caloosa bug

A couple weeks ago me and dad spent 5 days out of an 8 day stretch on Lake O. We had an absolute blast. Explored many areas and patterns to try to win a little money in our annual one fish, big bass tournament during our county fair. We caught a lot of nice bass and had a lot of fun. I caught some big ones the first couple days, then a mid week front came through. I guess I forgot how to fish after that, probably because I was over confident in my pattern of a senko and weightless trick worm. Dad proceeded to kick my but the rest of the week on into tournament day on a tiny shallow crank bait. I didn't weigh in squat, and dad finished in 9th out of over 70 participants. It was a week to remember and I'm glad I shared it with dad.

This one was waving a reed with a flag on that said 👋 You hoo, I'm over here!"

Big specks, (crappie) are still biting all over Lake Okeechobee. I've been busy the last few weekends and only had time for a couple short trips. Last weekend I spent an afternoon exploring bass locations in preparation for a small local tournament coming at the end of this month. Found some beautiful water but the bass weren't back there yet. Then jigged up a few slabs before the sun disappeared. This weekend, my only chance to get out was for a few hours this afternoon doing some bank fishing. Even went in my Sunday lounge shorts. 😊Down the street from the house is the Caloosahatchee and I got a nice one on a rubber worm after there was no takers on fly.

Awesome! Great idea

https://youtu.be/-Ker1_iXz98?si=vSc-fqfpStPO8ZYd Styx- Crystal Ball- live 1978

Thanks everyone. I had another crappie day on Okeechobee today. The big ones were out feeding. It was cold and sprinkling rain off and on today. So I left the kids at home and went by myself with only a 10' BnM "little jewel " and a few jigs I made the last couple weeks. Time to make a few more of the ones that they approved of.

It was a crappie day on the big O. They were all smiles for some reason.

Thank you. Yes , they are excellent to eat and are a protected gamefish that you won't find in any restaurant or market. Very mild and flaky, much like a grouper filet. There is a short spring season and a fall season. One fish per day and must be between 28-33 inches for the western half of the state. I had several under 28 and a handful last week that were over 33, including a 39", 36", and a couple 35 inchers. Tons of fun on bass gear.

Great report Capt! Sounds like an amazing day on the water for your clients. The month of November has been full of snook fishing/catching here on the fresh side of the Caloosahatchee. Mainly the Ortona area. I had a week of vacation to burn last week and had the boat was in the water nearly every morning, (including both weekends) before daylight. I was able to get a slot keeper everyday but 1. And caught multiple snook every outing. Most fish coming before 9:00 am. Keepers came on whopper-ploppers, rapalas, swimbaits, and most on a 3 1/2" watermelon-gold flake, reactions innovations Little Dipper, on a 1/2 to 5/8 oz jig head. Season ends in a couple weeks, then my focus will shift to crappie jigging on okeechobee.

There had been sporadic Lake o releases for a month or so. They were releasing a little one day a week. Last week I noticed a slow and steady release all week. Figured it was time to do some late night bank fishing. Kicked off my first keepers since season opened September 1 with a bang. Landed 5 Friday night with a 34, 32, and 2 26 inchers. Missed and lost several more. Had the whole place to myself. Then spent Saturday night doing the same. Landed a 33, 32, 29, and 27 incher. Man what fun it was. All on Rapala x-raps. Sxr12's. Bait casters with 15lb mono and 30lb leaders.

Thanks guys. Another Saturday morning with dad this morning. I hate that my son didn't want to go because the small snook were busting topwater plugs everywhere this morning. He would have had a blast. No keepers, with the biggest being 27 inches, but dad landed 3 snook to my two. We each caught a half dozen bass as well.

A few picks from our last couple outings on the Caloosahatchee river. I've been chasing snook the past couple weeks, and have only managed a couple small ones. The bass have been cooperative though.

👏 Good job Capt. looks like a blast.

Had to drown some 🦗 to find them.

We've been fishing the river for a while catching tons of fish. After a couple slow outings, it was time to head back out on Lake Okeechobee. Had some good frog action early, then dad got a good one on a crankbait.

Monkey Box marker before sunrise on Lake Okeechobee

Spent a few hours checking out a recently added board walk at the Fisheating creek campground. My two youngest and I packed a lunch, some towels, and a little bag cooler. We planned on doing some exploring and swimming. With the creek levels being fairly high, the boardwalk ended to a grassy marsh in one direction. The actual creek was within sight, but there was no way me and the kids were going to trudge through waist deep water in head high grass. 🐊🐍🐊. I have more sence than that. I chose to go another direction avoiding the high grass and was going to try and circle back to the creek following another trail through the woods. This one ended at a tributary off of the main creek that had high grass on both sides of the opening. I walked across the middle of the open water and found the shallowest path...on the other side was high ground and a little beach on the main creek that always had a rope swing hanging from a tree. Ahha.. that's what I was looking for. I threw my daughter on my shoulders, and my son was able to hold the backpack above his head and wade across. We swam for a bit, ate lunch, then headed back before the afternoon showers arrived. Mission accomplished.

Me and the kids went hiking this weekend to go swimming at Fisheating creek. We came across some cypress knees that were painted like knomes. 🤣

Man that looks like fun! Some nice fish you're getting this year. 👍

Typical low to mid 90's with thunderstorms about every afternoon. 80-100% humidity. We've gotten into the normal south Florida summer weather patterns. Gotta mow the grass every weekend now. For the past few weeks it's rained everyday on the way home from work or not long after I got home. I had a sinus infection last weekend and didn't do anything. Rained every afternoon this week and the yard is mid-shin now. 🌾🌾🚜