Hello Folks,
We are havin’ some great weather, the fish are bitin’, and it’s still not too hot. A little bit of a breeze is blowin’ so before summer gets here, get the family and let’s go fishin’. You can catch a variety of fish right now so go enjoy the fishin’ in our area.
Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that the folks in his area are still catchin’ a few specks on minners. The speck fishin’ has slowed down some since last week but you can still catch a few in Lake Monroe and Lake Jesup. Minners have been the best way to catch ’em. The brim and bluegills are startin’ to bite a little better this week.
Kyle reports that Lake Jesup has been the best place to catch some panfish. Most of the panfish are bein’ caught on red worms. Also, some folks are catchin’ some nice bluegills in East Lake. You can catch ’em on small Beetle Spins, Road Runners, and red worms. So if you can locate a bed of ’em you will have a blast catchin’ ’em around the beds.
Kyle also reports that the bass fishin’ has been real good in most of the lakes and the chains in our area. There are a few late spawners in some of the lakes but most of the major spawnin’ is over for right now. As the water temperatures rise, the spawnin’ will slow down as well then the bass will go into their summer mode.
Kyle reports that the bass fishin’ has been good in the Maitland Chain, the Butler Chain, and John’s Lake. You will do best with plastic worms and slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits. You can always drag shiners over and around the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds. You can also find a few schoolers in these lakes as well.
The bass fishin’ on the Kissimmee Chain has been real good these past few days. You can catch bass on live shiners and artificials. If we get some rain this week, look for some movin’ water in the mouth of the canals and the feeder creeks.
East Lake has been good for catchin’ some bass this past week. Try fishin’ with shiners or slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits.
Rick and I got on the water last week. We decided to go to the Butler Chain. We caught and released 17 bass up to 2.5 pounds each. We caught most of our bass on plastic worms and Rat-L-Traps. We didn’t see any bass on the beds but there were plenty of beds throughout the lake. The bass in the Butler Chain usually will spawn up into late April and those beds will be in 10 feet to 12 feet of water.
I’d like to take a moment and give you an update on Florida’s Trophy Catch Program. You can still go to MyFWC.com and register in case you catch an 8 pounder or bigger. The program just celebrated six years of trophy bass conservation.
During the past six seasons, Trophy Catch has recognized more than 8,000 largemouth bass that have been caught in Florida. Anyone who catches a largemouth bass that weighs more than 8 pounds, that angler is eligible for prizes. To be eligible for the prizes, anglers are required to submit photos or videos for their catch to TrophyCatch.com. So go to the website and get all the information you need to submit you trophy catch. You never know, your next cast maybe your trophy catch.
See ya next week.
Tip of the week: Go catch some fish.
Save a few and good luck!
