Lake Okeechobee late February

[Johnpenguin]

Headed down to the big O for some trophy bass fishing. Any advice for me?

[Dwight Hottle]

Big O is fishing tough. Your chances for a trophy & numbers would be much better at Headwaters next to Stickmarsh near Fellesmere FL. If you go to O anyway try flipping/pitching. Look for clean water area with healthy vegetation. The numerous sprayed areas suck. 

[Mike L]

There’s fish to be caught

Top 10 boaters at the Toyota Series last week averaged a 3 day total of about 45 lbs each. 

That little warm up after a week of colder temp’s was like flipping a switch. 

 

 

 

Mike

[Johnpenguin]

5 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Big O is fishing tough. Your chances for a trophy & numbers would be much better at Headwaters next to Stickmarsh near Fellesmere FL. If you go to O anyway try flipping/pitching. Look for clean water area with healthy vegetation. The numerous sprayed areas suck. 

Can you get guides at headwaters?

20 minutes ago, Mike L said:

There’s fish to be caught

Top 10 boaters at the Toyota Series last week averaged a 3 day total of about 45 lbs each. 

That little warm up after a week of colder temp’s was like flipping a switch. 

 

 

 

Mike

What was the lure of choice?

[Mike L]

6 minutes ago, Johnpenguin said:

 

What was the lure of choice?

Google Toyota Series. 
There’s a page that has what the top 10 boaters and co anglers used. 
Equipment and baits.
 

 

 

 

Mike 

[Johnpenguin]

10 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Google Toyota Series. 
There’s a page that has what the top 10 boaters and co anglers used. 
Equipment and baits.
 

 

 

 

Mike 

Nice. Thanks

[Dwight Hottle]

30 minutes ago, Johnpenguin said:

Can you get guides at headwaters?

What was the lure of choice?

 

Yes. Roland Martin guides there too.   

[Johnpenguin]

1 hour ago, Dwight Hottle said:

 

Yes. Roland Martin guides there too.   

That’s cool. What makes you say headwaters is the better choice over O?

[geo g]

1 hour ago, Johnpenguin said:

That’s cool. What makes you say headwaters is the better choice over O?

Dwight is 100% right on your chances.  The O is so vast and so shallow that a big wind will change everything quickly.  Fish will move out of an area quickly and the wind will stir up the quality over night.  Finding fish, is finding clear water.  Spraying has been none stop lately on the south end.  

Headwaters is a designer fishery, designed to produce trophy fish.   There are shelter areas, deep holes, selected grasses and weeds.  It was stocked by the state with restrictions, and no spraying.  Big fish have been caught since its opening.  The down side is the crowds, especially until the snowbirds leave for their home waters.

 

Big fish live in both waters, it's just harder at the O unless you fish it all the time, and understand what weather does to it, and how the bass move!  Not easy for a novice, or a lot of pros.

[Johnpenguin]

28 minutes ago, geo g said:

Dwight is 100% right on your chances.  The O is so vast and so shallow that a big wind will change everything quickly.  Fish will move out of an area quickly and the wind will stir up the quality over night.  Finding fish, is finding clear water.  Spraying has been none stop lately on the south end.  

Headwaters is a designer fishery, designed to produce trophy fish.   There are shelter areas, deep holes, selected grasses and weeds.  It was stocked by the state with restrictions, and no spraying.  Big fish have been caught since its opening.  The down side is the crowds, especially until the snowbirds leave for their home waters.

 

Big fish live in both waters, it's just harder at the O unless you fish it all the time, and understand what weather does to it, and how the bass move!  Not easy for a novice, or a lot of pros.

Thank you for the advice. I am going to take it. Is there anything further that can best help me at headwaters?

[Dwight Hottle]

14 hours ago, Johnpenguin said:

That’s cool. What makes you say headwaters is the better choice over O?

 

You must understand that the best fishing for bass over 10lbs occurs in northern FL. Then middle FL. Southern FL waters are the warmest & don't produce the numbers of fish over 10 as further north. Middle FL gets the most pressure because of the proximity to Orlando (think Disney) as a strong vacation destination. Like Geo G said Headwaters is managed to increase productivity and is catch & release just like Stickmarsh/Farm 13. I live about hour from Okeechobee and two hours south of Headwaters but I pick the further drive to enjoy better fishing. You can still catch a DD from Okeechobee but your chances are much better as you head north. If you google trophycatchflorida it is a state-run incentive-based conservation program for anglers catching largemouth over 8lbs The program has been in existence for 10 years & categorizes trophy catches into three categories between 8-10 lbs, 10-12 lbs & over 13lb. The FWC collects basic data & publishes it every year. It totals the number of bass caught per county & discloses what waterways they came from. Lots of statistics for you to mull over when searching for a place to plan your next trip. Obviously only reported data shows up.  

