Hello Folks,
I hope you are havin’ a great week and you are lookin’ forward to the weekend. They are callin’ for a little wet stuff over the weekend but, hey, unless it’s really bad, put on your rainsuit and go fishin’.
Before we get into the fishin’, I wanted to make you aware of a couple of things. The FWC announced that they have released 116,132 hybrids or sunshine bass into Lake Harris. They also released 52,390 sunshine bass into Lake Eustis.
These bass grow pretty fast in our waters, and they will be 12 inches to 14 inches in one year. These fish are fun to catch, and they are pretty good eatin’ as well. They live only five to six years due to the hot summers in Florida, so be on the lookout for ‘em when you are fishin’ in the Harris Chain.
The FWC also released 3,300 shoal bass fingerlings into the Chipola River in May. These bass were hatchery-raised bass. You might remember back in 2018 that Hurricane Michael hit Florida and depleted more than 90 percent of the shoal bass population in the Chipola River. Shoal bass are one of four of Florida’s native black bass species. The Chipola River is spring fed and originates north of Marianna.
The river, which flows south for about 95 miles through Jackson, Calhoun, and Gulf counties, eventually joins the Apalachicola River. The Chipola River is the only waterbody in Florida that is known for reproducin’ the shoal bass population.
You can check Google for the Chipola River to get more information about the river and how to enjoy one of Florida’s natural wonders.
The bass fishin’ is still doin’ pretty good in most of the lakes and the major chains in our area. Folks have been fishin’ for bass in the Harris Chain and havin’ some good results.
Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that the folks in his area are catchin’ some nice bass in the Harris Chain on chatter-baits, shallow-divin’ crank-baits, and plastic worms. Kyle also reports some folks are catchin’ some bluegills and a few bass in the St. Johns River. Some folks are even catchin’ a few specks in the river as well.
John’s Lake is fishin’ well. The Wednesday night tournament held on John’s Lake had 30 boats last week. You can weigh in only three bass per team. It took 13.4 lbs. to win. Congrats to Randy Marion and T.J. Simmons on their win. They also had big bass that weighed in at 7.85 lbs.
The bass fishin’ has been good for numbers on the Butler Chain. You can catch lots of small bass, one pound or even smaller. It’s incredible to see how many of those small bass can eat a plastic worm that is longer than the bass itself.
It just shows how aggressive these Florida bass are when it comes to tryin’ to eat something that’s bigger than they are. I guess that’s why we all love bass fishin’.
Well, I hope you get a chance to do some fishin’ this week. I’ll see ya next week.
Tip of the week: go fishin’.
Save a few and good luck!
