Fishing here on the Big "O" is improving every day in spite of the low water conditions. We haven't been getting any of the needed rain but we have been receiving a nice breeze everyday that has cooled the water off some. With September almost over this means that the bass will soon be heading in to there fall pattern where they start eating more and heading toward there spawning areas. I'm starting to see some schooling bass chasing bait in a lot of different areas and we all know these fish are a lot of fun to catch. You will want to keep a spinnerbait and a topwater lure ready for when you see them come up to the surface chasing bait. The islands out the main channel from Clewiston, the dynamite holes and the rim canal have all been pretty good places to catch bass the last couple weeks. The Bear Beach channel has been another great place to catch some nice bass as long as the wind isn't blowing too hard. I had a client from Nashville catch an eight pound bass in this area on wild shiners that really put up a fight for her. For the most part my clients have been catching more bass on artificial lures than on shiners. I would stick to soft plastics unless you see these bass schooling in the areas that you are fishing. A couple lures that have been working and my clients are 10" worms and a straight tail worm on a shaky head jig. By straight tail worm I mean anything from a Zoom Trick worm to a Senko. Darker colors like junebug or black with a blue flake seem to be the better colors to be throwing. My shaky head rig consists of a π ounce Giggy Head made by Gambler Lures tied to 12# fluorocarbon line on a medium heavy action rod. A couple other areas that you may want to try at the south end of the lake are the Airport Hole and Norman's Channel. This is the area that a lot of the tournaments lately have been won in. You want to be very careful in this area because there are a lot of shallow rocks. Most of the tournaments have been taking a five bass limit of around fifteen to twenty pound to win.
The fishing at the north end of the lake has also improved some with the Kissimmee River and Taylor Creek being the better spots. The same baits that are working around the Clewiston area are working at the north end of the lake, although you might want to try a Rat-L-Trap in chrome/blue color. The Scott Driver ramp is useable but the water here is real shallow till you get into the river. I caught a few nice bass up the river at the dam even though the water is dirty coming in from Lake Kissimmee.
The bluegill bite has been pretty steady all summer long and they are still catching some in the dynamite holes and the rim canal. Crickets fished under a cork float would be my bait of choice. With the days starting to cool off now is the time to get the kids together and spend a day fishing with them and what better place than Lake Okeechobee. With the lake level so low at 9.54 feet above sea level there seems to be so much wildlife to see from alligators to birds and this is what the kids need to enjoy not the TV.