Hello Folks,
I don’t know if you have plans for the weekend, but now is a good time to get the family and do some fishin’.
Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that folks are catchin’ plenty of specks. Lake Monroe and Lake Jesup have been the best lakes to catch some specks and Lake Harney is also producin’ some nice stringers as well. Kyle told me that they are sellin’ lots of minners every day, and folks are driftin’ open water with a few specks movin’ in shallow to spawn. We had a full moon on Thursday of this week, so three days before the full moon and three days after the full moon are good days to go fishin’. This weekend would be a great time to go speck fishin’.
The specks are still bitin’ good in West Lake, too. Folks are catchin’ their specks in open water on minners and some folks are startin’ to catch ’em in shallow water as well. We had a few warm days this week and, along with the full moon, folks are seein’ the bass move into shallow water to spawn.
Rick and I got on the water this week and we had a great day fishin’ around Lake Apopka. We found some bass movin’ into shallow water to spawn. We caught and released 15 bass. Rick had a great day bass fishin’. He caught several bass, includin’ three bass over five pounds each. Catchin’ a five-pounder is always fun but to catch three of ’em the same day is just awesome.
I’m sure everyone is aware that the Friends of Lake Apopka and the FWC have teamed up for the inaugural Lake Apopka Fish Challenge. Together, they have tagged a bunch of fish of all kinds, 501 to be exact, in Lake Apopka. They tagged specks, bluegills, red-ear sunfish, and largemouth bass. If you catch one of these tagged fish, you can win some money or gift cards from Bass Pro Shops.
The Challenge runs from now through May 31. They tagged a largemouth bass that weighs over 12 pounds and dubbed that bass as “Jim Thomas” bass. If you catch this bass and turn in the tag to the FWC, you could win $2,500. You can double that amount if you are registered in the Trophy Catch program. To get registered, go to TrophyCatch.com to sign up. You also need to go to FOLA.org to register for the Lake Apopka Fish Challenge. There is no charge to register and it would be great to see some folks win some nice prizes.
We have another cold front this week so the bass fishin’ will slow down just a little but it’s gonna warm back up so give the bass a couple of day to adjust and they will start bitin’ again. Well, that’s it for this week. Hope to see you on the water and hope you have a great weekend.
Tip of the week: go fishin’.
Save a few and good luck!
