Hello Folks,
Looks like we might get some rain this week and, boy, do we need some. I noticed on the water this past weekend that the lake levels went down since I was last on the water. So, hopefully, we will get some much needed rain in our area.
Lots of folks are gettin’ on the water and they are catchin’ plenty of bluegills and shellcrackers in most of the lakes in our area. Lake Monroe and Lake Harney have been producin’ some nice stringers of panfish. You can catch ‘em on crickets and red worms around the pads, docks, laydowns, and around the eel-grass beds. As I mentioned last week, you can find ‘em just off shore by a slick on the water or you will be able to smell ‘em when you pass over a beddin’ area of the bluegills.
The Kissimmee Chain has been good for panfish and bass. Most of the panfish are bein’ caught around the shell beds, and grass beds through out the lake. The bass fishin’ on the chain has been really good early in the mornin’ and just before dark-thirty. You can catch ‘em on frogs, toads, and noisy top-water baits. You can also use a swim-bait fished on top of the water allowin’ the tail to make a wake as it comes across the water. A steady retrieve will get you a bite first thing in the mornin’. Once the sun gets up, you will have to use a plastic worm or a Carolina-rigged plastic worm once it starts to warm-up.
The Butler Chain has been good for panfish and bass. The bluegills and shellcrackers are beddin’ in the chain and folks are catchin’ plenty of ‘em on crickets and red-worms.
As far as the bass fishin’ goes, Rick and I went on Saturday and caught and released 15 bass up to 3 lbs. each. Most of the bass were caught on plastic worms and Bitters Salty Sling. It’s a Senko-type bait and works real good on schoolin’ bass. We did see a lot of schoolers on the water, so the bass are gettin’ into their summer pattern. We also took notice how much the water temperature came up from two weeks ago, when we were fishin’. The temperature averaged around 74 degrees in the lakes we fished.
The Conway Chain has been good for bass as well. Folks are gettin’ on the water real early and catchin’ those early-mornin’ bites right at daylight. You will find the bass feedin’ around the pads and along the grass shoreline. Once the mornin’ bite is over, you need to move to deeper water and fish Carolina-rigged plastic worms, and keep a lipless crankbait tied on in case the schoolers come up and start feedin’ on top of the water. You can also water for the divin’ birds on the baits fish. You will find the bass feedin’ on the bait-fish and you should be able to catch a few schoolers before they quit bitin’.
Well, I hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ over the weekend and I’ll see ya next week.
Tip of the week: early in the mornin’.
Save a few and good luck!
