Going to Florida in February and going to be within an hour of okeechobee and saw the Scott Martin guides on the lake. Checking into reservations for days that I am there.

I was wondering if anyone has been and used him and if he isn't available maybe the name of another person to check on.

Never seen the lake other than tv and it looks like a fun place to fish

Let us know how it goes. That's a bucket list lake for me, I'm sure along with a lot of others.

I only have 2 days available that I can make it so I hope he is available. If I get to go, I'll post and hopefully have some good pics

He has a team of guides, I don't even think he himself is guiding anymore...but could be wrong. Used it 2 years ago. I wasn't impressed with the guide I got. We had extensive contact prior to date as I booked well in advance, I thought they were awesome for detail as they asked what kind of reels I fish with and right vs left handed. Requested to be stocked with left handed reels (2 months in advance), they said no problem. Of course the day we show up, he has no left handed reels. He ended up borrowing 2 from another guide luckily, and we basically were married to the frog setup he had going.
He tried to get us to buy shiners, which are very expensive there...something like 20$/dozen. I wasn't into bass fishing that way, but the bite was tough. We said ok, get one bag.. and tried frog fishing. We ended up catching about 13 fish total for the 1/2 day, all on frogs. Didn't use a single shiner, but turns out he got 2 bags and tried to charge us for it. Ps.. I fully saw him take the shiners (still alive) and return them into the bait tank.

I think the guiding service is fine, and very knowledgeable.. I just wish that particular guy was better.
Enjoy your trip. It's a much much different world and worth experiencing.

He contacted me back and isnt available on my dates. I don't know if he has other guides that work for him. He told me to call his father's marina and gave me three guides to ask for.

I'm still going to try and find one. I used to hear Roland talking about fishing with shiners all the time on tv. Not how I want to fish. Thanks for the info.

dandeeks


i had a similar situation at his dads place

got passed off to some local ----insisted we shiner fish --almost crapped my pants when i saw the bill for them !

I fished with Scott 6/7 years ago, like all of the guide trips i've gone on in florida the wind was blowing. I was with two guys that dont fish too often so we took shiners. After they each had caught four or five to my one i started flipping the tule grass with shiners too. We caught solid fish but nothing over 4 pounds.

Scott was personable and helped the other two learn bait casting equipment, and gave me jig fishing advise. As all guides do he had lots of stories. With the windy conditions it appeared we shared a couple of areas with fellow guides from their marina, which was a bit annoying but understandable.


I've also fished with Frank Carbone of Hawghunter Guide Service, on Okeechobee and the Miami canels (Peacock Bass). Franks a great guide too, the wind seems to blow when i show up but he always has plan and finds the fish. He is always talking and fun to be with.

I stand corrected.. it was the Roland Martin guide service. Just like Kevine80.

I personally am not a fan of his son, and didn't even know he offered to guide still b/c he seems like a busy man on the circuit. I assume if he is, it is at a premium and uhhhh, yea, not for me. I can't even watch his videos. lol

I like him but not his father really. Not a premium, same as everyone else 300/ half day, 400/full day. I would have liked to have spent the day with him learning what I could.

Glad to hear some feedback on the lake. I definitely don't want to fish shiners so I'll make that clear before I sign up with any guide. That's the kind of info that I need before I go.

I fished there last year in June and did some research before I booked anyone. First off, I did my research and booking in December and January. Secondly, I did call and talk with them at Scott's guide service and I was told that the rate is substantially higher to fish with him, may or met not be true but that is what I was told. My research led me to book at Roland Martin's guide service and request Tom Mann Jr as my guide. I could not have been more pleased. I booked an 8 hr trip on a Tuesday. We decided to do just a little shiner fishing as most people I talked with said you should do it at least once for the experience. The shiners are stupi expensive, but just get 2 dozen or so and they will be gone in an hour. We then fished Texas rigged worms through the hydrilla the rest of the day. My dad and I had 4 fish over 6 with one being 9+ and probably caught 60 or so all day which we were told was great considering the heat. I cannot recommend Tom Mann Jr enough, great guy, will teach you, help you, and put the you on some fish!

I can understand wanting to punch the grass mats like we have all seen on the BassMasters and FLW tours, looks exciting that is for sure. I'll counter this though for the money, theres something about pulling 10 lbers from the hardwoods in Mexico on Sugar Lake as well! I know, caught 3 in 3 days there in May 2016. I believe this is the best lake on the planet to do it too, if your looking to fish 40,000 acres or so?

He will guide for a price, but his other guides are good. I've used several times. just don't get the 80 old dude that is deaf unless you don't want to talk. I've used mark shepard with another guide service he found fish when other guides were not at that time. get ready to flip grass

This isn't a fishing trip. This is a trip for family birthday that I will fish during. Not choosing to travel for the lake, just taking advantage while I am close.

Don't use the young Mark Rose. Guy was a bust last year. He was about to sell his boat so he didn't want to put miles on it. Caught hardly anything and didn't go further than 5 minutes from the ramp.

Used Capt. Tony Summers 321-363-6550 On the Kissimmee chain two years ago and had a blast. He said he regularly fished tournaments on Okeechobee and he may guide there himself or at least have a good contact down there. That is how I found him, through another guide I tried to book that was busy. Anyway, I asked for an all artificial trip, he had all the gear ready to go, and he worked his butt off for me. We had a good day and caught some quality fish without dragging shiners!