By Jim Keck
Hello Folks,
I can’t believe we are finally gettin’ some cooler weather. It’s so nice to get up in the mornin’ and walk outside and feel that cool air hittin’ you right in the face. I hope you’re enjoyin’ it as much as I am.
It sure makes for a great day on the water and it will help the fishin’ get better each week. Kyle at Bitter’s B&T reports that business is still a little slow, but a few folks are stoppin’ by and gettin’ some minners to go speck fishin’.
The specks are still bitin’ in Lake Monroe and the St. John’s River. You’ll have to cover a lot of water in Lake Monroe until you find’em. You’ll do best driftin’ the deeper parts of the lake with jigs tipped with a minner. Once you find’em, keep driftin’ back and forth over the area until they quit bitin’.
If you want to catch some specks in the river, you need to go up around the Highland Fish Camp area of the river. Folks’re catchin’ ’em in the river and Lake Woodruff. The bass fishin’ is startin’ to pick back up a little. Kyle reports that a few folks are still fishin’ after work with shiners, just fishin’ from the bank.
If you’re plannin’ a fishin’ trip to the Harris Chain, there are two big tournaments bein’ held this weekend. One tournament is a high school tournament goin’ out of Hickory Point, and the other tournament is goin’ out of Lake Eustis at Buzzard Beach Ramp. So, there’re gonna be a lotta boats on the water. Just be careful out there.
The bass fishin’ is pickin’ up on Johns Lake. This past week on the Wednesday Night Shootout on Johns Lake, it took 11.15 pounds to win. The winnin’ team of Don Fisher and Brian Nelson had three bass that weighed in at 11.15 pounds. They also had big bass for the night that weighed in at 6.85 pounds. So, it seems the bass are startin’ to bite a little better with this cooler weather.
The bass fishin’ on the Butler Chain is still doin’ pretty good. Most folks are fishin’ the off shore pepper grass patches throughout the chain. You’ll do best with swim jigs and Senko type baits. Look for schoolers to be feedin’ on bait fish throughout the chain.
If you’re plannin’ a trip to fish the Kissimmee Chain for specks, folks’re catchin’ a mixed bag of specks and bluegills with a few shellcrackers thrown in for good measure.
In case you haven’t heard, The Ultimate Angler held a tournament up in Alabama this past week, on Lake Guntersville. Congrats to Tucker Smith who won the tournament and took home a check for $500,000. That’s right… $500K for winnin’ a bass tournament! That’s awesome for a young man who fishes hard every day out on the water.
My good friend Randy Howell came in third place and won a check for $80,000. Folks, I never thought I’d see these types of payouts for bass fishin! There was $1.3 million paid out to the anglers who finished in the top 100 anglers. If you caught the biggest bass each day of the tournament, you won $10,000 for big bass. There were a lot of top tier anglers fishin’ this tournament. They started the tournament with 200 anglers and narrowed the field down to the top 50 anglers on championship day. Congrats to all who fished this tournament!
Tip of the week: Cooler Days
SAVE A FEW AND GOOD LUCK
