank in the Indian Prairie canal and Harney Pond canal.
Monday, Feb 03 2025
GPS
GPS: 26.948886 -80.795005Weather Report
Lake Okeechobee WeatherAccess Info
C. Scott Driver Recreational Area - North off SR 78 west of Okeechobee - Paved Boat rampRegulation/Proclamation
Freshwater RegulationsClick here to unsubcribe from your fishing reports.
Lake Okeechobee
RECEIVE FISHING REPORT UPDATES!
Rating - Very_Good
In the cool months ahead, bass will be spawning in the shallow marsh vegetation such as isolated stands of bulrush (buggy whips) and isolated pickerel weed (arrowheads), a good mixture of plants is key. Dropping water levels may have the fish spawning on the outer edges this season, areas like South Bay and the West Wall along with Tinhouse Cove and Worm Cove in the western marsh will be good starting points to find fish. Warming temperatures into the afternoon this time of year can really turn on the bite after 2pm and put you in a frenzy of big fish. Around the time of a full moon and new moon pay close attention to astrological feeding windows and key on the best areas during these times. Try casting around a BIG EZ on top to find and locate fish in dense vegetation, use shad designs and bluegill colors to target fish around vegetation edges and in the rim canal. Spinner baits have made a huge comeback on the lake making short casts to lure a big one out. Chatter baits, plastic worms, creature baits, and flipping jigs in the heavier cover are all still great ways to catch bass on Okeechobee. Keep colors simple and basic white, black and blue variations and bluegill colors. Golden shiners are the best live bait for largemouth bass either under a bobber or trolled closely behind the boat.Okeechobee has had some unbelievable crappie seasons the last several years with this one predicted to be just as good if not better. The black crappie (speck) season should only improve with the cool winter months approaching. Staff biologists are predicting a good speck season with plenty of chunky specs feeding on threadfin. Fishing in the Kissimmee River will be best from Christmas to middle of March and when the river is flowing, especially after cold fronts. The Harney Pond Canal and Indian Prairie Canal have also been incredibly productive the last couple years for speck and are worth checking out when the crowd at the river goes upward of 100 boats. The southern end of the lake from Cochrans Pass to Bay Bottom have been also producing good limits of speck jigging. Within the lake, focus efforts near the edges of vegetation stands where specks will be spawning and foraging. The best angling will occur early and late in the day with night fishing becoming phenomenal this time of year. Minnows should be suspended at various depths to locate schools. Jig fishing is most productive, as you can cover a great deal more area and target dense vegetation by punching your jig. The secret to successful crappie fishing is to move often, until you locate a school and if you have some good electronics, it will be much easier to keep up.Bluegill and redear fishing usually slows during the winter. However, large numbers of bluegill and redear of varying sizes have been seen throughout the lake during recent electrofishing and trawl surveys. Start looking for spawning redear and bluegill in the late winter and early spring. Most redear are taken on live worms or grubs. Beetlespins and crickets are the preferred baits for bluegill.Mayan Cichlids (Red Devils) are becoming more prolific in the lake and recent electrofishing surveys have shown high abundance all over the lake. Mayan Cichlids are a non-native species with no bag or size limit so anglers may keep as many as they can catch. They are a very tasty delicacy only available to south Florida anglers and with their aggressive behavior they can be targeted easily with live worms, crickets, or even small artificial baits. Anglers do very well from the bank in the Indian Prairie canal and Harney Pond canal.
Other Fishing Reports for Lady Lake
Cape Canaveral
Good
02/03/2025
Its colder than usual, but its also southeast Florida! Strong winds can make getting offshore a challenge, but if you make it ou
...
Learn More
Harris Chain of Lakes
Very_Good
02/03/2025
Throughout this quarter, we will have bass in pre-spawn, spawning, and post-spawn conditions, and the timing of each will depend
...
Learn More
Lake Tohopekaliga
Good
02/03/2025
Fishing has been tough with the recent batch of cold fronts that have been lingering in central Florida lately. But the spawning
...
Learn More
Crystal River
Very_Good
02/03/2025
The inshore fishing continues to shine as we ease into February. Trout and Redfish are additionally joined by Sheepshead, Triple
...
Learn More