We had a great time and made it back home safely but the fishing wasn't great. The first day we fished was on Saturday 1/26. We spent a lot more driving about and exploring that we spent fishing. My friend caught a couple - I caught nothing that day.
Sunday looked like this:
Forecast called for 2-4" that day but it wasn't that bad. It rained on and off all day and we fished all day. We stayed in the canals on the north end of the lake around J & S Fish Camp, Henry Creek, etc. Caught a few that day, all around 2 pounds. Others we talked to in passing said they caught nothing that day.
Monday, the rain moved out but it was cloudy and very windy most of the day. We went down to the South Bay area that morning and didn't get a bite. Some of the guys down there pre-fishing for the Costa FLW said the same. One local told us the water temps were around 65 a couple weeks ago but the cold snap cooled the water to the mid-upper 50's and the fish had lockjaw. Also, he said the water level was down about 3 feet and many places the normally hold fish were dry, in a few inches of water, or were inaccessible by boat. Mid-day, we went back up to the J & S area but no luck there. Late afternoon, we went to the Taylor Creek ramp on the north end of the lake. Winds calmed and the sun popped out for a bit. Just about sunset, I hooked a big bass on a Rapala clacking crank in a foot or two of water. He came off at the boat. My buddy had the net and got a closer look at it that i did. He swears it was a 10 pounder. I'd guess it more like 7 or 8... Anyway, ZERO fish in the boat on Monday but a nice sunset.
Tuesday, we drove about an hour north up to Istokpoga and got on the water about sunrise. Beautiful lake and met some really friendly folks there!
Heard the same thing about the water temps as we'd heard at Okeechobee. Surface temps had been about 65 a couple weeks ago and had dropped 8 or 10 degrees. Several residents there said no one was catching bass right now. Just our luck. My friend caught 1 on topwater in a canal but a homeowner came out and said he had just fed the fish there. We joked about catching the guy's pet bass. I caught nothing there. We trailered up after lunchtime and went back toward Okeechobee. We fished canals again late afternoon until dark. We each caught one at the same place, about the same time. At least I caught one that day. Haha.
We went to Stick Marsh on Wednesday, bought shiners, and got on the water about 11 am. Finally, we caught a few here. We also lost several by pulling the bait away too soon.
Went back to Stick Marsh on Thursday and got on the water about sunrise. Not as many bites as the day before but we still boated a few and lost a few.
We each caught one of these and I'm sure they wrecked our rigs a couple times ... not sure what there are but they were angry, angry fish.
We trailered up about 1 pm and headed north, stopped for dinner in Jacksonville, then drove overnight back to Knoxville. No trophies but a good trip and some good times.
