Artificial Lure here with your Lake Okeechobee fishing report for Friday, August 22, 2025. It’s summertime in the Glades—a muggy morning, low winds out of the southwest at 5 to 10 knots, lake surface with just a light chop according to the National Weather Service. Expect a chance of afternoon thunderstorms, so keep an eye on those clouds rolling over the sawgrass. Sunrise hit at 6:55 AM, with a sunset coming up right about 7:52 PM. The barometric pressure is holding steady, and that humidity is sitting thick.

Tidal activity is subdued this far inland, but fish are still tuned to moon phases and weather shifts. With those afternoon storms feeding oxygen and cooling down that shallow water, bass action could really turn on as temperatures dip later in the day and after those showers move through.

This week around the Big O, local anglers have been pulling in healthy numbers of largemouth bass, alongside some bluegill and the occasional shellcracker. Folks out on the southern and eastern shorelines—especially around J&S Fish Camp and Harney Pond—report good catches, with Jerry over on Instagram showing off a chunky bass taken just a few days ago on a DOA soft plastic worm. Summer patterns have the bass holding tight to the thick stuff: hydrilla mats, shaded boat docks, reed clumps, and eelgrass beds are producing best.

Lure selection is all about matching local forage and working around the heavy grass. The top producers right now:
- Senkos and paddle-tail flukes in watermelon or junebug, Texas-rigged to stay weedless—a tip shared by several successful anglers this week.
- Swimbaits and spinnerbaits are scoring when fish are chasing, especially after a cooling rain.
- Chatterbaits and topwater frogs—white and black—have gotten strong bites at first light and just before sunset, especially up shallow along the grass lines, per recent local reports.
- Drop-shot rigs with goby-style minnows in green pumpkin are pulling bites from deeper holes by the rim canal for those patient enough to finesse them.

Live bait? Wild shiners are a perennial favorite for trophy hunters—fish them near open pockets in thick cover for your best shot at a hawg.

A couple local hot spots to circle on the map:
- Tin House Cove: Work the outside grass line right at sunup with a topwater frog or gold-bladed spinnerbait for explosive blowups.
- Fisheating Bay: Thick grass mats are loaded with ambush points; punch through with a beaver-style soft plastic during midday lulls.
- The Rim Canal near Buckhead Ridge: Pitch a Senko or live shiner to isolated cover for both good numbers and quality bass.

Bluegill and shellcracker bites remain strong on crickets and red worms, especially along the submerged vegetation and the edges of the Kissimmee River arm.

Don’t forget afternoon thunderstorms are likely—plan to get off the water before the worst hits and use that post-storm cooling to your advantage. With waters warm, weedlines thick, and rains firing up that oxygen, expect fish to feed around weather changes and twilight hours.

Thanks for tuning in to today’s Lake Okeechobee report. Hit that subscribe button so you never miss a bite, and good luck out there—may your lines stay tight and your stories run just a little bit bigger come weigh-in.

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