Okeechobee, Loxahatchee, or Stick Marsh?? 2024
Tyler Schmidt reply :
I have a free day this coming Wednesday, Feb. 1st where should I fish? I have never been to the Lox, I live about 30 minutes from the ramp at the north end where the Nature preserve and what not is. About 50 minutes from Okeechobee if I launch from Slimms near Pelican Bay and South Bay. I have not been to the O in about 3 weeks, I am considering launching at Harney Pond and fish fisheating bay, which is a 1hr 40min drive. Or last but not least make the 1hr 45min drive to the Stick Marsh, which I have never been to but have heard great things. Someone convince me where to go! There is also an open seat in the boat if anyone would like to to tag along, triton tr-186.
RoLo reply :
As it happens, you named 3 of the best waters in south Florida (save Lake Istokpoga).
I haven't fished the Loxahatchee River, but aside from its low-water woes,
I’ve heard some glowing reports from that water. Speaking only for myself,
the scenery and wildlife make up a large part of my fishing experience. On that basis alone,
I'd opt for the Big-O (a natural seabed) to the Stick Marsh (a manmade reservoir).
Harney Pond ramp offers access to Fisheating Bay, the Monkey Box and Whiddens Pass.
Roger
topwaterrob reply :
Tough pick since I've never tried stick marsh.... i fished Chobee last week and made my arm sore from casting and not in a good way... lox has always been hit or miss for me but I have caught the biggest limit of my life there... good luck
Tyler Schmidt reply :
I've only fished South and Pelican Bay thus far with limited success, but it seems like I have caught every dam 12incher in the lake. Pretty solid cold front hit this weekend, lows will be in the 50s, so that will hurt the fishing where ever I go. Wednesday will be sunny with highs in the mid 70s, hopefully that'll help. I went to the FLW Costa series weigh in at Okeechobee today; swimjigs, chatterbaits, bigEZs were the ticket but it was fishing tough for a lot of people. Flip bite was nearly non existent apparently.
RoLo reply :
On 1/29/2017 at 7:47 AM, Tyler Schmidt said:I've only fished South and Pelican Bay thus far with limited success, but it seems like I have caught every dam 12incher in the lake. Pretty solid cold front hit this weekend, lows will be in the 50s, so that will hurt the fishing where ever I go. Wednesday will be sunny with highs in the mid 70s, hopefully that'll help. I went to the FLW Costa series weigh in at Okeechobee today; swimjigs, chatterbaits, bigEZs were the ticket but it was fishing tough for a lot of people. Flip bite was nearly non existent apparently.
From what I've read (and those I've spoken with), the Big EZ, bladed jig & soft jerkbait have been the best producers
geo g reply :
I would go to Lox and here is why. I have fished all three areas you named. I love the Harney Pond area of the lake, but it is a hit and miss if they are bedding up there. There are so many choices at the lake, without up to date info the task is daunting. If you choose the lake, don't overlook the Harney Pond canal for bedding fish, it is a sand bottom.
The Stick Marsh is a dangerous place to run a boat, if you don't know where your going. Lots of stumps, especially on the north west side, and the south west side. What looks like open water, can be a dangerous stump field, just under the surface, a long way from the shore. Lots of lower units lost in there. I have been there 5 times and always go with a friend that knows the place.
Loxahatchee on the other hand, they should be bedding right now or positioning themselves to bed. It is the closest spot to your house, and the best chance for success. Fish the south side and the flat side of the east/west spoil bank. They like to bed there. If you go to Lox don't park near any trees, vultures will tear up your vehicle.
Tyler Schmidt reply :
Geo, the south end of lox is a little over an hour from the house unfortunately. I going to head to the O but I'll likely put in at Slims near South/Pelican Bay. Looks like it is time to break out the meat stick and the big 2+oz weights and flip the nastiest mats I can find.
Gotfishyfingers? reply :
I would go to lake O. FLW just had a tournament there. Check out the top baits used. They were mostly moving baits as flipping was the least used actually. A couple 10 lbers were caught as well. Most guys went NW but the winner, I believe stayed south somewhere..
