Hello Folks,
It’s a great time to be in Florida and fishin’. The specks are all done and definitely have moved to deep water. You will have to drift over the deep holes with your minners right on the bottom. The water temperatures are risin’ and the specks want to stay as cool, so that’s where you will find ’em.
The bass fishin’ hasn’t been too bad in most of the lakes in our area. Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that the folks in his area are fishin’ mainly for bass. He hasn’t gotten any reports on bluegill or shellcrackers as of yet. We have a full moon April 16, so a few may show up to go on the beds then.
Kyle reports that the Butler Chain is on fire if you want to catch some bass. You can catch numbers of bass in the two-pound range and some folks are catchin’ a few biguns. You will be able to catch ’em on a variety of baits. Kyle reports that you can catch bass on chatter-baits, top-water early, lipless crank-baits, and plastic worms. The bass are chasin’ shad throughout the chain, and a few schoolers are startin’ to show up as well.
I know that my neighbor John and his nephew Chet have been havin’ some great days on the Butler Chain. They fished there last week and caught and released 25 bass. They caught their bass on lipless crank-baits, jigs, and plastic worms.
The bass are bitin’ real good on John’s Lake, too. There is a Wednesday night tournament held there every week. You are allowed to weight in three bass. It took 20 pounds of bass to win last week’s tournament. I would have to say that’s a good day on the water, I mean a good day at night.
Kyle also reports that folks are catchin’ some nice bass in West Lake. Most of the bigger bass are bein’ caught on shiners. You can also catch some bass on artificials, too.
If you get on the water early, a good top-water bite will catch you some bass. Once the sun comes up, you will have to switch over the plastic worms and chatter-baits.
If the wind gets up, which it has for the past few days, you need to try fishin’ a spinner-bait around the grass-lines or the pads or even the edges of the hydrilla clumps.
The bass are still bitin’ pretty good on the Harris Chain. You can catch bass in just about all the lakes in the chain.
I know folks are catchin’ bass offshore in the submerged hydrilla and eel grass in Lake Dora, Lake Harris, and Lake Eustis. Most of the bass are bein’ caught on a Bitter’s MegaVibe or the Bitter’s Vibe plastic worm. Good colors to use have been junebug and junebug with red glitter.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you get a chance to get on the water and do some fishin’. See ya next week.
Tip of the week: go fishin’.
Save a few and good luck!
