Hello Folks,
Well, I thought the weather was goin’ to settle down. Boy was I wrong. We had another cold front earlier this week and then it’s gonna get up in the 80s toward the end of the week. The bass are goin’ on the beds and then it gets cold and they pull back a little and then back on again. We had a full moon on Wednesday, February 16, and with the warmin’ temperatures, the big girls will get back on the beds this week.
There is a BassMaster Elite Tournament this week on the Harris Chain. The tournament began Thursday, February 17, and it runs through Sunday, February 20. You can see the anglers take off at 7:30 a.m. each day at Venetian Gardens Ski Beach. They will be holdin’ the weigh-ins there each day startin’ at 3:30 in the afternoon. There will be some vendors there as well, so get out there and show your support for BASS and the anglers. I’m sure there will be some big bags weighed in and some big bass brought to the scales.
I talked to Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle this week and he reports that the specks have been hit-and-miss this past week. Most of the specks are bein’ caught in Lake Monroe, Lake Jesup, and the St. Johns River. Folks are catchin’ ‘em on minners on most days. I’m sure that with the full moon this week, the speck fishin’ should pick back up by the weekend.
The bass fishin’ is still doin’ good in the Butler Chain. Again, my neighbor John and his nephew Chet are still catchin’ plenty of bass in the Butler Chain. They fished there last week and caught 19 bass. They caught most of their bass on jigs, plastic worms, and Senko-type baits.
The bass fishin’ is still doin’ good in the Kissimmee Chain. Phoenix Bass Fishing League held its tournament there last weekend and it took a five-bass limit of 18 lbs. 8 oz. to win the tournament. The winner was Garrett Rocamora from Lithia. The biggest bass was caught by Robert Pigue. His big bass weighed in at 11 lbs. 9 oz. So, with the weight of those bags and the big bass bitin’, it’s safe to say the big girls are bitin’ right now.
Folks are catchin’ some nice bass on shiners in the Maitland Chain. Most of the bass are bein’ fished over the hydrilla and the submerged grass beds throughout the chain, so there are plenty of fish bein’ caught right now. Whether you want to catch specks or bass, this would be a good time to go fishin’. If you don’t go fishin’, go up to the weigh-in at Venetian Gardens and watch the pros weigh in this week.
I hope you have a great week and I’ll see ya next week.
Tip of the week: full moon.
Save a few and good luck!
