Hello Folks,
I hope y’all had a great weekend and, hopefully, you did some fishin’. Even though the official date of summer is between June 20th and June 22nd, I always start my summers on June 1st, the same date as Hurricane Season starts. As summer is here (accordin’ to ME, ol’ Jim), now begin the summer patterns for catchin’ fish.
The peak times for catchin’ bluegills and shellcrackers is May and June, right around the full moons, and the full moon for this month is next week, Wednesday, June 11th, at 3:45 in the mornin’. That’s when it will reach full phase, but accordin’ to info I found, the best time to view it will be the evenin’ of Tuesday, June 10, just after sunset when it rises in the southeastern sky. Now, you’re on your own as to guessin’ how the fish think!
I’ve been reportin’ that folks are catchin’ plenty of panfish on Lake Kissimmee, right around the pads. The water temperature is just right for bluegills, and they should be bitin’ in all of our lakes this month. The bluegills will spawn from April through October but May and June are the peak months. By the reports I’m gettin’ so far this month, they’re bitin’! So go get you some red worms or crickets or grass-shrimp and head out to catch a mess of fish for supper. And, make this a family outin’, because the whole family can get in on the action!
The bass fishin’ is doin’ pretty good on the Harris Chain. My fishin’ buddy Rick Mullins is fishin’ with his brothers-in-law Greg Fugate and Carl McIntosh from Kentucky. They’ve caught over 15 bass up to four pounds over the past two days. They’ll be fishin’ together all week hopin’ to catch a biggun. And they’ll be fishin’ all over Central Florida, includin’ John’s Lake and the Butler Chain. I hope you three guys have a great week, and I’ll give everyone an update next week on how y’all did.
Congrats to Kennie Steverson from Umatilla who won the American Bass Anglers Top 150 Solo tournament last weekend. It was held out of Venetian Gardens Ski Beach on Lake Harris. He weighed in 10 bass over two days; they weighed 47.30 pounds. For his work (and fun), he got a check for $4,500. He said he caught all of his bass by fishin’ the shell bars. He could see the fish on the shell bars with his live-scope. If there weren’t any fish on the shell bar, he would go fish the next shell bar. He says he never locked through any locks either day.
Finishin’ in second place was Aaron Yavorsky of Palm Harbor. He weighed in 42.49 pounds; he also caught big bass of the tournament. Aaron’s big bass hit the scales at 9.26 pounds, and that got him an additional $1,000 to go along with the $2,000 that he won for second place!
If you’ve been wantin’ to go fishin’ in our great state of Florida, and you didn’t have a fishin’ license, well, I have some good news for you. This weekend, June 7 and 8, you can try fishin’ in salt water for free on those two days. And the followin’ weekend, June 14th and June 15th, you can fish in fresh water for free! The FWC has set aside these next two weekends to allow residents and visitors to explore fishin’ here in Florida. So get the family, and let’s all go fishin’.
I really hope you get a chance to go fishin’, especially now that you don’t need a license for the next two weeks.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope to see you on the water real soon.
Tip of the week: Free Fishin’ for the next two weekends!
SAVE A FEW AND GOOD LUCK.
