Hello Folks, I sure hope you had a great weekend and you got a chance to do some fishin’. Folks are gettin’ on the water and catchin’ plenty of bluegills and shellcrackers in most of the lakes in our area. Folks are catchin’ bluegills and shellcrackers on crickets and red worms in Lake Harney, Lake Monroe, and Lake Jesup. You need to drift open water for best results. Look for bass feedin’ on baitfish pods up and down the St. Johns River. You can catch ‘em on lipless crankbaits, and top-water baits that make a lot of noise. The Harris Chain has been producin’ some nice stringers of bluegills and shellcrackers especially in Lake Griffin, Lake Dora and Lake Harris, Dead River, and Haines Creek in the pads. You need to use crickets, red worms, or grass-shrimp. If you find a bed of bluegills, you can drift back and forth over the beds until they quit bitin’. The bass fishin’ on the Harris Chain has been good most days. Folks are usin’ swim-baits, spinnerbaits, and plastic worms fished over the submerged hydrilla beds and eel-grass beds. You should be able to catch some bigger bass by flippin’ the heavy cover with your favorite flippin’ bait. The Kissimmee Chain is still good for bass fishin’ and panfish. The bluegills and shellcrackers are feedin’ in open water on crickets and red worms. Folks are gettin’ their limits on most days. Look for a slick on the water or if you smell ‘em, they will be near by. Drift over the beds or the area where you see the slick and you should do real well. The bass fishin’ on the Kissimmee Chain has been good as well if you get on the water real early. Most of the bass are feedin’ on top-water toads, plastic frogs, and swim-baits fished on top on the water. Once the early-mornin’ bite is over, you will need to fish the deeper water hydrilla beds, and eel-grass beds. Slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits and Carolina-rigged plastic worms work well in most of areas of the lake. You can always catch some nice bass on shiners, too. The Butler Chain and the Conway Chain are still doin’ good for bass. Most folks are gettin’ on the water early and catchin’ plenty of bass along the shoreline cover on top-water baits, swim-baits, and plastic worms. Once the sun gets up, you need to move to deeper water and fishin’ the submerged grass beds with a Carolina-rigged plastic worm or a drop shot rig. If you can find some deep water next to the shoreline, you might try and flip the heavy cover with a plastic worm or a crawdad-type bait. If you find a deep hole, try fishin’ the middle of the hole and work your plastic worm up the side. If that doesn’t work, get in the middle of the hole and work your plastic worm down the sides. Try and find something different on the bottom, like a drop-off or a submerged tree and you will find the bass hangin’ around those type of areas. You need to watch your depth finder and see if you can see changes in the contour of the bottom, especially if you see some bait fish just above the grass on the bottom. Those bass will be hangin’ around waitin’ to feed on the bait. Well, I hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ this weekend and I’ll see ya next week. Tip of the week: new moon this past Monday. Save a few and good luck!
