Hello Folks,
We finally got some rain but we still need a lot more. We’ve had some hot days lately, and I’m glad we’ve got some cooler weather on the way. The fishin’ has been WHS Continued from page 1B doin’ pretty good in most of our lakes here of late.
We have a full moon this weekend, and if you want to catch some panfish, this would be the weekend to go get a cooler full.
Lake Kissimmee has been on fire, and some folks are gettin’ their limit of blue‐ gills and shell crackers. Most of those fish are bein’ caught on red worms. You can catch ‘em on crickets and grass‐ shrimp, too. Y our limit of bluegill, shell crackers, warmouth, and redbreast is 50 per day.
You can only have two days of these panfish in your possession. There is no size limit on panfish, but a good size panfish is bigger than the palm of your hand. I reported last week that some anglers are gettin’ their limit of panfish in Lake Kissimmee by 9:30 or 10:00 a. m. Most of the panfish are bein’ caught in the lily pads in Lake Kissimmee.
If you go panfishin’ over the weekend, make sure you take along a cooler with lots of ice to keep the bluegills cool. You also want to take a towel along to hold those slimy fish while you get the hook out of their mouth. Y ou see, when bluegills spawn they give off an oil, and they can be very hard to hold onto just gettin’ the hook out of their mouth. I’ve seen this happen on other lakes in our area. Some blue‐ gills spawn just off‐shore in about 3 to 5 feet of water, and you can find ‘em by lookin’ for a slick spot on top of the water. You can also smell ‘em when you really get on ‘em.
They are catchin’ limits of bluegills and shellcrackers in Lake Okeechobee, too. I would say just generally speakin’, now would be a good time to catch some pan‐ fish, and I’m sure that in other lakes in our area, folks have been producin’ their limits of bluegills, as well.
The bass fishin’ has been good in most of the lakes around the area. The Harris Chain has been hot for catchin’ bass. There was a tournament over the weekend, sponsored by Holiday Marine. It’ s called “King of the Swamp” or “King of The Harris Chain.” Congrats to Kennie Steverson and Rick Mill‐ er on their win. They brought five bass to the scales that weighed in at 24.40 pounds. Good goin’, you guys, on your win. This was the second annual “King of the Harris Chain Bass Tournament.”
Our friend Bobby Bakewell caught over 20 pounds of bass, but he had to release ‘em because he couldn’ t make it back to the weigh‐in. Bobby sheared the prop on his boat because he thinks he probably hit a gator. The good news is that Bobby and his partner weren’ t hurt in the encounter.
Well, that’ s it for this week. It’ s gonna be a good weekend to go fishin’. Get the family in the boat or fish from the bank, and… let’ s go fish‐ in’!
Tip of the week: Blue‐ gills spawnin’!
SAVE A FEW AND GOOD LUCK!