Tyler Schmidt reply :
I was at the weigh in, Taylor won it on a swimjig in Clewiston. There last day was the 1st day of the front, where as I fished in the tail end of the front. High pressure systems like this tend to push the bass to the thickest cover they can find, i.e. mats. Clewiston was muddied up from the wind, I did toss around a chatter bait and swimjig but with the lackof clarity I ran to the monkey box. Perfect water clarity in there, caught a couple small ones and had a giant come off, then I ran the wrong cut and got stuck for 2hrs. After that I went to the Tiki Bar and drank away the pain of defeat
geo g reply :
I too have taken the wrong track from the monkey box and realized it before I got too far away. Easy thing to do without a tracking system, and concentrating on the fishing too much. Monkey box and moonshine bay can be a real maze, unless your out there all the time. Lox flats are a lot easier to fish, and a lot less variables then the lake, but still holds big fish.
Tyler Schmidt reply :
On 2/3/2017 at 8:14 AM, geo g said:I too have taken the wrong track from the monkey box and realized it before I got too far away. Easy thing to do without a tracking system, and concentrating on the fishing too much. Monkey box and moonshine bay can be a real maze, unless your out there all the time. Lox flats are a lot easier to fish, and a lot less variables then the lake, but still holds big fish.
Geo, how is the water level at the flats right now? I've got a couple free days next week and may try the Lox out instead of going back to the O. Do I need an orange flag on a pole to fish the flats and is there any fee to launch down there? When I went to the visitors center they said it was $5 to launch up at the ramp on the same road as the preserve.
geo g reply :
No flag needed. Water level was good last month. They should be bedding now or soon. That is from the south end, Lox road.
No flag needed. Water level was good last month. They should be bedding now or soon.
crypt reply :
for numbers Big-O. for big fish Stick Marsh. Lox for calm, serene fishing. but for me the Stick is the place.
geo g reply :
Went to Lox today. Water levels have been constant since the new year. Water is clear with no signs of bedding yet, at least along the south spoil bank. Grass is not too bad right now, and T/M just ate it up. We fished form first light to noon. We caught 23 bass with the biggest in the 3.5 range. Morning wind was a PITA, and then it calmed around 10 and the bite improved.
RoLo reply :
On 1/30/2017 at 11:34 PM, Tyler Schmidt said:Geo, the south end of lox is a little over an hour from the house unfortunately. I going to head to the O but I'll likely put in at Slims near South/Pelican Bay. Looks like it is time to break out the meat stick and the big 2+oz weights and flip the nastiest mats I can find.
You also want to scrutinize the terrain beneath the mats.
Ish Monroe won the 2012 Bassmaster Elite in Pelican Bay.
Supposedly, he found a small wrinkle in the bottom of just a few inches that held his winning fish.
It's important to keep one eye on the 3D down-scanner 
Roger
Tyler Schmidt reply :
On 2/5/2017 at 9:52 AM, RoLo said:
You also want to scrutinize the terrain beneath the mats.
Ish Monroe won the 2012 Bassmaster Elite in Pelican Bay.
Supposedly, he found a small wrinkle in the bottom of just a few inches that held his winning fish.
It's always good to keep one eye on the 3D down-scanner
Roger
That's interesting and I will have to try it. I know hard bottom, shell and clear water are important for mats and that is one of the few things I actually know about the lake. I honestly haven't even looked at my side imaging since I moved down here, used it all the time fishing offshore humps and brush piles in Georgia.
On 2/5/2017 at 8:17 AM, crypt said:for numbers Big-O. for big fish Stick Marsh. Lox for calm, serene fishing. but for me the Stick is the place.
My 4 trips to the O say differently about numbers/size from the O. Unfortunately. I would love to go to the Stick Marsh but I don't want to rip my LU while running somewhere I shouldn't...
