Hello Folks,
We are just about into fall and I couldn’t be more excited. I fished last week with my buddy Rich from Mt. Dora. He had a club tournament on the Harris Chain on Sunday, so he wanted to go practice on Friday. All I can say is it’s slow fishin’ and it was really hot. At one time, he said to me, “I’ll be glad when we have 30 mile-an-hour winds and 65-degree temperatures.” At that time, it was so hot, I had to agree. I said, “how about 10 mph winds?” We agreed and kept fishin’.
The fishin’ on Sunday in his club tournament was a little slow as well. It only took a little over 10 pounds to win their tournament. Hey, you know what they say, a bad day on the water is still a better than a good day at work.
It has been hot this summer but the fishin’ is still doin’ pretty good if you can take the heat.
Mark at Big Toho Bait and Tackle reports that the fishin’ on West Lake is a little slow but some anglers are still catchin’ a few bluegills with a few specks in the mix. Most of the folks are fishin’ the shell beds throughout the lake. The bass fishin’ has been a little slow on West Lake. Some anglers are catchin’ a few bass around the submerged hydrilla mats. You can catch ’em on Ole Monster 11-in. worms and shiners.
Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that the folks in his area are catchin’ some specks this week from under the State Road 417 bridge in Lake Jesup. Most of the specks are bein’ caught on minners and jigs. Kyle also reports that the specks are bitin’ in Lake Monroe as well. Kyle counted 17 boats on Lake Monroe speck fishin’ on Sunday as he was out and about catchin’ a few bass.
The bass fishin’ has been a little slow in the St. Johns River. We have been gettin’ a lot of rain in that area of Central Florida and with all that rain, the bass have been hangin’ in the feeder creeks feedin’ on bait fish where the water is flowin’ into the river.
The bass are still bitin’ in the Butler Chain but that has slowed down a little as well. You can catch numbers of bass but the larger bass are a little harder to catch.
You will do best by freelinin’ shiners over the submerged hydrilla beds throughout the chain. If you want to fish with artificials, try plastic worms and slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits.
Laura Rambo from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wanted me to remind everyone that TrophyCatch.com is celebrating a new milestone with the Trophy Catch program. The number of Hall of Fame bass that weigh more than 13 pounds has surpassed more than 100 approved catches.
The FWC had those anglers fill out a survey to gather unique information about catchin’ a 13 lbs.-plus bass. The FWC also pored through catch from data for the last nine years of HOF bass that were caught. There are quite a few interestin’ facts on where they were caught, what time of year they were caught, and type of lure or live bait folks used to catch ’em.
So, if you are interested in some of that type of information, visit their website and review the information that they gathered. The website is TrophyCatch.com.
Well, fall is on the way and I’ll see ya next week.
Tip of the week: full moon Monday.
Save a few and good luck!
