Bass Fishing Guide on Okeechobee

Hi All,

My father is a "retired" Bass fisherman from Upstate NY. He fished in
local and state tournaments for years. Unfortunately he now has
carpotunnel in his forearms making it difficult to tournament fish. He
has since sold his ranger bass boat 5 years ago. He is turning 60 this
year and my brother and I want to do something great. We are thinking
of taking him to Lake Okeechobee for a few days to do something he
always wanted to, but never got the opportunity. Bass fish on Lake
Okeechobee.

The questions I have a

1) Is a guide recommended? If so, does anyone have any
recommendations? No Live Bait

2) If question #1 is no, then where is a good place to rent a boat?
Do they rent Bass Boats?

Thanks for any and all input


Scott

You may want to check on the water quality of the Big O at the present
time.I read somewhere that the lake was devastated by all the hurricanes and
the lake was in bad shape right now.
"GRBari" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All,

My father is a "retired" Bass fisherman from Upstate NY. He fished in
local and state tournaments for years. Unfortunately he now has
carpotunnel in his forearms making it difficult to tournament fish. He
has since sold his ranger bass boat 5 years ago. He is turning 60 this
year and my brother and I want to do something great. We are thinking
of taking him to Lake Okeechobee for a few days to do something he
always wanted to, but never got the opportunity. Bass fish on Lake
Okeechobee.

The questions I have a

1) Is a guide recommended? If so, does anyone have any
recommendations? No Live Bait

2) If question #1 is no, then where is a good place to rent a boat?
Do they rent Bass Boats?

Thanks for any and all input


Scott

"Bass_Mr." wrote in message
k.net...
You may want to check on the water quality of the Big O at the present
time.I read somewhere that the lake was devastated by all the hurricanes
and the lake was in bad shape right now.

***From all reports that I've been hearing, the reports of the Big O's
demise have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, it has changed the face of the
lake, moving some weedbeds, eliminating some and changing water levels, but
they've been getting some good catches on the lake.

Now, onto the other part of the message.....

"GRBari" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All,

My father is a "retired" Bass fisherman from Upstate NY. He fished in
local and state tournaments for years. Unfortunately he now has
carpotunnel in his forearms making it difficult to tournament fish. He
has since sold his ranger bass boat 5 years ago. He is turning 60 this
year and my brother and I want to do something great. We are thinking
of taking him to Lake Okeechobee for a few days to do something he
always wanted to, but never got the opportunity. Bass fish on Lake
Okeechobee.

The questions I have a

1) Is a guide recommended? If so, does anyone have any
recommendations? No Live Bait

2) If question #1 is no, then where is a good place to rent a boat?
Do they rent Bass Boats?

***Since Moe Conway moved to upstate New York, I can't recommend a guide,
but I do know that in the Okeechobee area, there are no bassboats for rent.
You might find something in the Clewiston area. Try Roland Martin's Marina
down there.

Good Luck and say hi to the Big O for me,
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

On 2 Feb 2006 18:19:07 -0800, "GRBari" wrote:

1) Is a guide recommended? If so, does anyone have any
recommendations? No Live Bait

2) If question #1 is no, then where is a good place to rent a boat?
Do they rent Bass Boats?

I'm not aware of anyone down there that rents bass boats...but
I'm sure one could be found for a healthy price...if one did a lot of
looking beforehand. Many places rent 14 foot aluminum jobs with small
outboards which are perfect for a lil' exploring on your own. (Tip:
Take a GPS unit if ya got it and plenty of water...just in case)

Unless you have pretty good prior experience on Okee, IMO, a
guide is a very good idea (many would say a must). The first time
most people see the big lake...they usually are in awe and its a very
easy lake to get lost in. Well, picture a pool of water thats 40
miles wide by 35 miles long (something like that) and everything
pretty much looks the same once you are a few miles out. Lets just
say its a very intimidating lake even for the most seasoned explorer.
Plus, the lake is surrounded by a rim canal (kinda like a river) that
is loaded with more alligators than anyplace you've ever seen.

I don't know who is still guiding down there...but the quality of
guides run the gamut down there. I'd be glad to privately email you a
couple of fisherman that I think would be safe choices for artificial
guiding. However, I'm not sure all of em' are still guiding though.

95% of the guides down there probably do shiner fishing only.
(and you should reconsider no live bait at least for 1 day trip as
Okee's big bass are accustomed to feeding on wild shiners. It is kinda
like catfishing with small balloons or bobbers...but its the best way
to catch a huge fish and everyone should experience it at least once.

