Okachobee

[Viedeau]

On 1/17 I am sailing my Catalina 320 into lake Okechobee for a couple of days of fishing.

Anyone know if alligators are threat to a RIB dingy? I had planned to use that to get in the grass, and anchor well off shore.

Also, it appears to be very navigable to my 4.5 draft. Think I can find bass out in center of lake?

Finally I have read you are restricted to one night anchoring on lake. Do they really enforce that? Pretty big lake to patrol.

[AnchorageGuy]

Your air draft will determine if you can use the Okeechobee Waterway. The bridge at Mayaca will limit you to 49 feet. Yes the USACOE does enforce the 24 hour limit and they do levy fines in the way of citations. The restriction requires that you move a reasonable distance and does not say you can only anchor for 24 hours in the entire waterway. They are well aware of what is going on in the waterway. See my navigation alert here, http://www.marinalife.com/navigation...=55&thisNAID=3 . We have never heard of an incident where an alligator attacked an inflatable, but these are wild and dangerous creatures. There are lots of them along the OWW. I really don't understand your comment, "I had planned to use that to get in the grass, and anchor well off shore." It doesn't make a lot of sense. Chuck

[four winds]

The OP's English teacher wouldn't like that sentence, either.

Anchor the big boat in the middle, dinghy to the grass.

I'm bad at grammar so understood the intent.

[tbodine88]

So if this fellow wants to fish. Anchors his boat in deep water then dinghys to the grass to catch some bass for Dinner, then sails around the lake say a few miles from his original position, anchors and goes fishing the next day is that OK? Or will he be in Violation.

Is Lake Okeechobee a highway or a lake for recreation? Or both or neither?

I saw no alligators in the lake when I was there but its been some time. I did see them in the canal.

[The Garbone]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito

[a64pilot]

Only time I have ever heard of a Gator messing with a boat was if it had a dog in it, and that was in the Okefenokee.
I don't think a Gator is anywhere near as aggressive as a Crocodile, although a big one just got a crook down in S Fl that tried hiding in the lake at night to hide from cops, so they can get a human, but it is very uncommon.
I worry way more about water moccasins than I do Gators.


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[AnchorageGuy]

In 2013 there was a report of a alligator that bit an inflatable kayak in the Florida Everglades. The inflatable sank and the paddler, a women, was rescued. So while it is rare, it does happen. There are reports of alligator attacks on humans every year here in Florida. So it pays to be prudent and careful. Chuck

[RKsailsolo]

Millions of years. Of evolution wire the gator's pea brain to attack only what it can drag under water. Size matters most. Dogs and children for a medium size gator may be fair game but it would take a full size adult gator to go after a person. FL water cops pay attention to gators over five foot that hang around people places.

[pete33458]

C'mon man. Alligators are not T. rex. Or Godzilla. Holy crap. A couple of people are killed each year by Florida's more than 1 million alligators. Almost invariably it is someone swimming in a grass-choked canal (really?!?), often during breeding season (unlike many reptiles, alligator mothers are fiercely protective of their offspring). My concern about being attacked by an alligator is....zero. Zero. And rightly so. You can't worry about things with such a low chance of occurrence. You'd have to start worrying that the ground you are standing on is going to open up.

FL law enforcement and wildlife people do pay attention to alligators that hang around people areas, because it give them a chance to justify killing a large animal for fun. But let's get serious about the facts. The odds of being attacked, in a dinghy or in the water, are just infinitesimally small. Unless you swim in a grass-choked canal, and then it goes up to just absurdly small.

If you want to find bass in FL, Okeechobee is no longer the premier location. But if you can't catch bass in any body of water Florida, you should just hang it up. Any drainage ditch will have huge bass in it. Bass-R-Us.

Pete

[Viedeau]

We really enjoyed the lake and would recommend getting a guide if you want to catch a lot of fish. We learned that the riskiest critters are the water moccasins. They will climb into your boat for the bait. Just saw two gators.

the marina in Clewiston is nice, but you need to arrive early for a slip.

[rassabossa]

Any drainage ditch will have huge bass in it.

I can attest to that. Having come from north Georgia when I moved back to FL the last time, we regularly caught 10 pounders and the occasional 12 pounder (all released, the big ones are too wormy to eat) that would be a rarity in GA. The speckled sea trout fishing in the Panhandle is awesome.

Ditto on the snakes being much more aggresive vs gators. I have had to trash many a snake that tried climbing in the boat.