Hello Folks,
I hope you are havin’ a great week and you got a chance to do some fishin’ over the weekend.
The bluegills and shellcrackers are still bitin’ in most of the major chains and lakes in our area. The Harris Chain, Kissimmee Chain, St. Johns River, and John’s Lake have been hot as of late for limits of panfish. Folks are still findin’ some bluegills and shellcrackers on the beds in all these chains. All you need are some crickets and red-worms, along with a little patience, and you should be able to have a good day on the water. You will find the panfish on the beds around the shell-beds, lily pads, laydowns, or anything that provides some shade. Try places like docks, boat houses, and overhangin’ trees. All these areas will hold some panfish. Once you get on a bed of ‘em, you will load the boat in no time.
If you don’t have a boat, try fishin’ off the seawall in Lake Monroe in downtown Sanford or go up to Crow’s Bluff area of the river and give that a try. If you don’t have any luck in those areas, try driftin’ mid-lake with small Beetle Spins or Road-Runners until you locate a bed of ‘em and you then drift back and forth over the beds until they quit bitin’.
The bass fishin’ is still an early-mornin’-gettin’-on-the-water deal. You need to be on the water at first light because the bass will be feedin’ along the shoreline cover on bait-fish. You may find some bass schoolin’ just off the shoreline bustin on bait-fish. You can try fishin’ a lipless crank-bait, swim-bait, or a noisy top-water bait, for the schoolers. Once they quit bustin’ on the bait-fish, try fishin’ a Texas-rigged plastic worm in the same area. If that doesn’t work, try a Carolina-rigged plastic worm or a slow-sinkin’ Senko-type bait.
Fishin’ for bass in the summer becomes a slow-movin’ time. You need to have lots of patience and don’t get in a hurry if you are fishin’ for bass in the summer. You almost have to dead-stick it to get the bass to bite. Lots of times, I will just let the wind move my plastic worm along the bottom. Sometimes, my worm will get snagged on a piece of grass or hydrilla and my rod will bend, lettin’ me know that I’m hung up. Once I break free of the grass, that ole bass that had been followin’ my worm will hit that worm and the fight is on.
If you plan on fishin’ durin’ the day, you need to move to deeper water once the sun gets high in the sky. The bass will want to get in some cooler water so they move off shore and hang out until the sun starts to go down. If you don’t want to fish durin’ the day, night fishin’ is a good option. You will be a little cooler and the bass will move to the shoreline to feed some time durin’ the night. I have caught some big bass at night, so give it a try if you don’t like fishin’ durin’ the heat of the day.
We have a new moon this Friday so the fishin’ could be real good this weekend. See ya next week.
Tip of the week: try fishin’ at night.
Save a few and good luck!
