Hello Folks,

Another weekend has come and gone and we get ready for another just around the corner. We are gettin’ some nice rain showers in our area and the ponds in my neighborhood are fillin’ up. I see a lot of retention ponds fillin’ up as well. It wasn’t too hot due to all the rain, and some folks took advantage of the cloudy conditions and got out and did some fishin’.

The bluegills and shellcrackers are still bitin’ in most of the lakes in our area. I’m gettin’ some good results from Lake Monroe and the St. Johns River. Folks are catchin’ panfish by driftin’ open water with crickets and red worms. Let the wind move you across the lake until you get on a bed of ‘em.

Look for bass in the river where you have water flowin’ into the river from the feeder creeks. Look for bass to be hangin’ around those areas lookin’ for bait fish. You can fish a Carolina-rigged plastic worm or try a drop shot rig in those areas. Lake Woodruff has been a good lake to fish for panfish and a few bass. Most of the bass are bein’ caught on shiners, but plastic frogs and toads are workin’ good, too. Most of the panfish are bein’ caught driftin’ open water with crickets and red worms.

The Harris Chain has been pretty good for bass but some days are good and some days it ain’t so good. You will need to get on the water real early and fish along the outside of the shoreline cover with top-water baits or a swim-bait. Once the sun gets up, try flippin’ the heavy cover with a plastic worm, or a crawdad type of bait.

The Butler Chain is good for a few bass as well. Again, get on the water early and fish the outside edge of the eel-grass and hydrilla beds. Try and find some deep water near the grass line and then position the boat in deep water and throw up to the edge of the grass and let your worm sink slowly down the edge of the grass. You can also try a Zoom trick worm or a slow-sinkin’ Senko-type bait as well. Watermelon seed with red glitter has been the best color to use here lately.

I hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ and make sure you take along plenty of water and Gatorade to keep you hydrated durin’ the day. See ya next week.

Tip of the week: go early.

Save a few and good luck!