Hello Folks,
I hope you had a great week and you are lookin’ forward to celebratin’ the July 4 weekend with your friends and family. I hope you have some time off to do a little fishin’, and you and your family have a safe weekend.
The fishin’ has been pretty good in most of the lakes in our area, especially if you like to catch panfish. The bluegills are bitin’ in Lake Monroe and in the St. Johns River. Folks are driftin’ open water with crickets and red worms. If you fish in the river, you need to fish just off the banks with crickets and red worms. Folks are catchin’ some catfish in the deep holes in the bends of the river on night crawlers and medium shiners. You can catch some catfish by fishin’ with some stink-baits or some chicken livers, too.
The bass fishin’ on Lake Monroe has been steady first thing in the mornin’. Folks are findin’ some schoolers bitin’ at first light on top-water lures, swim-baits, and shallow runnin’ crank-baits. Look for schoolin’ bass feedin’ on the bait pods throughout the lake and in the river. Once they quit schoolin’, try Carolina riggin’ a plastic worm on the shell beds in the river. Red-shad, June-bug with a blue-tail are good colors to use in the river. You can also fish with shiners near the pads and laydowns in the river for bass.
The Harris Chain has been producin’ some nice stringers of bass by flippin’ the heavy cover with your favorite flippin’ lure. You can also catch some bass by fishin’ the submerged hydrilla beds and eel-grass beds thoughout the chain.
The Kissimmee Chain has been good for panfish and bass, too. Most of the bluegills and shellcrackers are bein’ caught on the beds throughout the lake. We have a full moon this week so this is probably the last chance to catch some panfish on the beds. You need to use crickets and red-worms. The bass fishin’ is still doin’ good on the Kissimmee Chain. You will do best with shiners fished along the shoreline grass or floatin’ a shiner around the hydrilla clumps throughout the lake.
If artificials are your thing, try noisy top-water baits at first light. Look for bass feedin’ on bait-fish along the shoreline cover. Once the sun gets up, try fishin’ in deeper water around the submerged hydrilla beds.
We have been gettin’ some afternoon showers so be on the lookout for water flowin’ into the lake from the rains. You can usually find some bass hangin’ around those areas feedin’ on the bait-fish. You can also try fishin’ a spinner bait around the isolated pads or mother-in-law tongues mixed in with the shoreline grass. A swim-bait or a swimmin’ worm will work in those areas as well. We have been havin’ some pretty hot days so make sure you take along plenty of water to keep you hydrated.
The Butler Chain and the Conway Chain are still doin’ good for bass. Most folks are gettin’ on the water early and catchin’ some nice bass at daybreak. Plastic worms and swim-baits work well along the shoreline grass if you have some deep water nearby. Once the sun gets up, those bass will move out to deeper and cooler water and hang around the submerged hydrilla and eel-grass beds.
I do hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ over the weekend and I’ll see ya next week. Happy 4th of July.
Tip of the week: full moon.
Save a few and good luck!
