Chris Lane has made a series of short runs but hasn't had another bite since that 4-pounder. He made an interesting observation at yesterday's weigh-in. Lane is concentrating on reed "heads" where there is a hard bottom in Lake Okeechobee. He thinks these provide ambush points for bass that are keying on shellcrackers (redear bream) as they are moving into spawning areas.
"The (bass) aren't in the Kissimmee grass yet, but it won't be long," Lane said.
In addition to its largemouth bass fishing, Lake Okeechobee is known for having a huge population of bigger than usual shellcrackers. I visited with a local bass fisherman in a bait shop earlier this week who told me that he quits bass fishing during the first shellcracker spawn of the year and fills his freezer with bream that weigh up to 2 1/2 pounds.
The shellcracker slugfest is probably a week or so away.
The wind has picked up. We're seeing a few whitecaps on this part of the lake, enough that you need to rest your carbonated beverages a bit after making a run with the big motor.