The hype

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Pics from the airboat ride (some taken by Brandon):

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Went fishing after the airboat ride. Did more running around trying to watch where ducks were going than we spend wetting lines and only got a pair of hits on topwater from a single fish and I missed the hook set. We were glad to have a cover for the air intake when the heavy rain moved in.

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The cast and blast


With one day remaining, we decided to get two birds stoned. A hunt
outside Harney Pond would be followed by a few hours of bass fishing.
High on Brandon's list was catching an Okeechobee bass. Silly
Ontarians and their fascination with bass! We headed out of the HP
canal and out to the large patches of submerged aquatics. During a
short fishing/scouting trip the afternoon prior, we had picked out a
grass island on the outside edge of the rafts of coots and ducks.


We set up half the decoys facing the SAV and held the other half in
case we decided to move. At first light, ringers were rocketing in
from the roost. High and fast, dropping right into the mass of fowl
on the weed mats. They put on the show that I looked forward to. We
didn't get any good opportunities to shoot, but watched the aerial
spectacle. After sunrise, I decided that we hadn't seen any spot that
looked more promising, so we should put out the rest of the dekes.
We extended the rig around the corner of the island.


And I was glad we did. Soon after returning to the blind, I noticed a
hen ringer bank hard and lock up over the left edge of the blocks. I
missed on the first and second shots, failing to factor in her speed,
but was spot on with the third shell and she fell still. That hen
proved to be the only shot we got all morning. Lots of "here come
som.... nevermind," as ducks hooked around to land with the rafts out
of range. We pulled up the rig and got ready to fish.


We didn't have to run far. Just across the weed patch to set up a
drift. Brandon was on the tiller and picked a spot near the cattails
to start the drift. He was set up with a TX-rigged worm and I ran a
Carolina-rig. It didn't take long to realize that the Carolina-rig
wasn't suited for the dense SAV, or at least I wasn't suited to use it
in those conditions. Brandon's TX rig was more appropriate.


And the bass agreed. Only a few minutes into the drift, Brandon
hooked into and landed his first Okeechobee bass! By the time he
hooked a second, I was cutting off my unwieldy rig and switching to a
more steamlined setup. The wind was stiff, but the SAV kept the water
smooth. Wearing polarized glasses, were able to pick out holes in the
weed mats and plop our rubber worms in there. When the drift got
going too fast, or we saw a spot we wanted to work more, I just
lowered the anchor in. I kept the rode under my foot so I could
control drift speed. Let it snag the top of the weeds for moderate, a
few feet deep in the weeds for slow, and all the way down to stop. It
was no powerpole, but it was a heck of a lot cheaper.


After switching lures, I started to get into the game, catching a pair
of bass myself. Brandon added another before we finished our lengthy
drift. I wanted to run spinnerbaits, so we headed to more open water
for a short drift. The wind (and using the motor as a rudder) carried
us into a back bay. The water was glass calm and littered with
stubble. As we finished covering the bay with casts, I hooked another
bass. Angling mission compleat.


Brandon ran us back to the ramp, we had lunch and a nap, and then
started to pack. It was bittersweet. FL had been good to us.
Friends, family, fish, ducks, weather and scenery. Neither of us was
looking forward to the cold or jobs that awaited us, but we were both
looking forward to being home with our families. We made haste on the
return trip, condensing the trip to 2 days to beat the weather that
was fast approaching the NE. We made it home in time to rest and wake
up the next morning to watch the snow falling.

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