Saturday February 18th: The day has finally arrived. Since
December Jesse and I have been anticipating this day. We meet at
Jesse's house and with boat in tow head for sunny Florida. Our plans
are to drive to Jacksonville and stay the night.

Sunday February 19th: We hit the road early with Clewiston,
Florida's Scott Martin's Anglers Marina our destination. The Daytona
500 is today, so we know we have to get by Daytona early. We arrive
in Clewiston about 3:00pm and get checked in. The temperatures
have changed dramatically. It's sunny and 80 degrees, a far cry from
the cold and rain we left. We can step outside our room onto the boat docks. Wow!! We decided to walk
over to the marina and find Scott Martin getting ready to leave for the Pickwick FLW. After talking to
Scott and getting some information about the fishing, it's back to the room to prepare for tomorrow.

Monday February 20th: It's fishing day one and we're up early. We're on our own today and Scott suggested
we follow our guide for Tuesday and Wednesday up to Moonshine Bay. We meet Mark King at the marina
and follow him to the ramp just down the street. You have to idle down the canal and through the lock to
get to the lake.
What we saw was unlike anything I've ever experienced. Lake
Okeechobee is big and shallow. There is grass of all
descriptions everywhere and without some knowledge of the
lake and GPS, it would be unwise to attempt to navigate it.
It's foggy this morning and we're glad to be able to follow
Mark.  It's about a 20 minute run to Moonshine Bay although
it was exciting we're glad to get there.

Mark stops soon after getting to Moonshine Bay and tells us
to start fishing outside grass lines. He has a guide trip and
leaves with his clients. Where to fish is always a question
because everything looks good and as I said earlier, there's
grass everywhere. "Over yonder" became the response that
Jesse and I used all week. It was hard to be more specific.
Jesse dropped the trolling motor and we started fishing. It
didn't take long before the bite started and by days end we
had boated 29 bass. What a way to start!!!!
Tuesday February 21st: Today is the first of two days with our guide, Mark King. Mark guides out of Scott
Martin's Anglers Marina. We have decided to fish with artificial bait and we meet Mark early. We head south
today to an area called East Wall. Clear water is a key to Lake Okeechobee fishing and Mark says he has an
area that the water has cleared up in. Following a short run down the canal we make our way back to the
area. We caught fish yesterday on a senko and today would prove to be more of the same.  

The area we are in today looks like an isolated pond, and has various types of grass and pads. We fished the
area in a circle and were very productive. The 6 pounder pictured on the left is our biggest from that area
today. After the bite slowed there a bit, Mark decided to run down further to South Bay to another area with
clear water. It takes only a few minutes to get there, but it was once again clear that knowing how to navigate
back to areas was key.
Once again, this area was productive, including my biggest fish of the trip, the 8+ pounder pictured on
the front page and again here, in case you missed it. :) Total for the day, 31.
Wednesday February 22nd:
Today we go back out with Mark
and begin in the East Wall area.
The fish are still there and
biting, but not in the numbers
they were the day before. We
decide to run up to Moonshine
Bay and fish with some shiners
for the first time.
This turned out to be a good
decision for us and a great one
for Jesse. Today was his day and
it included this 9+ pounder
pictured on the left. This lake is
incredible. I can't believe the
numbers of fish and the size this
place produces. Total for the
day. 30. That's 90 fish in 3 days
and we're on cloud nine. Mark
King has proven to be an
outstanding guide and gracious
host.  After we get back in, it's
time for what has become our
daily ritual......Drinks at the
Tikki Bar!!!!!!! Today is special,
each of us now having caught a
big one.
Thursday, February 23rd: We're up early again this morning and once again on our own. We decided to
head back down to the East Wall area again today. This is our first trip to that area without a guide and
fortunately for us, we were able to find it. The water in this area has remained clear and the fish are still
there. Just as we had the previous day, we begin to get bit early. The bite is a little slower and the wind
has picked up some but the quality of fish seems to be better. Jesse had the big fish today at 6lb 9oz. I'm
still amazed that we fished this area several times during the week and saw very little boat traffic. Clear
water areas are a premium on Okeechobee and this one has been a jewel. The only thing I can figure is
that others just haven't found it yet. Our total for the day is 18.

That puts us at 108 for the week!!!
Friday February 25th: This is our last day of fishing. We decided last night we should go back up to
Moonshine Bay one last time. The weather report is calling for more clouds and heavier wind gusts, so we
follow Mark up to another ramp and will go into Moonshine Bay by a different route. When the wind picks
up, you don't want to be on the main part of the lake. The alligator pictured above sits at the mouth of
Moonshine Bay. It has been there each time we've been by during the week. We decided this picture was
close enough. The big one on the bank was easily 12 feet long. The smaller one on the right slid off into the
water after the picture. For those of you wondering, the alligator population is alive and well. We had
several smaller ones actually follow our lures at different times this week. The forecast for more wind today
holds true.  The fishing is more difficult. We have been catching most of our fish on a weightless Senko this
week and it's harder to get it in the right place. We began the day using bass fishing newest hot lure, a
chatterbait. We caught 6 or 7 fish on it during the morning including the one in the picture below.
When that bite died down, we went back to the Senko. We
were able to figure out a way to get the bait in the zone and
once again finished the day with 18. That brings our total for
the week to 126. We managed to find our way back and it was
time for one last trip to the Tikki Bar.
Saturday February 26th: It's
hard to believe that this
week is over. It has been an
incredible experience and
something I will remember
for the rest of my life. The
trip home is long and
delayed with an accident on
I-95 that has us sitting still
for 2 1/2 hours. It rained
the whole trip and man is it
cold in North Carolina.
A special thanks to Stacey and Renee' for making this trip happen. It was a wonderful experience but it's good
to get  home safely.
O
Skeet and Jesse take on the Big "O"
Mark King