Hello Folks,
I sure hope everyone had a great week and if you got a chance to do some fishin’ that makes it even better. We had a cold front come to town and whatever was goin’ on with the fishin’, you can throw that out the window. We were startin’ to see some bass head toward the beds to spawn and then the cold front came in and dropped the water temperature and the bass headed back to deep water.
I was on the water Saturday and the water temperature had dropped to 62 degrees where previously it was 66 to 67 degrees. We caught only seven little bass and it was tough fishin’. We caught most of our bass on plastic worms.
I talked to an angler who was fishin’ for specks in the Butler Chain and he caught only eight specks that were keeper size. He also caught six small bass on his speck rigs that he threw back to grow up and get a little bigger. We have a new moon this week and the temperature is supposed to get back up in the 70s. Maybe the water will warm up for the weekend and the fishin’ will get better.
Captain Joe reports that he was on Lake Monroe at the beginnin’ of the week and caught 25 specks. He kept seven good ‘uns for supper. He caught most of the specks driftin’ in mid-lake on jigs tipped with a minner. He reported that you needed to stay in 10 ft. to 12 ft. of water and use brightly colored jigs. He was usin’ gold ice jigs, pink jigs, and lemon-orange jigs tipped with a minner to catch his specks.
Captain Joe is gettin’ some good reports on specks bein’ caught in Lake Jesup around Soldiers Creek. Folks are driftin’ with brightly colored jigs tipped with a minner. Lake Harney is another good lake to catch some specks. Folks are driftin’ in open water with jigs tipped with a minner and catchin’ a few real nice slabs, mixed in with some smaller specks. Folks are still catchin’ some specks in Lake Beauclair and Lake Dora. The speck fishin’ slowed down over the weekend but should pick back up with the warmer temperatures. You will need to fish in 10 ft. to 12 ft. of water around Deer Island with jigs tipped with a minner.
The bass fishin’ on the Harris Chain is hit or miss. One day is good to real good and then the next day the bass will shut down and they won’t hit anything. You might need to take along some shiners and fish the mouth of the canals or back in the residential canals. You can drag a shiner up and down the middle of the canals and see if you can’t get a bite. I know that the guides on the Butler Chain are takin’ their clients to the mouths of the canals and the cuts between the lakes, and catchin’ some bass on shiners. You will catch a lot of smaller bass but you could catch a good ‘un if you get that shiner right in front of her nose.
You can also catch some bass in the Butler Chain by freelinin’ a shiner over the submerged eel-grass and hydrilla beds. You will have to cover a lot of water but you should be able to catch some bass on shiners, mid-lake in open water. I wish I could report that folks are loadin’ the boat but right now that’s not the case. However, the good news is that the fishin’ is gonna get better if the weather holds up and the water warms up.
See ya next week.
Tip of the week: live shiners for bass.
Save a few and good luck!
