Despite hot weather, fishin’ is very good in local lakes

2065

Hello Folks,

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend and you didn’t eat too many hamburgers and hot dogs. I hope you had a chance to get on the water and do some fishin’.

Folks are still catchin’ some nice panfish in most of the lakes in our area. The Harris Chain, the Kissimmee Chain, and the St. Johns River have all been good places to fish for bluegills and shellcrackers. The full moon was last week and if you were able to find some beds, you should have been able to catch a mess of panfish for supper. Folks are fishin’ just off the shoreline or on the beds that are located about mid-lake. Crickets and red worms have been workin’ the best. We have been gettin’ some afternoon rains and the water is flowin’ into the St. Johns River and folks are catchin’ a mixed bag of bass a few panfish in the mouth of the canals.

The Wekiva River has been another good spot to catch some panfish as well. You will find ‘em along the banks of the river. Again, crickets and red worms work the best. You can catch some catfish in the deep holes in the St. Jones and the Wekiva River. Most folks are fishin’ with night-crawlers and stink-baits. If you want to catch some bass in the St. Johns, try fishin’ in the mouths of the canals and feeder creeks that have water flowin’ out of ‘em. You will find the bass hangin’ around lookin’ for bait-fish and bugs that are flowin’ into the river. You can catch some bass on top-water baits, swim-baits, and shallow-divin’ crankbaits. Once the bass quit bustin’ on the bait-fish, try a Carolina-rigged plastic worm around the shell-beds and in the mouth of the canals and feeder creeks.

The Butler Chain is still producin’ some nice stringers of bass and a few panfish. Rick and his son Craig went out last weekend to the Butler Chain and they managed to catch a few bass up to 4 lbs. each. Most of the bass were caught on plastic worms. Later in the mornin’, our own John Ricketson showed up on the dock to go fishin’. Rick and Craig picked him up and they all three went fishin’. John did manage to catch a few bass and about 1:30 p.m., Rick said it got really hot. There wasn’t much of a breeze so they decided to call it a day.

On another note, a guy here in Zellwood Station, David Thompson, went fishin’ on the Butler Chain last week as well. He usually goes once a week with his fishin’ buddy John Levine. They love to fish the Butler Chain as well as a lot of us do, and they had one heck of a day on the water. They had caught several bass up to 6 lbs. each on plastic worms. Well, about 12:30 p.m., they were just about to call it a day due to the hot weather when David set the hook on a big bass. He finally got the bass to the boat and they measured the bass and she weighed 12-1/2 lbs. She was 27 inches long and had a girth of 18 inches. After weighin’ the bass, they let her go back to be caught another day.

David’s picture accompanies this column so you can see David and his bass. So, folks, I hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ this week or over the weekend. Please take along plenty of water ’cause it’s hot out there on the water.

See ya next week.

Tip of the week: summer pattern.

Save a few and good luck!