Bass fishing on Lake Okeechobee heats up in cold waters

Indian River County

Capt. Paul Fafeita, of Just Bumminit charters in Vero Beach, and Andy Steinbergs, of Vero Beach, fished Monday in the Indian River Lagoon with soft plastic jigs. Although temperatures were cold for the anglers, the fish seemed to enjoy it just fine. Fafeita and Steinbergs combined to catch and release six inshore slams consisting of snook, trout and redfish, plus a couple of flounder, a barracuda, some ladyfish, sheepshead and more. Anglers can also find pompano and tripletail with jigs along the channel edges.

St. Lucie County

Capt. David Albritton, of Gatorfan charters in Port St. Lucie, fished with retired charter captain David King, of Stuart, and family Friday for what turned out to be the short and sweet single day of the red snapper mini-season makeup date. Weather shortened the makeup weekend to just one day for most, but Albritton and the Kings caught a limit of large red snapper up to 18 to 20 pounds to go along with red grouper and more. Anglers found a good bite on all species of snapper in 80 to 150 feet of water.

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Martin County

Offshore tolling the past couple of days has been productive for dolphin (mahi mahi), kingfish, blackfin tuna and catch and release sailfish. The best action seems to be in the cleaner, blue water deeper rather than the greener water in shallower depths. Inshore, anglers have been catching redfish, black drum, trout, tripletail and pompano around the bridges in Stuart and Jensen Beach.

Lake Okeechobee

Mike Nichols, of Canada, enjoyed his fishing trip last week with Capt. Nate Shellen of Okeechobeebassfshing.com. He caught 30 bass up to 8 pounds on wild shiners while fishing in spots located between King's Bar and the mouth of Harney Pond Canal. Speckled perch fishing is also very good with anglers catching limits in the Kissimmee River, around Taylor Creek and in the Rim Canal. Live minnows and small jigs are the best offerings.