Red worms, crickets are good for catchin’ lots of panfish

3175

Hello Folks,

I hope you are havin’ a great week and you are plannin’ to get on the water this weekend.

Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that the folks in his area are catchin’ plenty of shellcrackers and bluegills in Lake Monroe, Lake Jesup, and the St. Johns River. All you need are some red worms and crickets and you are set to go.

We have a full moon this weekend on Saturday. So you should be able to locate some beds of panfish. The best way to find a bed is to ride around and you can smell ’em or you see a slick spot on the water. The panfish give off an oil scent when they are on the beds. So look for that slick and keep you nose in the air, and you should be able to find ’em.

Kyle reports that the bass fishin’ has been good on some days and off on other days. Hey, that’s fishin’.

Kyle did report that some bass are schoolin’ on the Butler Chain and you can catch plenty of bass. Most of the bass are bein’ caught on slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits and plastic worms.

Kyle says that some bass are bein’ caught on Bitter’s skip-in shad and Flukes. Watermelon and watermelon red fleck are the best colors to use.

The bass fishin’ has been pretty good on the Maitland Chain of Lakes as well. Captain Paul Solomon and his clients have been catchin’ some nice bass on the chain. They are catchin’ 20 to 25 bass on four-hour trips. Most of the bass are bein’ caught on small spinnerbaits. The bass are bein’ caught around offshore grass beds. I also have it on good report that you can catch some nice bass on lipless crank-baits in the chain as well.

An angler friend of mine is catchin’ some nice bass around offshore grass and eel-grass beds in the chain. On his last trip, he caught and released six bass up to 3 lbs. each. So, if you want to stay close to home, give the Maitland Chain of Lakes a try.

Rick and I went back to John’s Lake last week and we had a blast catchin’ some really nice bass. Rick caught and released a nice bass that went around 4-5 lbs.

I also caught some nice bass as well. My biggest bass was between 5-6 lbs. We caught our bass on slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits and lipless crank-baits. We probably caught and released 18 bass or so.

Also, I wanted to mention that there is a tournament this comin’ weekend.Those who run it are celebratin’ the 30th year of this tournament. It’s the Wolfson Children’s Hospital Bass Tournament. If you are interested in fishin’ this tournament just Google Wolfson Children’s Hospital Bass Tournament and you can get all the information on the website. I know the entry fee is $120 per boat. The tournament is bein’ held out of the city docks in Palatka. So, if you are interested, you will be supportin’ a good cause for this hospital.

Well, that’s it for this week. I hope to see you on the water real soon.

Tip of the week:
schoolers/full moon.

Save a few and good luck!