November 2012

 

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November 30, 2012

 

Day 5 with the Efird boys, we had a great week together catching bass and talking trash to one another. We caught a couple of big Bass today and had big numbers too. For the five days we fished together we caught over 200 Bass. My job is made very easy when I get to fish with wonderful people like the Efirds.

 

 

 

November 29, 2012

 

Day 4 with the Effird boys, we got back on the Bass again  today and wailed on them. It was quite windy and cool but great fishing

 

 

 

November 28, 2012

 

Day 3 with the Effird boys, fishing got much tougher today, the wind brought dirty water into our fishing area making catching very tough. North winds are forecast for the next few days which will clean it up quickly.

 

 

 

 

November 27, 2012

 

Day 2 with the Effird boys, only today we were joined by 11 year old Justin. In the last two days we have caught well over 100 bass, with all 3 guys catching their personal best big Bass. The moon is nearly full and the water and air temperatures are warm it makes for near perfect conditions.

 

 

 

 

 

November 26, 2012

 

 I fished with Johnny & Jody Effird from Ga. today, aside from the incredible bass fishing we had a discussion about the bulldog & Gator rivalry. It was a terrific day of fishing with big Bass and large numbers of bass too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 25, 2012

 

I fished with John O Connor and Lauren from Ct. today. It was chilly and a  little windy, but the fish bit very well, they were quite hungry today. We had a great morning of catching with a big Bass thrown in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 24, 2012

 

I fished with Brad Roark and his father today. The Roarks are from Swayzee, so we had a lot to talk about. Seems we knew all of the same people, so we had a great day of catching bass and catching up on home state news. It was a terrific day with great people.

 

 

 

 

 

November 23, 2012

 

Day 3 with Earl Trotter cold & windy, started out slow then they started biting. We caught big numbers but nothing bigger than Earl has already caught. He caught a lot of big Bass during the 3 days we fished and a lot of bass too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 21, 2012

 

I fished with Len Ciulla and his grandsons Nick & Alex today, the boys love bass fishing and we always have a great time together. It was very windy and rough again today, making anchoring and holding on our shiner spot difficult. Just like yesterday the fish bit hard in the rough water. As you can tell from the puictures the guys all caught big Bass today.

 

 

 

 

November 20, 2012

 

Day 2 with Earl Trotter, very windy making it hard to hold on anchor, but the trouble was well worth it. Earl caught 2 big Bass today the top picture was an old fish that is looking to spawn, her tail is all torn up and she has a huge mouth and bugged out eyes, the other fish is in about the same shape only younger. Looks like we may have some fish spawning on the full moon, unless the water gets too cold from a cold front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 18, 2012

 

 Day 1 with Earl Trotter, we have fished together before and always have a great time. We did'nt catch huge numbers today, we did however catch big Bass, three of them to be exact, Earl is holding the first two he caught early this morning, he then caught another big fish later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 17, 2012

 

I fished with Mark & Lenny (Mudfish) Spitz today, as always we had a great time catching bass. They are both good guys and we always have a great time when we fish together.

 

 

 

 

November 16, 2012

 

I fished with Clinton & Joseph Jones from Atlanta today, it was a terrific day of fishing with great company, as you can see we caught em!

 

 

 

 

 

November 14, 2012

 

Day 3 with Erroll, we really wacked them today, from the first shiner right to the last the bass were chewing! Erroll is a great guy and we had a great 3 days together, I learned alot about South Africa these past three days. 

 

 

 

 

November 13, 2012

 

Day 2 with Erroll from South Africa, terrific early morning bite then it slowed to a crawl. Still looking for the big ones!

 

 

 

 

November 12, 2012

 

I fished with Erroll Nortke from Johannesburg South Africa today, Erroll wanted to catch some big bass, and he did. We had a great day of fishing together

 

 

November 11, 2012

 

Day two with Tom & Andy, as you can see the lake was dead flat, catching was not as fast as yesterday, but we managed to pick away at them all day.

 

 

 

 

 

November 10, 2012

 

I fished with Tom Allgood & Andy Tisdale from Ga. today. Tom has been here numerous times and it was Andy's first trip. We had a banner day as the pictures will show. I can't say enough about how great the fishing is on Lake Okeechobee, there's no place in the World like it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 9, 2012

 

I fished with Norm Akers & his brother -in-law Denny Elder today, the guys are from Mo. and do a lot of fishing. It was a little chilly and of course windy. The bass are biting like crazy though.

 

 

 

 

 

November 8, 2012

 

Day 3 with the five retired Military Officers, angler of the day was Gene Auerbach from Ca. it was cool and very windy today which lowered the water temps several degrees. The bite was slightly slower but we caught them anyway. We had three great days of fishing and fellowship with these great guys.

 

 

 

November 7, 2012

 

Day 2 with the Retired Military Officers, Mike Casey was the man of the day with 2 big Bass. We left the shop with 10 dozen shiners this morning, and none of them, made the return trip.

 

 

 

 

November 6, 2012

 

Today we fished with 5 gentlemen who are all retired military officers, 4 of them were in the Navy and the other was in the Army. In my boat today was Mike Casey from Mi. and Gene Auerbach from Ca. We had a  wonderful morning of catching, we left the ramp with 7 dozen shiners and they had all been eaten by 9am, we then switched over to artificial baits and continued catching only at a slower rate. I love the fall & spring on lake Okeechobee!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 4, 2012

 

I fished with two lovely ladies today, Eydie & Linda are from NJ and just wanted to see if they could catch some Bass on Lake Okeechobee. Eydie is an experienced angler and Linda does not fish so we sort of got offf to a slow start. Once the girls figured it out though the results are obvious. It was a tremendous morning of catching! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 November 3, 2012

 I fished with Jim Henry from Hobe Sound this morning, great fishing just keeps getting better, we are catching them as fast as we can hook a shiner and get them into the water.

