Hello Folks,
Happy New Year folks!! I hope and pray you had a Happy New Year and you are lookin’ forward to this upcomin’ new year.
We have some cold weather comin’ our way in a few days. There has been some bass goin’ on the beds, but they may have to delay their spawn if the water temperatures drop a whole bunch. So, if you have been plannin’ a fishin’ trip, you might want to try goin’ a little sooner than you had planned.
Folks that have been goin’ speck fishin’ are still doin’ pretty good in most of the lakes and chains in our area. Folks are still catchin’ specks in Lake Monroe, Lake Jesup, and the Kissimmee Chain as well. Most of the specks are bein’ caught on minners driftin’ in open water.
A few specks are startin’ to bite on bright colored jigs tipped with a minner. Most of the specks that are bein’ caught in Lake Jesup are under the Highway 417 bridge. So get you a bucket of minners and catch you some specks before this cold weather gets here.
The bass fishin’ has been really good these past few weeks. A few bass were goin’ on the beds and a few bass were already on the beds, with the males guardin’ the beds. Most of the bass are bein’ caught on shiners. The Kissimmee Chain and the headwaters in Palm Bay have been producin’ some great stringers of bass. A few double-digit bass are bein’ caught on shiners, As the cooler weather moves in to our area, the bass will get pretty active and they will be feedin’ on bait-fish in most of the lakes and chains in our area.
The Butler Chain is a great chain of lakes to fish, espically in the winter. The bass are feedin’ on bait-fish gettin’ ready to spawn. So, you have a good chance to catch some bass on shiners out there. Most of the bass are bein’ caught by free-linin’ shiners out the back of the boat. You will have to fish around the submerged hydrilla and pepper grass patches to catch’em.
Folks are catchin’ some bass in the Maitland Chain by fishin’ the same way. You need to fish the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds throughout the chain.
I wanted to let everyone know if you decide to go fishin’ on West Lake Toho, the hydrilla is pretty thick throughout the chain. I have gotten some reports this week that the hydrilla is so thick that it’s becomin’ harder and harder to navigate the lake. So be careful if you are headed down there to catch some bass.
Well that’s it for this week. I hope you had a great New Year and I’m lookin’ forward to everyone’s fishin’ stories in 2025.
See ya next week.
Tip of the week” Shiners
Save a few and good luck!
