Lake Okeechobee.....i Love Her & I Hate Her 2024
Captain Shane Procell reply :
Since I first fished Lake Okeechobee 4 years ago, I have maintained a Love/Hate relationship with her. One trip I can't go wrong and the next your wondering what the heck went wrong. I have found that I have about a 50/50 chance of catching real good fish vs eating a piece of humble pie. Granted I have never been skunked on the lake, I have had days when I wondered why the heck I even wasted my time. I know why I go to Lake O...for the big fish of course. The more I go up to Lake O, the better my odds.... as it should be. Lately my odds of getting on the better fish have gone up. Not sure if I am starting to get the hang of the south end or perhaps the Lake is having mercy on me. I have fished three times up on the south end of Lake Okeechobee in the last ten days. I have been using the BoohYah spinnerbait, the Gambler Lures Big EZ and the Spro Frog (Bronzeye) to do most of the damage. Not that they fish would not take something else, but I like to cast moving baits and have found over the years that my confidence bait/technique is my strength. Here are the better fish from the last ten days including a 9 1/2 and a 10. Hopefully in time I will get aquainted with the west and north ends of the lake.
Does anybody else have a similiar relationship with your lake?
tomustang reply :
That's reason to love her more!
BrettD reply :
I have the same relationship with the lake.
topwaterrob reply :
Awesome work....
gar-tracker reply :
On 6/7/2013 at 11:44 AM, tomustang said:That's reason to love her more!
Nailed it!!!
They all do that to you, Kissimmee, Toho, thats why we love the sport if you stroked them every time it would be boring.
You have to change up when they aren't hitting moving baits its a waist of time to keep fishing them.
The most important thing for newcomers to the lake from South Florida is to forget about how they fished in the canals.
BP10 reply :
nice catches shane
BassinLou reply :
Sweeet fish!! You have to strike while the iron is hot.
fstr385 reply :
Some freaks! Nice Shane! Hope I have some catches like that there tomorrow. Still havent decided to head out from belle or clewiston yet. Havent yet tried out of belle glade and east yet.
GoneFishi'n reply :
Looked like you had an amazing trip! My lake does this to me a lot. The days you are on them you always catch a 5+. But someday a all you catch is one or none at all.
Captain Shane Procell reply :
On 6/7/2013 at 9:15 PM, gar-tracker said:Nailed it!!!
They all do that to you, Kissimmee, Toho, thats why we love the sport if you stroked them every time it would be boring.
You have to change up when they aren't hitting moving baits its a waist of time to keep fishing them.
The most important thing for newcomers to the lake from South Florida is to forget about how they fished in the canals.
That's good advice.
AK-Jax86 reply :
Some monster fish nice pics
I live in Jacksonville never fished lake o I need someone with a boat to let me tag along.. Message me ha
derekxec reply :
On 6/7/2013 at 11:58 AM, BrettD said:I have the same relationship with the lake.
i think a lot of people do lol me included
fstr385 reply :
Man, today some guy got hit by lightning on his boat out there by us! 
Captain Shane Procell reply :
On 6/9/2013 at 4:38 AM, fstr385 said:Man, today some guy got hit by lightning on his boat out there by us!
That is two years in a row now. Tragic
topwaterrob reply :
On 6/9/2013 at 4:38 AM, fstr385 said:Man, today some guy got hit by lightning on his boat out there by us!
Yea supposedly running back towards dock somewhere on the south end.
Gotfishyfingers? reply :
On 6/9/2013 at 4:38 AM, fstr385 said:Man, today some guy got hit by lightning on his boat out there by us!
Wow, did you witness it??? How far away from you? Thoughts and prayers to a fellow angler.
fstr385 reply :
On 6/9/2013 at 6:37 AM, Gotfishyfingers? said:Wow, did you witness it??? How far away from you? Thoughts and prayers to a fellow angler.
Aye bro, seen your lone truck over there this am. Idk how far it was. We only seen and heard it as it was the only one that stuck out to use. We were right on the opposite side of the main entrance exit canal, heard it and said "that's our cue to go". We came around and it started sprinkling heavy and decided to try flippin a couple spots before the gate, then It began pouring, so we headed in. Coming down the canal to the ramp we seen a police car flying up the levy and figured someone got hurt somehow or did something stupid, then when pulling the boat out seen the ambulance. We shot over to the tiki when we heard about the fwc officer that hauled ouda there because someone got hit by lighting, and me and my buddy looked at each other like "d**n!!! it was that strike"!!! Sadly we heard that a couple on the other side of the bar had the bad news, he didn't make it. Wont be stickin around for anymore storms there anymore!! Man.. just terrible! I cant imagine how the other guy(s) in the boat felt either.
Gotfishyfingers? reply :
Man, that's sad, he didn't make it. Ya, I was out there when the rain moved in. As soon as I got back to the ramp, the rain stopped. I went back out but the lighting and thunder forced me back to the ramp. I think it's safe to say I'm will not be fishing lake Okeechobee on June 8th. Ironically enough, it was June 8th (noontime) last year, when that other angler was struck and killed by lighting to. R.I.P to both. 
p.s Sorry for hijacking your thread, Shane.
