Hello Folks, I hope everyone is havin’ a great week and y’all are enjoyin’ this beautiful weather we are havin’. I just wish it would be like this all year long, but that’s wishful thinkin’. The fishin’ is still doin’ good in most of the lakes in our area. Kyle at Bitter’s Bait & Tackle reports that the specks are off and on in the speck lakes. We have a full moon on Friday the 7th. If there are any specks that haven’t spawned yet, this would be the time they will go on the beds. The main problem we are havin’ right now is the wind. In the bigger lakes like Monroe and Kissimmee the wind will blow you right off the water, so be careful while you are out there. Folks are catchin’ most of their specks on minners. Folks are catchin’ some specks in Lake Kissimmee in the pads with a nice sandy bottom. The bass are still bitin’ in most of the lakes in our area. The bass were spawnin’ on the last full moon, and those bass that haven’t spawned yet will do their thing on the upcomin’ full moon. The bass fishin’ has been good in Lake Apopka, the Harris Chain, and the Kissimmee Chain. You can catch some bass and specks all the way down in Lake Okeechobee.
BassMaster held their Elite Tournament on Lake Okeechobee last week and it took 95 pounds and 4 ounces to win. Congrats to Brandon Palaniuk who took home the blue trophy, and a check for $102,000 dollars. This is Brandon’s seventh win on tour. There were quite a few big bass caught durin’ the tournament, but the biggest bass was caught by David Gaston from Sylacauga, Ala. David was awarded $2,000 dollars for his big bass. David’s big bass hit the scales at 11 pounds, 8 ounces. Also, David’s big bass is the largest bass caught in Lake Okeechobee Elite Series history. I want to give a shout-out to my buddy Bernie Schultz from Gainesville. Bernie won $1,000 dollars for the BassTrakk Contingency award. Also, I want to give a shout-out to John Cox of Debary. John finished in the top ten and he was able to fish on Championship Sunday. The bass fishin’ on the Kissimmee Chain is still doin’ pretty good if you can get out of the wind. Most of the big bass are bein’ caught on shiners, and some of the bass are bein’ caught by flippin’ the spawnin’ areas with soft plastics. Folks are catchin’ some bass in the Butler Chain, but most of those bass are somewhat smaller. You can catch most of those bass on swimjigs, chatter-baits, and soft plastics. We have a cold front comin’ to town this week, so that’s gonna affect the way the bass will bite. It’s only gonna be cold for a couple of days, and then it’s gonna warm up. Once the weather warms up, that will get the bass and specks to bitin’ again. Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ this week or over the weekend. Enjoy this great weather, and I hope to see you on the water real soon.
Tip of the week: Go Fishin’. Save a few and good luck.
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
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