On 2/5/2017 at 9:21 AM, geo g said:Went to Lox today. Water levels have been constant since the new year. Water is clear with no signs of bedding yet, at least along the south spoil bank. Grass is not too bad right now, and T/M just ate it up. We fished form first light to noon. We caught 23 bass with the biggest in the 3.5 range. Morning wind was a PITA, and then it calmed around 10 and the bite improved.
I think I'm going to give the Lox and the flats a chance sometime next week. I am slightly surprised you didn't see any signs of beds, I saw dozens of empty beds at the O on the 1st. I had a gentlemen tell me that the Lox was no fire several years ago, a lot of big fish being caught but that does not seem to be the case anymore..what happened?
geo g reply :
The fish are still at Lox and there are a lot of big ones. The problem is can you get to them. Lox is a big massive area, surrounded by a rim canal. You probably can effectively fish less then 15% of it. They are very happy to bury themselves in miles of thick vegetation feasting on loads of everything that lives in the sawgrass. The all important thing is water levels. For the past 4 years water levels have stayed high, from unusually wet winters with no dry season, and dumping water out of Okeechobee to keep the pressure off the old levee. No need to leave the safety of the sawgrass and move to open areas flats, and the depths of the canals. Glades fishing, which includes Loxahatchee, has not been under normal cycles, so yes there have been changes in the glades in recent years.
Tyler Schmidt reply :
On 2/5/2017 at 11:55 PM, geo g said:The fish are still at Lox and there are a lot of big ones. The problem is can you get to them. Lox is a big massive area, surrounded by a rim canal. You probably can effectively fish less then 15% of it. They are very happy to bury themselves in miles of thick vegetation feasting on loads of everything that lives in the sawgrass. The all important thing is water levels. For the past 4 years water levels have stayed high, from unusually wet winters with no dry season, and dumping water out of Okeechobee to keep the pressure off the old levee. No need to leave the safety of the sawgrass and move to open areas flats, and the depths of the canals. Glades fishing, which includes Loxahatchee, has not been under normal cycles, so yes there have been changes in the glades in recent years.
That makes sense. How often is water pumped in/out of the rim canal? Is there a site or # to call and find out?
RoLo reply :
On 2/5/2017 at 9:38 PM, Tyler Schmidt said:That's interesting and I will have to try it. I know hard bottom, shell and clear water are important for mats and that is one of the few things I actually know about the lake. I honestly haven't even looked at my side imaging since I moved down here, used it all the time fishing offshore humps and brush piles in Georgia.
Coincidentally, I also lived in Georgia before moving to Florida.
Side-imaging can be useful in lakes like Lanier & West Point,
but in the frying pans of Florida, I rely far more on 3D down-imaging.
It's only natural to head directly to the tallest, densest cover, but every other angler has done the same.
Placing equal or greater emphasis on the bottom contour first, can often pay dividends 
Roger
soflabasser reply :
Lots of reports of people catching 8-13 pounders in Central/North Florida for the past couple weeks.
topwaterrob reply :
On 2/2/2017 at 11:37 PM, Tyler Schmidt said:I was at the weigh in, Taylor won it on a swimjig in Clewiston. There last day was the 1st day of the front, where as I fished in the tail end of the front. High pressure systems like this tend to push the bass to the thickest cover they can find, i.e. mats. Clewiston was muddied up from the wind, I did toss around a chatter bait and swimjig but with the lackof clarity I ran to the monkey box. Perfect water clarity in there, caught a couple small ones and had a giant come off, then I ran the wrong cut and got stuck for 2hrs. After that I went to the Tiki Bar and drank away the pain of defeat
This about sums up lake Okeechobee fishing for me LOL....
Tyler Schmidt reply :
Well the Lox is pretty neat, looks just like Okeechobee. Fished yesterday from safelight to about 330. Only had a couple bites by noon then stumbled upon a couple productive stretches and caught a dozen, nothing huge best 5 went about 13lbs. I'll likely go back at some point soon since there is a BFL then BASS coming to the O.
soflabasser reply :
Another option you have is to fish for peacock bass since the bite has been on fire for them. Last Saturday I caught a +19 pound 5 fish limit of peacock bass and read reports of others getting +20 pound 5 fish limits these past couple weeks.
geo g reply :
On 2/10/2017 at 8:00 AM, soflabasser said:Another option you have is to fish for peacock bass since the bite has been on fire for them. Last Saturday I caught a +19 pound 5 fish limit of peacock bass and read reports of others getting +20 pound 5 fish limits these past couple weeks.
