OT: Bass fishing guide on Lake Okeechobee

[missouridawg]

My pops just retired and is taking a 2 week trip to Okeechobee to bass fish his heart out. Has anyone here fished with a guide there? I'm looking to give him this as a gift for retirement. If so, do you have any recommendations?

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

I don't man but have you thought about a saltwater guide? I know of a couple good ones here in Ms. Regardless, I hope you and your dad have a ravishing trip.

 

[aTotal360]

I've been, but not with a guide. The best way to catch the bigguns are with shiners and balloons. You need a heavy 7'-7'6'' rod with +60lb goat rope and a bunch of circle hooks. It's certainly not the most sporting way to catch bass, but its the best way to catch a 10 pounder. Personally, I lost a 10 plus pounder and the guy I was with landed 4 of them. The biggest fish we caught on artificials was 4 lbs. We were there pre-spawn in early Spring.

 

[missouridawg]

I've been, but not with a guide. The best way to catch the bigguns are with shiners and balloons. You need a heavy 7'-7'6'' rod with +60lb goat rope and a bunch of circle hooks. It's certainly not the most sporting way to catch bass, but its the best way to catch a 10 pounder. Personally, I lost a 10 plus pounder and the guy I was with landed 4 of them. The biggest fish we caught on artificials was 4 lbs. We were there pre-spawn in early Spring.

I hope we luck into a 10 lb'er or two... He's familiar with shiner fishing, but what we know best is artificial.

 

[missouridawg]

I don't man but have you thought about a saltwater guide? I know of a couple good ones here in Ms. Regardless, I hope you and your dad have a ravishing trip.

I'm sure saltwater fishing is a blast, but neither one of us have ever been, nor really wanted to. We're going to stick with bass fishing (and maybe crappie for a day or two). The trip should be great, regardless of the fishing. We hope to make it over to Jupiter and catch a Cardinals practice, as well.

 

[o_Sevendawg]

My pops just retired and is taking a 2 week trip to Okeechobee to bass fish his heart out. Has anyone here fished with a guide there? I'm looking to give him this as a gift for retirement. If so, do you have any recommendations?

Fairly certain Roland Martin and his son has a guide service there. Chickamauga in Chattanooga is one of the hottest lakes in the country. Recommend going in Feb. or March for big prespawn bass. TN river system should be very good this year. Okeechobee is very good but very different style of fishing. If he likes pitching in 1 oz jigs in heavy vegetation then the big O will be his thing, unless he likes fishing live shiners.

 

[Digging dog]

I've been, but not with a guide. The best way to catch the bigguns are with shiners and balloons. You need a heavy 7'-7'6'' rod with +60lb goat rope and a bunch of circle hooks. It's certainly not the most sporting way to catch bass, but its the best way to catch a 10 pounder. Personally, I lost a 10 plus pounder and the guy I was with landed 4 of them. The biggest fish we caught on artificials was 4 lbs. We were there pre-spawn in early Spring.

You and your dad need one trip to the marsh!!!! If y'all are avid bass fisherman, hooking up with a pissed off RED on light tackle will be super fun. The technique is basically the same as bass fishing. They just put up twice the fight and taste 10x better.

 

[MaroonCrusader]

Hey missouridawg, I actually grew up in Clewiston on the southern tip of Lake Okeechobee. If your father likes freshwater fishing, it's a great spot to send him. Roland and Scott Martin own a marina in Clewiston. There's a guide that works out of there named Mark King. I've never gone out with him, but a lot of people have said that he is awesome. They have a great, vintage hotel called "The Clewiston Inn." You are also only 60-70 miles away from beautiful salt-water on either coast. I'd love to help you set something up, my parents still live down there. Oh yeah, and GO DAWGS!

 

[Tin Cup Cowboy]

I've been with a guide. I can't recall our guides name, I'll try to find on the internet for you. He was really good. We sat in one spot for 5 hours and caught a fish on practically every cast. And i'm not talking small fish, it was one of the craziest things I've ever done. We finally just ran out of bait and went back in.

 

[missouridawg]

Thanks for the information.

Hey missouridawg, I actually grew up in Clewiston on the southern tip of Lake Okeechobee. If your father likes freshwater fishing, it's a great spot to send him. Roland and Scott Martin own a marina in Clewiston. There's a guide that works out of there named Mark King. I've never gone out with him, but a lot of people have said that he is awesome. They have a great, vintage hotel called "The Clewiston Inn." You are also only 60-70 miles away from beautiful salt-water on either coast. I'd love to help you set something up, my parents still live down there. Oh yeah, and GO DAWGS!

My dad is spending about two weeks down there. He's going to fish the northern portion of the lake the first week and then I'm getting there later that week and he's meeting me in Clewiston to fish a few days on the southern end.

I'll check out Mark King and see what I can find on him. Appreciate the reply.

 

[missouridawg]

Just did some research on Mark King and liked what I saw. He is booked for the trip! Thanks for the note!