By Jim Keck

Hello Folks, 

I’ve been lookin’ forward to some cooler days, but guess what? The first day of fall was on September 22, this past Monday, and it was 90 degrees. It’s not gonna get any cooler until next week, if you call the high 80’s cooler! Hopefully it won’t be much longer until fall weather finally makes its way to us. Until then let’s go fishin’ and catch some fish!  

Believe it or not the bluegills and shellcrackers are still bitin’ in Lake Kissimmee. Most of the panfish are bein’ caught around the pads and the reeds. The best baits to use are grass-shrimp and red worms.  

The bass fishin’ on Johns Lake is still slow. The Wednesday night shootout last week is a testament to that. There were 15 boats that fished last week, and it didn’t take much weight to win. 

Congrats to the team of Brian Nelson and Austin Nelson with 3 bass that hit the scales at 7.475 pounds. Big Bass was caught by the team of Billy Charland and Phillip Anderson; their catch weighed in at 3.1475 pounds. So hopefully, the bass fishin’ will pick up when we get some cooler weather.  

Kyle at Bitter’s B&T says that folks are catchin’ a few bass late in the day on shiners. Folks’re pickin’ up a few shiners after work and, sittin’ on the bank, they actually catch a few bass!  

He also reports that folks’re catchin’ some specks in Lake Monroe and in the St. John’s River. The water is flowin’ really good in the St. John’s River, and that’s got the specks to start bitin’. Most of those specks are bein’ caught on minners while driftin’ the deeper parts of the lake. A few of the specks are bein’ caught on jigs tipped with a minner.  

Bass fishin’ on the Harris Chain is a little slow, as well. Most folks are gettin’ on the water at first light, and most of the bass are bein’ caught on noisy topwater baits along the shoreline or over the submerged hydrilla and grass flats. 

Once the sun gets up most folks are fishin’ deeper water around the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass with slow sinkin’ Senko type baits or plastic worms.  

You can catch a few bass under the shady docks durin’ the day. Folks’re catchin’ a few bass in the Maitland Chain at night. Most folks are fishin’ the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds with plastic worms, and slow sinkin’ Senko type baits.  

If you want to fish the Maitland Chain durin’ the day, you’ll do best by free-linin’ shiners out the back of the boat. Let the shiners swim just over the top of the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds.  

The bass fishin’ on the Butler Chain is still steady durin’ the day. You’ll be able to catch numbers of smaller bass along the shoreline at first light. Move to deeper water durin’ the day and fish the pepper grass patches located throughout the chain.  

Look for schoolers to come up around your boat throughout the day. Always have a lipless crank-bait tied onto one of your rods so you’ll be ready when they come up and feed on the bait-fish.  

I hope y’all have a great week, and I hope to see you on the water real soon.  

Tip of the week: Speck are startin’ to bite!  

SAVE A FEW AND GOOD LUCK!