Hello Folks, 

I hope everyone is havin’ a great week, and hopefully, you got to do some fishin’ last week!  

The fishin’ is still pretty doggone good right now, and folks are catchin’ lots of shellcrackers around the pads in Lake Kissimmee east of Lake Wales. 

John at Bitters B&T reports that folks are still catchin’ plenty of bluegills in Lake Monroe and Lake Jesup. Due to the lack of rain, the water levels in Monroe and Jesup are very low. You need to be really careful if you plan on fishin’ in these lakes. The last thing you want to do is run aground tryin’ to get to those fish! 

The bass fishin’ in the St. Johns River is still doin’ good from Astor down to Hontoon Island. Those bass are still schoolin’ in that area of the river, and folks are havin’ a good time catchin’em. Most of those bass are bein’ caught early in the mornin’ on lipless crankbaits and topwater baits.  

Just a reminder that there is goin’ to be a Free Kids Fishin’ Rodeo up at Highland Park Fish Camp. It’s on May 30th from 9 am until 11 am. It’s already full, so hopefully, you got your son or daughter registered in time for this event. 

The bass fishin’ is still good in Lake Fairview, and the results from the Maitland Chain of Lakes Wednesday Nighter proves just that. There were 14 boats that fished last week, and it took 16.34 pounds to win. Congrats to Clay and Christian on their win! They also had Big Bass for the night which hit the scales at 6.88 pounds. If you want to catch some bass that’s close to home, give Lake Fairview a try!  

The bass fishin’ on Johns Lake is slowin’ down a little. It’s not takin’ a lot of weight on the Wednesday Night Shootout to win. It only took 11.05 pounds to win the other night for three fish.  

The bass fishin’ on the Butler Chain is still good. Most folks are catchin’ 20 to 30 bass per trip. Look for the birds to be divin’ on the baitfish and you should find the bass feedin’ on ’em, as well. Lipless crankbaits work the best, or just use your favorite top-water bait.  

I wanted to take a moment and recognize one of our own. Congrats to Eric Panzironi on his 8th place finish at Lake Seminole. Eric fished the MLF Toyota Series presented by Phoenix Boats. There were 124 anglers fishin’ this tournament, and to finish in the top ten is just awesome. Congrats to Ridge Faircloth on his win on Lake Seminole. This is Ridge’s first win, and he came from 4th place to win by just 3 ounces. Ridge is from Bristol, Florida, and grew up on Lake Seminole. He was able to adapt to the changin’ weather conditions each day to secure his win. Ridge also qualified to fish in the championship tournament that will be held on Lake Pickwick in Tennessee, this coming November. 

Well, that’s it for this week. I hope to see you on the water real soon.  

Tip of the week: Shellcrackers still bitin’! 

SAVE A FEW AND GOOD LUCK!