April 2001
April and its needed showers
turned on Okeechobee's trophy bass. The lake is still very low,
however the showers have added several inches of water to it.
Best fishing is still in the canals. Expect a major bass spawn
this month on the full and new moons. Trophy bass forecast is
expected to be excellent this month due to the low water conditions
which has the trophy bass trapped in the deep water canals. Harney
Pond Canal where the last BASSMASTER Eastern Invitational tournament
was held (Jan. 11 - 13, 2001) and won from with a 44-pound, 4-ounce
catch that included a trophy 9-pound, 7-ounce and an 8-pound,
5-ounce bass. Harney Pond Canal where all of our fishing is being
conducted is producing all of our trophy bass for our clients.
Florida wild shiner
trophy bass fishing anglers Don McGowan (Walnut Point, PA - e-mail:
dmcgowan@telcordia.com) and Ed Pollich (Farmingville, NY) caught and released 63 bass that included
a 7 1/2 lb. and a 6 lb'er
during 5 days (April 23 - 27, 2001) of wild shiner bass fishing
with Captain Ron. Ed caught the 7 1/2 lb. and the 6 lb'er. An
unusual cold front and windy weather for this time of the year
slowed down the fishing action. We boated about 200 fish counting
the bowfin (mudfish) up to 10 lbs, catfish and gar. I fished the
Point Of The Reef out on the lake when the wind was down. Fished
the Harney Pond Canal and Moore Haven Canal areas with good results
when the wind was blowing real hard. Both the 7 1/2 lb. and the
6 lb'er were caught in the Harney Pond Canal. Ed caught the 7
1/2 lb'er on a worm (Red Shar Green Glitter) which he was casting
while we were wild shiner fishing. Seems best fishing is still
in the Harney Pond Canal area of Lake Okeechobee.
Florida
wild shiner trophy bass fishing couple Larry & Gloria Kelly
(Salem. OH - e-mail: ikelly@huntvalue.com) caught and released only 7 bass that included
a 7 3/4 lb. (left) and a 6 lb'er during 2 half days (April 20 & 21,
2001) of wild shiner bass fishing with Captain Ron. Unusual cold
and windy weather for this time of the year slowed down the fishing
action. Jeff caught the 7 3/4 lb. and 6 lb'er. Gloria lost another
monster size bass that somehow shook the hook. I fished the Point
Of The Reef area of Lake Okeechobee.
Florida wild shiner trophy bass fishing
anglers Jason Mayfield (Sherwood, AR - e-mail:
jaymay4444@email.msn.com) from "Ron Campbell Ford, Inc."
- ph: 501-843-3536
and Jeff Campbell (Sherwood,
AR - e-mail: jeff_19924@email.msn.com) caught and released 34 bass that included
a 8 1/4 lb., 6 lb. and 2 5 lb'ers during 2 days (April 15 & 16, 2001)
of wild shiner bass fishing with Captain Ron. Jeff (left) caught
the 8 1/4 lb'er and lost another monster size bass that shook
the hook. Jason (right) caught the 6 lb'er. I fished the Point
Of The Reef out on the lake for the first day catch of only a
few bass. Fished the last hour in Harney Pond Canal with good
results. Fished only Harney Pond Canal all day on their second
day of fishing and boated 26 bass including the 8 1/4 lb. and
6 lb'er. Seems best fishing is still in the Harney Pond Canal
area of Lake Okeechobee.
Florida wild shiner trophy bass fishing
anglers Norman Detrick and friends (Cleveland, OH - ph: 330-468-2292)
caught and released
about 20
bass that included a 6 1/4 lb'er during 1 and the half days (April 13 &
14, 2001) of wild shiner bass fishing with Ron's Guide Service.
Norman caught the 6 1/4 lb'er. They fished the Harney Pond Canal
area of Lake Okeechobee.
