Nine-year-old Logan Edwards shows the 5-1/2-pound bass he caught using a Junebug speed worm.
Hello Folks,
It was another good weekend for fishin’. Folks were gettin’ on the water and catchin’ some nice stringers of bluegills and shellcrackers in just about all the lakes in our area like the Kissimmee Chain, the Butler Chain, John’s Lake, Lake Woodruff, and Lake Monroe.
Most folks are driftin’ open water with crickets and red worms. You can also try slow-trollin’ Beetle Spins and Road Runners. Once you locate a bed of panfish, then drift back and forth over the bed usin’ your crickets and red worms. Once they quit bitin’ on that bed, try and locate another bed and then do the same thing on that bed.
The bass fishin’ is still doin’ good in most of the lakes and the bigger chains in our area. Folks are catchin’ some nice bass early in the mornin’ and late in the evenin’. You either need to get on the water at first light and fishin’ until you can’t take the heat or after the afternoon rains or go the last few hours of the day.
Try noisy top-water lures like a Devils Horse or any lure that has props on it.
You can try fishin’ swimbaits through and around the shoreline cover and the lily pads. Plastic frogs and toads will work as well. Plastic worms, and slow-sinkin Senko-type baits will work along the shoreline cover as well. Look for bass to be feedin’ on bait-fish along the shoreline grass. Once the sun gets up, move to deeper water and points where you have some submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds. Try fishin’ a plastic worm or Senko-type baits in those areas. You might also want to fish a Carolina-rigged plastic worm and let the worm move along the top of the grass beds.
We are still gettin’ some afternoon rains so look for the runnin’ water. You usually find the bass feedin’ on bait-fish in those areas as well. If you find some runnin’ water, try in the mouth of the canal, or the feeder creeks or where the water is flowin’ into the lake or river. Those types of areas are where the bass like to hang out and get an easy meal of bait-fish.
As always, if you go to a chain like the Butler Chain or the Conway Chain keep a lipless crank-bait tied on to one of you rods in case the schoolers come up. They usually don’t feed very long unless it’s cloudy or overcast. Another way you can find the schoolers watch for the divin’ birds around the lake. You will find them feedin’ on the bait-fish that the bass bust up on.
The bass fishin’ has been good in the Harris Chain the past couple of weeks. The water is flowin’ throughout the chain and the bass are feedin’ in the mouth of the canals that feed into the lake. Plastic worms, Carolina-rigged worms, and shallow-runnin crank-baits will work as well. Once the sun gets up, try to find some heavy cover to flip or some off-shore grass and eel-grass beds.
This weekend should be a good one to go fishin’. The rain percentage is down so you should be able to get in some good fishin’. I hope to go fishin’ myself this weekend.
Well, that’s it for this week. Hope to see you on the water.
Tip of the week: runnin’ water.
Save a few and good luck!
