| The arrival of tropical storms, like this year's | | | | a supply in Lake O for agriculture and drinking |
| Tropical Storm Barry, coincides closely with the | | | | water. These chemicals generate unnatural spread |
| typical date for onset of Florida's so called 'rainy | | | | of certain plants and algae which overgrow then |
| season' that generally runs from late May to | | | | die off and coat the bottom this the toxic "muck." |
| October. Although Florida fishermen experienced a | | | | The bass fishing in Okeechobee should benefit |
| record 'dry season' this year, the occurrence of | | | | both from Barry's rain and the new sections of |
| drought during the cooler winter and spring | | | | the natural sandy bottom of Lake O revealed |
| months was hardly unusual. Bass fishing in | | | | after the dredging. As the water levels rise, |
| [tag-ice]Lake Okeechobee suffered as water | | | | natural grasses will reclaim the cleaned areas, |
| levels reached all-time lows, exposing large areas | | | | dissolved oxygen levels should increase in the |
| of lake bottom and leaving many boat ramps high | | | | absence of the artificial plant blooms, and much |
| and dry. | | | | new spawning habitat will open to the monster |
| There has been a silver lining to the drought for | | | | bass Lake Okeechobee is famous for. |
| the Florida strain of largemouth bass living in Lake | | | | Bass fishermen headed to Lake O should expect |
| O, as some locals call it. The Army Corps of | | | | to find the bass in heavy grass cover. Try the |
| Engineers began a project last year to scrape | | | | new Okeechobee Rig, a lure developed specifically |
| decades of accumulated "muck" off the exposed | | | | for fishermen flipping for bass in dense brush or |
| lake bed. Phosphorus and nitrogen runoff from | | | | grass cover. You'll need to be casting strong braid |
| fertilizers used on farms, golf courses and lawns | | | | or mono to effectively haul out hooked bass - at |
| has been building up in Okeechobee ever since the | | | | least 20lb test, but 30-60lb braid is commonly |
| natural flow of water out of the lake was | | | | used on the tournament trail. I set up with Power |
| reversed early in the 20th century to help retain | | | | Pro rigged with a Seaguar Flourocarbon leader. |