 

 

 

       November 2, 2012  

 

I fished with Jim  & Christy Bradley from Colorado today, we fished together last year and they caught so many fish they decided to come fish with us again. We had a great morning of catching going through shiners quickly. We moved to the North Shore today to another prime catching spot, and it was good! 

 

 

 

  

November 1, 2012

 

I fished with John & George this morning, after yesterday afternoon they couldn't wait for this morning, and for good reason.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 31. 2012

 

I fished with John Emerson & George Minix from Indiana This afternoon we had a great afternoon a caught a lot of bass.

 

 

 

 

Oct 31, 2012

 

Im fished with Tom Hanzlik from Chicago today. After a week of very windy conditions and rough water today qwas dead cal slick, a beautiful day for fishing and catching! Tom caught bass as fast as he could reel them in and bait the hook with another shiner.

 

 

 

Oct 30, 2012

I fished with Roddy & Nick from NY today, it was the 8th time they have traveled from NY to Okeechobee to fish with us. We had another great day of catching. The air temperatures were cold and it was a little windy, but the catching was great.

 

 

 

Oct 24, 2012

I fished with Brant & Kari Crenshaw from Ca. and Dave Thomas from Jupiter today. It was a very windy morning which made keeping anchored a very difficult task. The fishing remains very good though we caught them as fast as we could get our baits in the water. It was a great morning with great people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Oct 21, 2012

I fished with Jason Durbin from Tallahassee today, it was very windy but we managed to catch them good once again. Now if I could just keep other people out of my shiner hole.

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 13, 2013 

      I fished with Nathan ,Emma & Ethan this morning. This trip was all about the kids, although Nathan caught the biggest bass today. The kids caught a lot of bass on shiners and also had some great snacks!

Oct 12, 2012

       I fished with Joe Woods and his son-in-law Kevin today, the bass were on fire this morning munching on our shiners like there was no tomorrow. We caught bass on artificial baits and live bait too, Surer makes my job easy when the fish are biting like this.

Oct 11, 2012

     I fished with, Devon , Justin and Jordan today, It was another great morning of catching. It is a great time of year,  were catching  a lot of bass and big bass too. Traffic is very slow this month, so lets go fishing..

Oct 10,2012

    I fished with Buddy Adams and Al Mills from NC  today, we caught over 50 bass on shiners and artificial baits, it was another great day of catching.

         Oct 3, 2012

Heavy rainfall has triggered Lake Okeechobee to rise at a rapid rate. The largest rainfall of the year, thanks to hurricane Isaac fell in the Kissimmee Basin that feeds Lake Okeechobee making it necessary for the water structures to be opened wide, in turn triggering an inundation of water coming into Lake Okeechobee. Some estimate that the lake may reach 16 feet, others insist it will be lower. Whatever the final level, it is great for fishing and the local economy in Okeechobee. Add a huge bass population to the mix and the town of Okeechobee has all makings of a great fall and winter season.

          As the long hot summer finally comes to a close, the days are getting shorter and the water temperatures in Lake Okeechobee are dropping. The water level is high enough to provide access to the marsh areas as well as the shoreline cover. Each Fall savvy anglers eagerly anticipate the first wave of large female Bass as they move along the shallow shorelines, where they gorge themselves. From October thru November and into December Lake Okeechobee's bass go into feeding mode, chasing and eating shiners, shad and whatever food morsels that are available.

          Once the bass locate a food source they will hang out in that particular area as long a food is available, they may not feed every minute of each day, but they are never very far away from the food source. Last year we located a spot early in October that bass frequented Fall, Winter and Spring, with bass coming and going in conjunction with the moon phases. We were able to catch bass in this same area during pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. It is not easy or normal to find a spot that will produce big bass and large numbers of bass as well, sometimes a little luck plays into it as well. We fished this productive spot many different ways and from many different angles. At times during the season the fish would be holding in one single piece of cover along the area, other days they would be scattered along the whole stretch. Don't misunderstand there were a few days when we could catch fish in our number one spot and we would have to move to another area to continue to catch fish. Each year as we have fished Lake Okeechobee we have learned something different about the lake, the lesson is not always immediate and mind numbing, many times it is very subtle and only becomes clear after much retrospect. Bass fishing is a wonderful sport and I can honestly say that I still get excited when a big bass comes to the boat.

          Fall fishing on Lake Okeechobee is second to none, the sheer number of bass in the 7 to 12 pound range is incredible. Traffic is relatively low during month of October, since many of our visitors from the North aren't here yet. The days are mild and the bass are biting, quite simply it just doesn't get much better in the bass fishing World.

          The North end of Lake Okeechobee is loaded with hydrilla, eel grass, pepper grass and other great cover elements where big bass love to hold. From the East side of the lake at J&S fish camp all the way around the North end of the lake to  the Point of the Reef. bass are already being caught in great numbers. Each year it's only a matter of timing until the bass are triggered to start their fall feeding spree. It  happens suddenly and without fanfare, one day the bass will be of average size and the next day you might catch 4 or 5 bass over 7 pounds.

Cpt. Mike Shellen

www.OkeechobeeBASSFishing.com

863-357-0892