[Johnpenguin]

42 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

 

You must understand that the best fishing for bass over 10lbs occurs in northern FL. Then middle FL. Southern FL waters are the warmest & don't produce the numbers of fish over 10 as further north. Middle FL gets the most pressure because of the proximity to Orlando (think Disney) as a strong vacation destination. Like Geo G said Headwaters is managed to increase productivity and is catch & release just like Stickmarsh/Farm 13. I live about hour from Okeechobee and two hours south of Headwaters but I pick the further drive to enjoy better fishing. You can still catch a DD from Okeechobee but your chances are much better as you head north. If you google trophycatchflorida it is a state-run incentive-based conservation program for anglers catching largemouth over 8lbs The program has been in existence for 10 years & categorizes trophy catches into three categories between 8-10 lbs, 10-12 lbs & over 13lb. The FWC collects basic data & publishes it every year. It totals the number of bass caught per county & discloses what waterways they came from. Lots of statistics for you to mull over when searching for a place to plan your next trip. Obviously only reported data shows up.  

Thanks for all the info. I would have thought the fishing would be better the further you go south. Since you fish headwaters, what are some good locations/baits? If you don’t want to answer on here, feel free to private message me or not respond at all. I get it if you don’t want to blow your spots. Also if you know any good guides let me know. Appreciate it!

[roadwarrior]

11 minutes ago, Johnpenguin said:

Also if you know any good guides let me know. 

 

https://www.aeguideservice.com/

[Captain Phil]

I have been fishing Okeechobee for over 50 years.  As other have stated, Okeechobee in February can be tough.  The lake is large and shallow.  You will be dodging cold fronts. Wind will be an issue. Forty years ago, I destroyed a brand new bass boat in a tournament running from Taylor Creek to Moore Haven each day.  The trick to finding Okeechobee bass is to find clean water.  To do this you need to fish as far back in the grass as possible.  If you are coming from the north part of the country, this could be much shallower than you are used to.  Don't let that concern you.  Okeechobee bass are used to shallow water.   If the weather is bad, don't ignore the canals, rivers or the rim ditch.  I have won way more tournaments in those places than in the main lake.  By all means hire a guide.  Make sure to tell him what you expect so you both will be on the same page.  Don't let anyone tell you Okeechobee is dead or not as good as it used to me.  It's a great fishery, but you have to know it's quirks.  

[Dwight Hottle]

30 minutes ago, Johnpenguin said:

Thanks for all the info. I would have thought the fishing would be better the further you go south. Since you fish headwaters, what are some good locations/baits? If you don’t want to answer on here, feel free to private message me or not respond at all. I get it if you don’t want to blow your spots. Also if you know any good guides let me know. Appreciate it!

 

Traps, swim jigs & bladed jigs, swim baits, crank baits, top water & the usual plastic baits all work well. You can almost pick your style of fishing & water depth desired throughout the system. Lee Harrelson would be a good choice as mentioned by Roadwarrior if he travels down there. 

[Mike L]

OP
The thing about The Lake is that it’s so vast and can fish different from day to day it can get intimidating. 
 

The same things that effect the bite down here will effect the “ northern” lakes also, just not to the same degree at times.
It’s been said under certain conditions it can generate its own weather. 
 

Its not a lake to take for granted even tho everywhere you look you’d swear it would hold fish. 
 

On a few recent threads I listed few areas with directions that are being proven producers this time of the year. 
 

The Kissimmee / Harris Chains, Headwaters, Rodman, Istopoka, Blue Cypress, Apotka, St Johns, Stick Marsh, St Johns, The Glades and others are all excellent fisheries. 
Any one of the those can produce a fish of a lifetime.  

I’m admittedly partial to Okeechobee because I’ve fished it for so long and often year round. 

@geo g @Dwight Hottle And @Captain Phil all gave you excellent advise and you’d be wise to heed their opinions. 
 

Good Luck and report back. 
 

 

 

Mike

[SC53]

As others have said big O can be tough in February and is fickle nowadays. 
Headwaters is hot right now, lots of reports on FB in the Headwaters group. You can find a lot of guides on the group as well. 
 

[crypt]

when I retire I'm moving to Okeechobee. I live 20 minutes north of Headwaters/Stick Marsh. I love fishing in Florida so much that the idea of living anywhere else makes me cringe. when you go to wherever, get a guide and like Capt. Phil said you both need to be on the same page as what to expect. keep an open mind on what you want, numbers or trophies.you can get both but don't be upset if you don't.just have a good time while your here. 

[geo g]

Well we all chimed in, how about a report.  Where did you end up going, and how was the fishing?

[Johnpenguin]

On 3/1/2022 at 2:25 PM, geo g said:

Well we all chimed in, how about a report.  Where did you end up going, and how was the fishing?

I went to headwaters, lake Garcia, and stick marsh. Headwaters and Garcia were SUPER slow caught basically nothing. Then on stick marsh I nailed them but no big ones. Attached is the biggest I caught