Hello Folks,
Summer didn’t begin until Thursday, June 21. Well, that might be what the calendar says but it’s gettin’ hotter each day. It must be because I’m gettin’ older, but I believe summer is a little early this year.
While at my job Monday, the temperature in the shade was 100 degrees. Now that’s hot.
When you go fishin’, make sure you take along plenty of water and Gatorade to keep you hydrated. Use plenty of sunscreen and long sleeve shirts, and a big straw hat to keep the sun off of ya.
Folks are catchin’ some bluegills and shellcrackers in the St. Johns River. The best area of the river to fish has been in the Lemon Bluff. Take along some crickets and red worms, and if you want to catch ’em, grass-shrimp are one of the bluegills’ favorite thing to eat. You need to fish pads, docks, laydowns, and shaded areas of the river for some great panfish action.
If you want to fish for some bass on the SJR, look for water flowin’ into the river from the afternoon rains. The bass will be feedin’ on bait-fish in those areas of the river.
Swim-baits, lipless crank-baits, and if you go at daybreak, try a noisy top-water bait.
The bass fishin’ on the Kissimmee Chain has been good for the last couple of weeks. You either need to get on the water at daylight or go late in the day and fish until dark-thirty. A late evenin’ bite is always good in the summer.
The bass will be feedin’ early in the mornin’ on plastic frogs and toads. You can also try fishin’ a swim-bait around the cover like pads and grass-mats.
Once the sun gets up, move to deeper water and try fishin’ the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds. Plastic worms and Senko-type baits work the best.
If you find some grass-mats that have some deeper water on ’em, try flippin’ your favorite flippin’ bait in the mats. You may need to use a heavy sinker to get your baits down to the bass. You need to punch through the top of the mat with the sinker to catch ’em.
The Butler Chain has been doin’ good for bass, too. Rick took his son Craig and his grandson Owen out to fish at the Butler Chain last week. They caught 18 bass up to 4 lbs. each. Craig caught the biggest bass of the day on a slow-sinkin’ type bait.
Rick and I fished the Butler Chain last Friday. We had a good day on the water as well. We caught 17 bass up to 3.5 lbs. each.
We caught most of our bass on slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits and plastic worms. We saw a lot of schoolers durin’ our day on the water.
So, with that bit of info, you should be able to catch some bass on the Butler Chain.
The Harris Chain has been good as of late for bass, too. You need to get on the water early and fish the shoreline cover with plastic worms and slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits. Also try fishin’ around the pads, laydowns, and docks throughout the chain.
When the sun gets up, fish the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds. You can also flip the heavy cover like flat and round reeds for some big bass.
The afternoon rains will also create some runoffs, so look for some bass hangin’ around those type of areas. Try fishin’ a plastic worm, swim-bait, or a Carolina-rigged worm.
Well, I hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ this week or over the weekend.
I’ll se ya next week.
Tip of the week: lots of water.
Save a few and good luck!
