Hopefully, cooler weather will be here sooner, not later

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Hello Folks,

We are finally gettin’ to the end of summer with about a month-and-a-half to go. I won’t lie; I just like the cooler weather, especially when I’m on the water. When it’s cooler, the fishin’ seems better and the fish are bitin’ good and you ain’t sweatin’ too much. It just makes for an enjoyable day on the water. I digress about my preferences, but I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who feels the same way.

Well, the fishin’ isn’t doin’ too bad in most of the lakes and chains in our area. Most folks are fishin’ for bass and a few anglers are fishin’ for panfish. Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that the folks in his area are still catchin’ a few bluegills and some shellcrackers on red worms and crickets. Lake Jesup is still the best place to catch ’em, but it has really slowed down from what it was doin’ a couple of weeks ago.

Kyle reports that the bass fishin’ has slowed down some in most of the lakes in his area. Folks are gettin’ on the water early and fishin’ until the rain drives them off the water. The Harris Chain has been a little slow, but you can still catch some nice bass in the shaded areas of the lakes. The bass fishin’ on the Maitland Chain has slowed down some as well. You can catch some bass on shiners free-linin’ the shiners behind the boat over the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds. Some folks are catchin’ some bass rippin’ lipless crank-baits through the grass as well. You can also catch some bass on 10-inch long plastic worms, too.

My friend John who lives in my neighborhood has been catchin’ some nice bass in the Butler Chain. He fished out there last week with his nephew and they caught and released 18 bass. The biggest bass they caught was right at 5 lbs. They only fished until 2 p.m. because of the rain storms that came up while they were fishin’.

Mark at Big Toho Bait and Tackle reports that his shop is sittin’ in a big ole grass field. Mark says that the hydrilla is topped out and it’s hard to navigate the lake from the north end of the lake. The middle part of the lake and the south end of the lake isn’t too bad. So, if you want to go bass fishin’ in West Lake, you might want to consider launchin’ your boat at Red’s Fish Camp. You can also launch you boat on the south end of the lake at Southport Park. Those two locations will get you out of the thicker hydrilla on the north end of the lake.

Well, I wish I had more good news about the fishin’ but it’s summer time in Florida. The hot weather and afternoon rains keep a lot of folks home. I hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ this week. Make sure you take along lots of water and Gatorade while you are fishin’. Tip of the week: new moon. Save a few and good luck!