Hello Folks,
I hope everyone got through the storm on Saturday, April 10, and you are gettin’ ready to do some fishin’. The weather is great and the fishin’ right now is pretty dog-gone good. Folks are still catchin’ a few specks, but the specks are movin’ to deeper water. The specks will stay in deeper water throughout the summer. You can still catch ’em, but you need to find some deeper water.
Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that a few folks are startin’ to catch some bluegills over the weekend. All you need are some red worms, a bed of bluegills, and you are good to go. You will be able to smell ’em or you will see slick spots on top of the water. Look for those two scenarios and you should be able to find ’em. Once you locate the beds, you should be able to catch some bluegills. Once the bluegills go on the beds, you can load the boat and if you have kids, they will have a great time catchin, ’em.
Kyle reports that the bass fishin’ is good in just about all the lakes and chains in our area. Even as far away as the Winter Haven Chain and Lake Panasoffkee, folks are catchin’ bass. So, the weather is good, and the fishin’ is even better.
Folks are catchin’ some nice bass in the Harris Chain on a variety of baits. You can use top-water baits early in the mornin’ at first light and once the sun gets up, move to deeper water and fish the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds. John’s Lake is still goin’ strong as of last week. Lots of folks are on the water and they are catchin’ some bass and some folks are fishin’ for bluegills.
The Butler Chain has been good for numbers of bass and folks are havin’ a blast catchin’ ’em. You will see the bass schoolin’, so keep a lipless crank-bait tied on one of your rods in case they decide to school up around the boat.
Mark at Big Toho Bait and Tackle reports that the bass fishin’ has picked up this week on West Lake. Most of the guide trips are catchin’ 15 to 20 bass per trip. The mornin’ bite has been the best and you will do best fishin’ with shiners. If you want to fish with artificials, try fishin’ top-water baits early in the mornin’ at first light and then switch over to plastic worms, and slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits, as the sun comes up.
It has been takin’ a five-fish limit around 15 lbs. to 20 lbs. to win the tournaments that go out of Big Toho Bait and Tackle at the city ramp. The bass fishin’ has been good, so don’t wait too long before you get a chance to go fishin’.
Mark also reports that a few folks are startin’ to catch some bluegills and a few shellcrackers in West Lake. Most of the panfish are bein’ caught on the shell-beds throughout the lake.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ real soon before we get into the hot days of summer. See ya next week.
Tip of the week: shiners.
Save a few and good luck!
