Hello Folks,
I hope you are havin’ a good start to the New Year. There have been a lot of folks gettin’ sick, includin’ my family and others. I hope and pray you all are recoverin’ and gettin’ better.
The fishin’ hasn’t been too bad for the most part. The cold fronts and the windy days have kept a lot of folks off the water. Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that a few folks are fishin’ for specks, but due to the weather, lots of folks have been stay-
in’ home. We have a full moon comin’ up on Monday, January 17, so if the weather holds, the fishin’ should pick back up. The best lakes to fish for specks are still Lake Monroe and Lake Jesup. Over the years, these two lakes have been producin’ the most specks. The Harris Chain and the Kissimmee Chain have been good lakes for specks as well. Most of the specks are bein’ caught on minners and a few specks are bein’ caught on jigs tipped with a minner.
The bass fishin’ is still hit or miss most days, dependin’ on the weather. The bass are still bitin’ in the Kissimmee Chain and the results prove it. Toho Marine Elite held its first tournament of the year this past weekend out of Camp Mack. The winnin’ team of Fred Chivington and Bruce Bozman won the tournament with five bass that weighed 26.68 pounds. There were five bass caught that weighed more than 8 pounds. The biggest bass of the tournament was caught by the team of John Wayne and John Barrow. Their big bass weighed 9.55 pounds. I would have to say the bass fishin’ on the Kissimmee Chain is doin’ pretty doggone good right now.
The Butler Chain is still a good chain to catch some bass. My neighbor John and his nephew Chet fished there last week and caught and released 22 bass. The biggest bass was almost 3 pounds. They caught their bass on a variety of baits, includin’ jigs, lipless crank-baits, and plastic worms. The Harris Chain has had some good bass fishin’ as of late. The Major League Fishing held a tournament on the Harris Chain last week.
Abu Garcia College Fishing held its tournament on Friday, January 7. The college team of Seth Jenkins of South Carolina and T.J. McKenzie of South Carolina won the tournament with five bass that weighed 25 lbs. 14 oz. The duo represented Emmanuel College of Franklin Springs, Georgia. There were 189 teams that participated in this tournament. The tournament was the largest season-opening field in MLF College Fishing history.
I also wanted to give a shout out to the team of Vincent Maffei and Andrew Ready of Webber International College, in Babson Park. They had a five fish limit that weighed in at 25 lbs. and 13 oz. They just missed winning by one ounce. Sorry, guys, I know you guys worked hard for those fish and losing by one ounce is a hard pill to swallow. The good news is that you qualified for the College Fishing National Championship in 2023.
Well, that’s it for this week. See ya next week. Tip of the week: full moon. Save a few and good luck!
