Hello Folks,
I hope you are havin’ a great week and you are gettin’ ready for the weekend. The fishin’ is still doin’ good in most of the lakes in our area. You can still catch some panfish like bluegills and shellcrackers.
Lake Monroe and Lake Jesup have been producin’ some nice stringers of panfish. You can also catch some nice panfish in the St. Johns River. Red worms and crickets have been workin’ the best. It’s been kinda hot and gettin’ hotter as we move toward July and August. Make sure you take along plenty of water and Gatorade to keep you hydrated durin’ the day.
The bass fishin’ has been pretty good so far for the summer. You just need to get on the water early and take advantage of the mornin’ bite. One of my neighbors, John, and his nephew have been fishin’ the Butler Chain for the past few weeks. They have had some good days on the water. They have been catchin’ around 20 bass per trip. Most of their bass are bein’ caught on plastic worms and slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits. Most of the bass are in the 1 lb. to 2 lb. range.
Captain Paul Solomon has been fishin’ the Butler Chain and the Maitland Chain for the past few weeks. He and his clients have been catchin’ their bass on shiners and slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits as well. Paul and his grandson caught two four pounders on their last trip. Paul reports that he watches for the divin’ birds in both chains. The big brown pelicans will be divin’ on the bait-fish that the bass are feedin’ throughout the lake. Once the sun gets up, he moves to deeper water and fishes the off-shore grass beds, with slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits. You can catch some nice bass on lipless crank-baits rippin’ ‘em through the grass as well.
So, it looks like we are movin’ in our summer pattern pretty fast. You can still catch some nice bass throughout the summer. You will have to be aware of the water temperatures in the lake you are fishin’. The bait-fish will move to cooler and deeper water, and the bass will follow them. The bait-fish will also get in the thick vegetation lookin’ for shade and cooler water. So you have lots of different types of areas to fish. Hopefully, you can find some bass in these types of situations so you can catch some fish.
Tip of the week: go fishin’.
Save a few and good luck!
