The summer bite on Okeechobee is a little tougher than most. A recent trip in June gave all the indications that summer was just around the corner if not already here. The excursion was a part of the 2015 DOA Lures Outdoor Writers Festival. The event brings product manufactures, outdoor writers and local guides together to experiment with DOA fishing lures and related products. The result of the gathering is a reunion with old friends, making of new ones, good food and good fishing.
Capt. Mark King reported at the event that summer was here already. “Summer came early this year,” reported King. “The water temperature is up and the bite is real early in the morning. You almost need to be here at dark.” We made our plans to get up bright and early to make the drive from Jensen Beach and the River Palm Cottages to get in on the early bite.
King explained that we would be fishing outside the Kissimmee grass in the north end of the lake. “You want to be as close to open water as you can be. The fish are pretty much staging right now along the edges eating shad. That’s why we will use the C.A.L. Shad Body to tempt them. As long as the shad stays in there along the edge the fish will be there too. Once those big balls of shad move out to the middle of the lake these fish are going to move too.”
By Ron Presley