Hello Folks,
The full moon has come and gone but the good news is last weekend’s full moon put the bluegills on the beds. I’m gettin’ some good reports of folks catchin’ limits of bluegills and shellcrackers. Just about all the lakes are producin’ some great stringers of panfish.
Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that the folks in his area are catchin’ bluegills in the St. Johns River around the lily pads. You can find ’em along the shoreline cover in most of the lakes in our area. You need to fish the shoreline grass and the isolated clumps of grass, too.
Rick and I fished this week and we came across some bluegills’ beds throughout the lake. Folks were on the water fishin’ for bluegills in the Harris Chain, Lake Monroe, and Lake Jesup.
Kyle also reports that folks are catchin’ plenty of bluegills in Lake Yale, Lake Kissimmee, and Lake Panasoffkee. All you need are some red worms or crickets and you are good to go.
Mark at Big Toho Bait and Tackle reports that folks are catchin’ lots of bluegills and shellcrackers on West Lake. You need to fish the middle or southern end of the lake, because the north end of the lake is like pea soup.
They are havin’ a big algae bloom on the north end of the lake. Mark also reports that the guides are takin’ half-day trips and their clients are catchin’ 15 to 20 bass on shiners. They are also catchin’ some big bass as well. Some of them are in the 7 lbs. to 8 lbs. range.
You can catch some bass on artificials on the chain as well. Most of the bass are bein’ caught on plastic worms, slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits. You can catch ’em on top-water baits early in the mornin’, too.
Rick and I got a chance to do some fishin’ this week as well. We had a great day on the water, or should I say Rick had a great day on the water. We caught 13 bass and two real nice big bass.
We decided to fish out of my boat and Rick set the big bass record for my boat this week. Rick caught and released a 10 pounder and a 6 pounder. Any time you can have a day on the water like that, it’s a good day’s fishin’.
We caught most of our bass on plastic worms and Bitter’s Mega vibe worm. The best colors were Christmas with a blue tail, and green pumpkin. So, folks, all I can say if you want to catch some panfish or bass now is a good as time as any to go.
I hope you have a great week and I’ll see you in two weeks.
Tip of the week: bluegills on the beds.
Save a few and good luck!
