Justin Newby shows off a bass he caught in a Central Florida lake.
Hello Folks,
Well, it looks like summer has returned for a few days. We didn’t get as much rain but more rain is in the forecast. It’s been kinda hot but the good news is we are only a few weeks away from cooler weather. I did hear in the news about a cold front, but it was for the Midwest and not for us. Anyway, we are closer to cooler weather now than we were last week.
The fishin’ is still doin’ pretty good for the most part. It can be a little slow in some lakes but overall it’s not been too bad. Most of the bass are bein’ caught at first light and late in the day near sundown. You can still catch some panfish in most of the lakes in our area.
The larger chains are producin’ some nice stringers of bluegills and shellcrackers. Most folks are driftin’ open water with crickets and red worms, until they locate a bed of panfish and then anchor off the bed and start fishin’.
Lake Monroe and Lake Woodruff have been the best lakes to fish for bluegills and shellcrackers. You can also try the Butler Chain and the Clermont Chain for panfish as well. The bass fishin’ hasn’t been too bad and folks are gettin’ on the water early to take advantage of the early mornin’ bite.
Due to the hot days of summer, some folks have been fishin’ at night. It’s a little cooler and the fishin’ has been a little better. You may find the bass movin’ into the shallow water to feed once the sun goes down.
Next weekend might be a good time to try fishin for the first time because a full moon is comin’ up. If you do go fishin’ at night, make sure your runnin’ lights are workin’ correctly and might I suggest a spot beam so you can see where you are goin’. They also make black lights that you can set on the side of your boat to see the shoreline cover. They also give off enough light so you can be seen by other boaters on the water. At night, it’s cooler, there is less boat traffic to deal with, and you might just catch a big ‘un in the moonlight.
If you need sleep like me, you will be fishin’ durin’ the day. You can try the Kissimmee Chain or the Harris Chain for bass. Get on the water early and fish the shoreline cover with top-water baits, swim-baits, plastic frogs, and toads. Once the sun gets up, move to deeper water. You need to find some submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds. Try plastic worms, slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits and you should be able to find a few bass hangin’ around.
Rick and I fished the Harris Chain last week. We caught and released 8 bass up to 3 lbs. each. We caught bass flippin’ the shoreline cover where we had some movin’ water. Once that bite was over, we moved to Big Lake Harris and fished the fish attractors. Most of our bass were caught on slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits around the attractors. We also flipped the heavy cover and a couple of bass were caught usin’ that technique as well. So all in all it wasn’t too bad a day on the water. The bass fishin on The Butler Chain is doin pretty good as well.
Folks are gettin’ there early and fishin’ the shoreline cover with plastic worms and slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits. You can also try a swim-bait around the docks and the pads. Those types of covers provide some shade for the bass and the water is cooler under the pads and docks. So you have lots of different scenarios to fish, so get the family and let’s go fishin’. See ya next week.
Tip of the week: full moon weekend.
Save a few and good luck!