GLADES reply :
Hey Shane, I felt the same way about the lake while i was living there. When I was having a good day, I would fish till dark because it was so seldom for me. Over the many years fishing there, I never really figured it out. One thing I learned about the lake is that if you are getting skunked, move to another location to find better water. On one outing, I could not catch anything fishing south from Clewiston, so determined to catch bass I pulled out and launched again (fuel tank capacity limited) at Moorehaven at 3pm. I ran the ditch to the monkey box hydrilla and it seemed like every bass was at least 5 pounds. I caught my lake Okeechobee PB 7 lb there that day. Those last 3 hours made the trip.
You really seemed to be dialed in at the lake..a nice pair to be sure...congrats...
Lightning and thunderstorms are nothing to play around with. Sometimes the storm can turn on the fish and that is why guys stay out there. I understand all that but it is not worth it. Better to pack it up and get home to the wife and kid in one piece.
sunkboat on big o reply :
He got hit between east wall and coot bay heading in. We were fishing Carmen's tourney and was there bout 20 min before, we had 24+ by 11 and my buddy said I ain't staying here lets go and I didn't want to but didn't complain. The gentleman saw the storm and was on plane running full blast and was struck in the head! Talked to a guy who was right there, he went over to the boat and passenger was knocked out but driver was hit directly, said wished he never seen it. Said boat just stopped dead in its tracks. Passenger is a paramedic and started CPR but nothing they could do. My mind has been blown for the past day and a half, how crazy is that, probably running 55 or better and .....wow! Same day as last year round same time.
Know quite a few people who stayed out, it only takes one, can't be to careful, they were heading in!
Thoughts and prayers with his family
P.s. even more insanity, his boat was at anglers for repairs or he might not have even been there! This is soo insane
Orpssab reply :
****Does anybody else have a similiar relationship with your lake?****
Nice fish Shane....Shane, you're right. The more you go to your lake the better the odds. There is a lake here in South Carolina I just started to fish late last year.
First ever trip there I caught an 8 1/2lber. Fished 3 more times without a fish over 2 lbs! Almost gave up on it. Then in December went back to the lake and caught an 8lber and a 7 1/2 lber on the same trip! Went there 5 more times during last winter...it was horrible. I was lucky to get a few bass that would even measure, and then it happened!
Very next trip I caught the biggest bass of my life. 10.80 lbs this past February!!
I guess the moral of the story is don't give up on a good thing!
piscicidal reply :
Shane,
If you have a 50/50 chance of catching em good versus eating humble pie, your batting avg is a lot better than most. That place has served me many helpings of humble pie.
gar-tracker reply :
On 6/10/2013 at 10:25 AM, sunkboat on big o said:He got hit between east wall and coot bay heading in. We were fishing Carmen's tourney and was there bout 20 min before, we had 24+ by 11 and my buddy said I ain't staying here lets go and I didn't want to but didn't complain. The gentleman saw the storm and was on plane running full blast and was struck in the head! Talked to a guy who was right there, he went over to the boat and passenger was knocked out but driver was hit directly, said wished he never seen it. Said boat just stopped dead in its tracks. Passenger is a paramedic and started CPR but nothing they could do. My mind has been blown for the past day and a half, how crazy is that, probably running 55 or better and .....wow! Same day as last year round same time.
Know quite a few people who stayed out, it only takes one, can't be to careful, they were heading in!
Thoughts and prayers with his family
P.s. even more insanity, his boat was at anglers for repairs or he might not have even been there! This is soo insane
Man I heard that about the boat stopping dead in its tracks, one thing is he never knew what hit him.
If it can get any weirder I heard he was driving the friends boat which he rarely did, so the passenger/boat owner should have been driving.
chobee reply :
We were fishing my club's monthly tournament when it happened. My boat was in the shop so Ed said he would fish with me and I could run his boat just like it was mine. The first sign of lighting we cranked up and started heading south to get out of the weather when it happened.
Sunkboat on big o if you know the two guys that came over to help tell them THANK YOU. It's not an easy thing to see for someone who's never been in the field and it was even harder to do CPR on one of your best friends
Please be safe on the water
gar-tracker reply :
Very sorry chobee. I hope you and his family's dealing with this as best as they can.
Sometimes we are at the mercy of that lake, sunkboat-on-big O suffered a near disaster as have I on that lake many times.
Iv sunk a boat, Iv been stranded, Iv chopped off lower units and had collisions, all had some sort of human error involved, this however has to be one of the most puzzling crisis one has to deal with.
Good luck.
sunkboat on big o reply :
Me to chobee, dont know them but they fish carmens tourneys if i see em ill tell em. I sunk a boat out there and had to be air lifted out by coast gaurd, of coarse my fault, but yeah this had me in a daze for a few days, the guy at Rolands told me his boat was in for repair, so sorry for your loss. prayers for you and his family
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