When I guided down there, I loved my artificial guide trips bc it
allowed me to do what I love to do best and it's a great lake to fling
buzzbaits, twitch baits, rattle traps, spinnerbaits or just even
plastics. You can figure that when you catch one bass there is
usually two in that location...if not a whole bunch more and the fish
really relate to certain things (ie. hard bottom, certain weeds,
tunnels, ditches, wind-blown sections, clearer water, etc).

Something else to consider: While Okeechobee is best known for
its bass fishing...it really is a better crappie lake. Many a night
I've spent on Okee catching hundreds of nice crappie. They are good
to eat and its something you can do in the evenings (although crappie
bite pretty decent during the daytime too). And to give you an idea
about my seriousness about crappie fishing...my last trip down there
to Okee...all of us spent 5-6 days crappie fishing and only 1 day bass
fishing with artificials and shiners. We really caught the fish
too...including a 12 lb. 4 oz. bass that came on a shiner...:

--
Dwayne E. Cooper, Atty at Law
Indianapolis, IN
Email:
Web Page: http://www.cooperlegalservices.com
Personal Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/OnTheWater
Dog Fishing: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/onthe...fishing040.htm
1st Annual ROFB Classic Winner

Try Greg Maclean as when we where down there he was alot of help as to info
and locations to fish. He was right on the money with both. His site is
http://www.fishokeechobee.com/ I would recommend Greg highly!! as for boat
rental you might want to ask him as well . Good Luck!
--
Chris S
Replace net with com to e-mail

"GRBari" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All,

My father is a "retired" Bass fisherman from Upstate NY. He fished in
local and state tournaments for years. Unfortunately he now has
carpotunnel in his forearms making it difficult to tournament fish. He
has since sold his ranger bass boat 5 years ago. He is turning 60 this
year and my brother and I want to do something great. We are thinking
of taking him to Lake Okeechobee for a few days to do something he
always wanted to, but never got the opportunity. Bass fish on Lake
Okeechobee.

The questions I have a

1) Is a guide recommended? If so, does anyone have any
recommendations? No Live Bait

2) If question #1 is no, then where is a good place to rent a boat?
Do they rent Bass Boats?

Thanks for any and all input


Scott

Thanks Dwayne,

Please email me at

Thanks
Scott

Roland Martin's camp is a fine place to stay and he has some fine guides
there. Have a 18 lb 3 oz bass on my wall taken from there many, many years
ago. The droughts and water quality problems from farming I heard has really
thinned out the big'uns.
"GRBari" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All,

My father is a "retired" Bass fisherman from Upstate NY. He fished in
local and state tournaments for years. Unfortunately he now has
carpotunnel in his forearms making it difficult to tournament fish. He
has since sold his ranger bass boat 5 years ago. He is turning 60 this
year and my brother and I want to do something great. We are thinking
of taking him to Lake Okeechobee for a few days to do something he
always wanted to, but never got the opportunity. Bass fish on Lake
Okeechobee.

The questions I have a

1) Is a guide recommended? If so, does anyone have any
recommendations? No Live Bait

2) If question #1 is no, then where is a good place to rent a boat?
Do they rent Bass Boats?

Thanks for any and all input


Scott

The Lake Okeechobee record largemouth is 15 pounds 5 ounces plugger. Good
fish story though...

http://www.fishokeechobee.com/fishotherlakes.html

Warren

wrote in message
...
Roland Martin's camp is a fine place to stay and he has some fine guides
there. Have a 18 lb 3 oz bass on my wall taken from there many, many years
ago. The droughts and water quality problems from farming I heard has
really
thinned out the big'uns.
"GRBari" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All,

My father is a "retired" Bass fisherman from Upstate NY. He fished in
local and state tournaments for years. Unfortunately he now has
carpotunnel in his forearms making it difficult to tournament fish. He
has since sold his ranger bass boat 5 years ago. He is turning 60 this
year and my brother and I want to do something great. We are thinking
of taking him to Lake Okeechobee for a few days to do something he
always wanted to, but never got the opportunity. Bass fish on Lake
Okeechobee.

The questions I have a

1) Is a guide recommended? If so, does anyone have any
recommendations? No Live Bait

2) If question #1 is no, then where is a good place to rent a boat?
Do they rent Bass Boats?

Thanks for any and all input


Scott

Hold on Steve,

Moe moved up to NY? When did this happen? I thought he was just
staying up there part of the year. I've gone out on the water with Moe
4-5 times and each has been memorable. Guess I have been away too
long.

Jim

"ridges54" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hold on Steve,

Moe moved up to NY? When did this happen? I thought he was just
staying up there part of the year. I've gone out on the water with Moe
4-5 times and each has been memorable. Guess I have been away too
long.

It originally turned out to be just a long term visit that got even longer.
LOL, you have been away too long.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com