Hello Folks, 

Just about five more weeks until fall begins. Accordin’ to the calendar, the Autumnal Equinox (that’s fall to us fisher-folk!) officially begins on Sept. 22nd. I can hardly wait! This summer has been brutal, and I don’t know about y’all, but I sure am ready for some cooler weather. So, with the hot weather still doggin’ our steps, you need to get out at the crack of dawn and go catch’em! And, if it’s too hot for ya, try fishin’ at night! 

The Maitland Chain of Lakes folks have been fishin’ in Lake Fairview on Wednesday nights. Last week, the team of Noah and Denzel won with three bass that hit the scales at 11.80 pounds. They also had Big Bass for the night with a 4.40 pounder! 

Over on the Butler Chain, the bass fishin’ is still doin’ pretty good. Again, the mornin’ bite has been the best. You need to fish the shoreline grass with topwater baits. As the day gets warmer, you need to move to deeper water and fish the offshore humps and dropoffs. Try and find some 8 to 15 feet of water and fish a wacky rig or a drop shot rig to catch’em. You can try fishin’ around the docks and the shaded areas of those docks with a slow sinkin’ Senko type bait. 

Over on Johns Lake, the Wednesday Night Shootout bunch have been catchin’ a few bass. Last week, it only took a little over 10 pounds to win. 

The bass fishin’ on the Harris Chain is somewhat tough right now, but some of the folks are still catchin’ some pretty good bags of bass. And, you’ll do good by gettin’ out there early and fishin’ around the shoreline grass with a noisy topwater bait. As the sun gets up higher durin’ the day, you need to be prepared to get that long rod out and start flippin’ the heavy cover. 

This is a little off target, but I wanted to mention my grandson (in-law), Josh, who went bow huntin’ last weekend over on the Harris Chain. He and his friend Enzo went out and shot a mixed bag of tilapia, gar, and other fish. Josh shot one of the biggest gar that I’ve ever seen! That gar probably weighed over 20 pounds, and it was more than 60 inches long (that’s five feet, don’cha know?)! Overall, they shot more than 89 fish on their very first trip to the Harris Chain. 

The bass fishin’ down on West Lake Toho has been good for folks fishin’ with shiners early in the mornin’ out around the hydrilla mats. Some folks are catchin’ a few bass on topwater baits if they get out there early in the mornin’. Once that ole sun gets up, you need to find some shaded areas such as thick hydrilla mats, docks… just anywhere there’s some type of cover where the bass can get out of the sun. 

The fishin’ is still doin’ pretty doggone good at the Headwaters down near Palm Bay. Folks are gettin’ out there and catchin’ some nice bass on shiners and chatter baits. Topwater action has been really good at first light. On a recent trip, some of the folks caught over 40 bass on shiners and plastic worms. A good color that worked the best was a Bass Assassin RSB Worm Gooseberry & Green Pumpkin Blue Flash. 

Well, that’s it for this week. I’ll see y’all next week. 

Tip of the week: Early mornin’ bite! 

SAVE A FEW AND GOOD LUCK!