Now that's really interesting, because with the cool weather the past few months, this is the worst time of the year for peacock fishing in south Florida, and I have fished for them from West Palm, to south Miami, for twenty years. That statement of yours is really interesting. Peacock are a tropical fish, hot water fish, and are effected greatly by cool weather and water temps below 75*. For the last month the water temps have been in the mid 60's. How they could be hot right now is beyond belief!!! The best time for Peacock is during August when it 98*, water temps in the 90's, not a cloud in the sky, and 12:00 in the afternoon.
soflabasser reply :
Thank you, I have done well both for Peacock bass and largemouth bass this month and I catch all these fish from the shore.You might want to check Instagram,lots of guys have been catching +6 pound peacock bass this month in South Florida.There's even a guy that recently caught 2 peacock bass each over 7 pounds in less than 2 weeks time(he also caught these peacock bass from the shore). I have over 22 years experience catching peacock bass, so catching big peacock bass is something I am very familiar with.
P.S. South Florida has been experiencing a warm winter this year(many days of +80 degree weather)maybe that has sometihing to do with people catching lots of big peacock bass this season.Regardless the reason I am having a blast catching lots of big peacock bass.
geo g reply :
On 2/10/2017 at 12:17 PM, soflabasser said:Thank you, I have done well both for Peacock bass and largemouth bass this month and I catch all these fish from the shore.You might want to check Instagram,lots of guys have been catching +6 pound peacock bass this month in South Florida.There's even a guy that recently caught 2 peacock bass each over 7 pounds in less than 2 weeks time(he also caught these peacock bass from the shore). I have over 22 years experience catching peacock bass, so catching big peacock bass is something I am very familiar with.
P.S. South Florida has been experiencing a warm winter this year(many days of +80 degree weather)maybe that has sometihing to do with people catching lots of big peacock bass this season.Regardless the reason I am having a blast catching lots of big peacock bass.
You can fantasize all you want, when the water temperature is in the 60's in South Florida the peacock bite is not hot!!!!!!! This water temp is a solid fact, not a made up fantasies!!!!!
soflabasser reply :
Sounds like someone is a little grouchy and needs to go fishing soon,maybe even catch a biggin in the process.People been catching big peacock bass this month and its all over Instagram, I am not the only one who's been catching them.I am having a blast catching these big peacock bass,and so are other people.With that said, nothing that somebody says online can change the fact that me and other people are catching big peacock bass this month.I am looking towards to fishing this weekend, since the fishing has been on fire for me.
S. Sass reply :
I got it fellas. I figured out the issue. The reason for the big peacock bass and maybe the reason the are abnormally biting.
Highest radiation reading since 3/11 detected at Fukushima No. 1 reactor
Seriously I haven't a clue about a peacock bass but a little humor was needed. Although the Fukushima issue isn't funny the thought of the old huge weird stuff supposedly from radiation exposure in the movies came to mind.
SFL BassHunter reply :
On 2/10/2017 at 1:20 PM, S. Sass said:I got it fellas. I figured out the issue. The reason for the big peacock bass and maybe the reason the are abnormally biting.
Highest radiation reading since 3/11 detected at Fukushima No. 1 reactor
Seriously I haven't a clue about a peacock bass but a little humor was needed. Although the Fukushima issue isn't funny the thought of the old huge weird stuff supposedly from radiation exposure in the movies came to mind.
Sass our fish down here are powered by mercury, and I don't mean the outboard motors lol.
Tyler Schmidt reply :
Any of yall fishing the Double Ds saloon tournament, on the 11th of march I believe, out on the lox? $2k for big bass, $1k for 1st place
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