Florida wild shiner trophy bass fishing
father and son team Mike & Joe Myers (Schererville, IN - ph:
219-865-3227) caught
and released 10
bass that included a 6 3/4 lb. bass (left) and a 6 lb. bass (right) during
2 half days (April 12 & 13, 2001) of wild shiner bass fishing
with Ron's Guide Service. Joe caught the 6 3/4 lb'er on a red
shad green glitter worm with one of Ron's guides on the first
afternoon. On the next morning Joe caught a 6 lb'er with Captain
Ron on a wild shiner. They fished the Harney Pond Canal area of
Lake Okeechobee on their first half day of fishing and the Point
Of The Reef area on their second half day.
Florida trophy bass fishing father and son
team John Sr. and Jr. Skimelis (Shrewsbury, NJ - e-mail: Bass7015@aol.com)
caught only 29
bass because of very windy conditions that included a 8 3/4 lb.
and a 6 3/4 lb. bass during
3 days (April 9 -11, 2001) of wild shiner fishing with Captain
Ron. John Jr. caught the 8 3/4 lb'er and the 6 3/4 lb'er. Bass
were caught at the point of the reef area of Lake Okeechobee.
This has been their 6th. bass fishing trip on Lake Okeechobee
with Captain Ron in 7 years. On their last year trip of 3 days
of wild shiner fishing with Captain Ron (April 23 - 25, 2000)
they in fact
set
a three day record by catching one 7 1/2, two 7's, one 6 1/2 and
two 6 lb'ers out of the 78 bass landed on that trip. All bass
that were landed on this trip were released except the 8 3/4 lb'er
that was kept for mounting.
Florida shiner bass fishing anglers Tommy
Wood (Monticello, AR - ph: 870-367-9000), Bobby Gulledge (Monticello,
AR) and Jim Parker (Monticello, AR - ph: 870-367-2178) caught
and released about 48 bass that included a 8 3/4 lb. and two
7 lb'ers
during 3 days (April 2 - 4, 2001) of wild shiner bass fishing
with Ron's Guide Service. Jim 
caught the 8 3/4 lb. trophy bass and a
7 lb'er. Bob also caught a 7 lb'er. They fished the Harney Pond
canal and the Point of the Reef areas of Lake Okeechobee. All
trophy bass were caught in the Harney Pond canal.
Florida wild shiner bass
fishing couple Wayne and Joyce Terrell (Peru, IN - e-mail: Nana@aol.com) caught and released about
40
bass that included a 8 lb. and 6 lb. bass during 2 half days (April 2 &
3, 2001) of wild shiner bass fishing with Ron's Guide Service.
Wayne caught the 8 lb'er. Joyce got the 6 lb'er. Another party
of anglers Jerry Sheridan (Frankfort, KY - ph: 502-226-5570)
and Marvin Hamton (Peru, IN - ph: 219-699-1276) in a second guide
boat caught and released about 30 bass up to 4 lbs during the
2 half days they fished. Both parties fished the Harney Pond
canal and Sportsman canal areas of Lake Okeechobee.
Florida shiner bass fishing anglers
Bob Doyle (Wilmington, MA - e-mail: Robert.Doyle@arbella.com)
and John Gigante (Revere, MA) caught and released about 40 bass that
included a 6 1/4 lb.
bass during 2 days (March 31 & April 1, 2001) of wild shiner
bass fishing with Ron's Guide Service. Bob caught the 6 1/4 lb'er.
They fished the Harney Pond canal and Sportsman canal areas of
Lake Okeechobee.
Florida shiner bass fishing
anglers Gary Miller (Syracuse, IN - ph: 219-457-3331) and Mark
caught and released about 12 bass that included a 6 1/2 lb. bass during 1 day (April
1, 2001) of wild shiner bass fishing with Ron's Guide Service.
Mark caught the 6 1/2 lb'er. They fished the Harney Pond canal
area of Lake Okeechobee.
Honeymooners
Fishing Reports