Hello Folks,
I hope everyone had a great long weekend. I know lots of folks went boatin’ and some folks even went fishin’.
The panfishin’ has been a little slow. Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that a few folks are catchin’ some bluegills and a few shellcrackers. The best lakes to fish have been Lake Monroe and Lake Jesup. Most folks are usin’ wigglers, red wigglers, and grass shrimp. You can also catch a few panfish in the St. Johns River around the pads and laydowns.
The bass fishin’ is still doin’ good. Folks are catchin’ numbers of bass in the Butler Chain. My neighbor John and his nephew Chet have been catchin’ plenty of bass in the chain. Last week, they caught and released more than 25 bass. They also caught two nice bass, one weighin’ a little over 5 lbs. and the other bass was a little over 4 lbs. They caught their bass on jigs, plastic worms, and Rat-L-Traps.
The Harris Chain is hit or miss for bass fishin’. Some folks are catchin’ ’em and some folks ain’t doin’ so good. Most of the bass are bein’ caught on plastic worms, and flippin’ creature baits in the Kissimmee grass. A few bass can be caught offshore on Carolina-rigged plastic worms.
Speakin’ of the Harris Chain, a gentleman by the name of Dale Dew caught the first pink-tagged bass in Lake Griffin. He caught his bass on May 22 near the spot it was released. Dale caught his bass on a plastic worm and will receive a $5,000 gift card from Bass Pro Shops and a $1,000 gift card from AFTCO. Congrats to Dale on his catch of the pink-tagged bass, that was in Lake Griffin.
The bass fishin’ has been good in West Lake Toho. The Bartow Ford-Toho Marine Elite Pro Team Trail held its monthly tournament on the Kissimmee Chain on Saturday, May 29. Congrats to Wayne Yohn and Walter Owens who won with a five-bass limit that weighed 29.28 lbs. There were 80 boats in the field and Wayne and Walter came out on top. The biggest bass caught durin’ the tournament weighed in at 9.57 lbs. and was caught by Chuck Pons. The bass ended up bein’ a TrophyCatch qualifier. Believe it or not, out of the 80 boats that fished that day, there were 28 teams that weighed in a five-bass limit that weighed 20 lbs. or more. I would have to say the bass are bitin’ in the Kissimmee Chain.
Starke Lake in Ocoee has been fishin’ good for bass. Josh Dannels and his fishin’ buddy Zach caught nine bass up to 5.3 lbs. They caught all their bass on plastics. We had a new moon on Monday, May 30, and the fishin’ has been really good durin’ that time. I would expect the bass fishin’ to continue to be good this week.
Well, I hope you have a good week and you get a chance to do some fishin’. See ya next week.
Tip of the week: go fishin’.
Save a few and good luck!
