Hello Folks, Wow, summer is here and it’s here with a bang. We are havin’ some hot days as of late and I don’t know about you, but I’m not gettin’ much in the way of afternoon showers. I would like to tell ya the fishin’ is good but due to the hot days not many folks are gettin’ out and goin’ fishin’. The recent spike in the virus isn’t helpin’ either.
Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that the folks in his area aren’t fishin’ too much either. Kyle has a couple of anglers still catchin’ specks under the Highway 417 bridge, in Lake Jesup. They are fishin’ under the bridge with minners and catchin’ enough for supper. The good news is the bridge does provide some shade while people are fishin’. If you decide to go fishin’, please make sure you take along plenty of water and Gatorade. You need to start drinkin’ before you get thirsty because if you wait too long, it’s gonna be too late. Kyle reports that the bluegills and shellcrackers have slowed down just a little. You can still catch ’em but you need to be on the water early with some red worms or crickets. Lake Monroe and Lake Jesup and the St. Johns River have been the best places to catch ’em. You can still catch some bass on shiners real early in the mornin’ or late in the day. Folks are gettin’ out early and takin’ advantage of the mornin’ bite. You will have about four hours of fishin’ before the hot weather takes over. You can also catch ’em late in the day at dark-thirty till dark. You might try fishin’ at night just because it probably it’s a little cooler durin’ the night.
We have a full moon over the July 4 weekend, so take advantage of the cooler weather at night and the full moon. Over the years of fishin’ here in Florida, we fished our club tournaments in the summer at night. It was cooler and we always caught some nice bass. I caught one of my biggest bass, a 10-pounder durin’ a night tournament at East Lake Toho. So, if you are game, give it a try. You might just get a chance to catch a big bass or, possibly, your personal best.
Kyle has been catchin’ some bass at John’s Lake. He had the chance to go fishin’ this week and he reports that he caught 10 bass and a couple of good ones around 3 pounds to 4 pounds each. He caught his bass early in the mornin’ on top-water lures and then as the sun got up, he started fishin’ a plastic worm real slow around the submerged hydrilla beds. As it got hotter, the bite slowed but he was able to catch a few bass fishin’ in deep water.
This is a good time to be on the lookout for schoolers. Kyle reports that schoolers came up around him while he was fishin’ in the deeper parts of the lake, so make sure you keep a lipless crank-bait tied on to one of your rods. Those schoolers won’t stay up long so you need to have a rod ready just in case they school up near your boat.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope y’all have a good week and pray for some rain to come our way.
Tip of the week: full moon on Sunday. Save a few and good luck!
