Lake Okeechobee

I will be in Ft Meyers Fl on business the middle of February. Thinking about staying over a few days and fish Okeechobee. Never been on lake and looking for advice on places to stay, guide, etc. Thanks for any input provided!

Roland & Mary Ann Martin's Marina. Wide variety of lodging, good guides, good food, and good drink all in one location.

Thanks Claus! Looks like a great option.

Paul

Steve Daniel is who I used and he will keep you on the fish.

I would fish middle west and up to Kissimmee River. Wind mostly from north muddies up south side. Fisheating creek is a great place to start.

Retired B.A.S.S. Pro Tom Mann Jr. is guiding out of Rolands as well. He stays on fish and will do either shiners or artificial. Great guy!

Hurricane changed alot of big o. Not the same lake right now. High muddy water.

They have killed off most of the grass in the lake. There’s a OG thread on BBC talking bout how poor fishing has been

It's a further drive but I would consider Lake Toho. Iv'e been several times in February and March and have caught DD just about every time. I have contact info for a few guides if you're interested.

I fished Okeechobee with a guide out of Roland & Mary Ann Martin's marina last week on the 16th. As stated above lodging and food are good. Fishing was tough and the guide didn't put much effort into our trip. The shiner bite was terrible. Three fish in three hours. Spent the rest of the day with a Texas rig and managed ten small fish. There is clean water in certain sections of the lake and not much grass. Maybe things will improve in the next few weeks.

With father and son fishing the tour event there this weekend, I’m sure the juice has been off limits for customers for a while now.

I had the opportunity to fish it last year. From what I gathered, all the guides work for Roland Martins Marina. When the trip was over, he couldn't accept my payment. I had to pay the gift shop in the marina. They seem to be big on the shiners there. He tried everything that he could do to talk me into buying them when booking the trip and then when I arrived for it. I guess they make a commission off of selling the shiners or something. I think we had around 3 bites all day and he cut it short because fishing was so bad. We had the choice of fishing a swim jig that he picked and that was all. No other baits and no other colors. It was a pretty disappointing trip. Be sure to get recommendations on a good guide.

The guides I know will recommend shiners also for Lake Toho for the best shot at a giant fish. I'm looking to fish there in the Spring when the topwater bite will be good. I fished the Big O with a guide in 2015 and didn't catch many and they were 3-5lbers. Same week fished Toho and caught a 10lber along with some 4-8's.

Look up Kyle Monti. I took him out last year in April and he knows the lake well. Young guy that just qualified for the 2018 elites.

LOL, We must have had the same guy. First rod out of the box was a swim jig and then a Texas rig. After a couple hours of that I suggested some other options. All he said was I like your way of thinking and never gave us the option to try anything else. Our trip to the Big O was very disappointing as well. It was a birthday present from our wives as we both turned 60 this month.

O is fishing very tough right now. The waters just haven’t camemdown and the water hasn’t cleared at all (from what I’ve heard). Toho was on fire for about 3 weeks until the cold front came in and frosted the water temps below 60. The hydrilla on most lakes around has died and huge areas are now just little patches. They are both Great Lakes and yes all the guides will go with shiners to get you on fish. I refuse to fish them and in that 3 week stretch I was put catching them flippin.

Check out Stick Marsh for numbers and average weight. I hear it is fishing very good lately (before the front) and also check out Garcia. Day after Xmas I caught over 30 in the 3# range and a buddy caught about 12-15. Fun lake if you want to flip.

I went down there years ago and the guide had nothing but shiners. We caught a few fish but I wouldn't do it again. Got the feeling the whole deal was more for people who don't know how to fish.

That’s correct! Even the fisherman get stuck with shiners with guides so the guides can post big fish pics. It’s a game down here for sure. And at 18-22 bucks a dozen it gets pricey. My wife used them a couple times last year and caught huge fish so now I won’t even allow them on my boat. Haven’t heard the end of it since she caught a 9.80 on O with a shiner lol.

Guess our Lake Fork guides must be a lot better than Okeechobee guides, they don't use shiners and lots of huge bass are being caught many of them DD.