Hello Folks, 

I was out of town last week; I went to a celebration of life for my wife’s Aunt. I’m glad to be back, and I’m sure everyone who has been on the water has been catchin’ fish.  

There’s an NPFL tournament over on the Harris Chain this week. The dates of the tournament are March 19th through the 21st. The weigh-ins are bein’ held up at Ski Beach in Leesburg. This column won’t be out in print until Friday, but you’ll be able to attend the final day of competition and see the weigh-in on Saturday.  

I hope the fishin’ durin’ the tournament is better than what my fishin’ buddy Rick is findin’. This week, Rick and his brother-in-law Greg Fugate from Kentucky are fishin’ their annual fishin’ week. The fishin’ has been a little slow for them on the Harris Chain, but I’m sure the NPFL anglers will figure something out this week. Rick and Greg are fishin’ the Butler Chain today as I write this column, and they’vealready caught 15 bass by noon time. So, hopefully, the fishin’ will get even better as they fish.  

Kyle at Bitter’s B&T reports that folks are still catchin’ specks in Lake Monroe and in the northern part of the St. Johnss River. Lake Woodruff is still producin’ some nice stringers of specks. Most of the specks are bein’ caught on jigs tipped with a minner or fishin’ a naked minner while driftin’ the lake.  

I’m also gettin’ some good reports on specks in the Kissimmee Chain. In most cases, the specks are bein’ caught down there around the pads and reeds on minners. The bass fishin’ has been good and somewhat good in our area.  

The Wednesday night Shootout on John’s Lake started last week. Congrats to Billy Charland and Phillip Anderson who won with three bass that hit the scales at 13.15 pounds. This was the first tournament of the year, and it started off with 27 boats in the field. Big Bass honors went to Randy Blackburn and Tyler Jackson who brought in a 9.0-pounder to the scales. 

The other Wednesday night bass anglers who usually fish the Maitland Chain have been fishin’ Lake Fairview this month. Last week, the winnin’ weight was 19.78 pounds. That’s for three bass! Congrats to Denzel and Noah on their win. They also had Big Bass honors with a 9.60-pounder. Folks, I gotta tell ya, I’ve been fishin’ Lake Fairview ever since my grandfather had a place on the lake, and I’ve never even come close to catchin’ a 9-pounder! The biggest bass that I ever caught in Lake Fairview was around 6 pounds, and that was a long, long time ago.  

The X-treme Bass Series kicked off their third event of the season on the Kissimmee Chain. Congrats to Jackson Williams and Tyler Woolcott who brought five bass to the scales that weighed 33.11 pounds. Now, that’s over a 6-pound average for five bass. The team of Will Evans and Colby Evans brought an 8.46-pounder to the scales for Big Bass of the event. There were 57 boats in the field for this tournament, so, all in all, the fishin’ isn’t doin’ too bad for this time of the year. 

We have a new moon this week, so the fishin’ should be doin’ really good this week.  

Well, it’s great to be back, and I’ll see y’all again next week. 

Tip of the week: New Moon! 

SAVE A FEW AND GOOD LUCK!