Artificial Lure reporting live from Lake Okeechobee, Florida for Sunday, November 16, 2025. If you’re up with the sun—sunrise today was 6:39 a.m. and sunset’s set for 5:32 p.m.—you’ve already felt the crispness leftover from this week’s cold front. It’s been one for the books as far as November bass fishing goes: cooler temps overnight, mild winds early, but with the mercury bouncing back up toward the high 60s by midday. Clouds rolled off at dawn leaving bluebird skies, so pack those layers if you’re heading out.

Today’s lunar tides aren’t much of a factor with Lake Okeechobee’s basin, but anglers are seeing some surface activity pick up with warming shallows especially after 10 AM. The best bite window is running late morning to early afternoon, so don't sweat sleeping in a bit.

Bass activity is rebounding nicely post-front. Yesterday’s Bassmaster Elite Qualifier saw limits challenged by cold morning lockjaw, but things heated up midday with a flurry of fish between 4 and 7 pounds hitting the scales. The south end Rim Canal and classic haunts like the Tin House and Horse Island areas have been pumping out some healthy largemouth—tournament leader Caleb Hudson boated ten for nearly 36 pounds over two days, highlighted with a 7-1/2 pound kicker Saturday morning, and more six and seven-pounders landing throughout the field. The bite’s definitely up compared to last week’s muddy lull.

On the tackle side, most big bass are falling for *flipping jigs*, swimbaits, and frogs. Locals recommend working a Medlock flipping jig or Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer (especially with Big Bite Baits Kamikaze Swimon trailer) tight along reed and hyacinth edges once the sun’s up. Early, a popping frog—like the SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog 70 in “killer gill” color—can tempt those lethargic bass holding shallow. Swim jigs paired with soft plastic craws in green pumpkin or Okeechobee 420 are scoring solid midday bites.

Spinnerbaits with gold blades are also getting hammered in the canals and around subtle shell beds, while Carolina rigs loaded with Bruiser Baits worms are finding fewer but bigger bites, especially near lock approaches. In the murky water of Rim Canal, flash is king—use flashy jigs, or minnow-style jerkbaits close to the boat. The jighead minnow bite has been clutch for several top finishers.

For live bait, if you’re after numbers or taking kids, shiners remain unbeatable—especially around emergent grass lines on the north shore.

Hotspots worth your gas today:
- **Tin House Cove:** Inside-out reed edges, flip a Medlock jig or swim a Gambler EZ Swimmer.
- **Horse Island:** Clean water pockets, target with Burner Worms or a ninja spin blade.
- **Rim Canal (Southwest):** Largemouth are suspended and shallow late morning, reacting to vertical presentations and noisy frogs.

Crappie anglers are picking up a few slabs in the C-5 Canal with live minnows and white jigs, but bass steals the show. This weekend’s totals have seen upwards of 80 limits weighed with most bass in the 2.5–5 pound range, but several giants topping 7 and even an 8-13 slab found its way to the scales day one of the tournament.

That’s the latest from Lake Okeechobee—dress warm, sling those jigs and frogs, and hunt for clear water. Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to subscribe for daily local reports. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI