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Highlands Today

FISHING: Bass Anglers Thank Moon, Weather For Improved Bite

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Dave Douglass

Published: January 20, 2008

The full moon arrives on Tuesday at 1:35 p.m. and will influence the fish greatly during the daytime. The normal daytime feeding migrations will increase in intensity and duration and the nighttime feeding migrations will decrease by the same amount.

A cold front arrived Saturday and continues to pass through our area today. This will hold back the affects of the full moon. However, whenever a weather condition causes fish to hold in a suspended pattern instead of migrating, it's because of their natural impulse. As the weather passes and returns to normal conditions, during the first migration afterward the majority of the fish move into a very large feeding migration period.

Having said that, today will be tough to locate feeding fish in the usual areas — they're there, but few, if any, will bite. Monday morning, however, is the time to be on the water.

The effects of the weather will have ended and the regular feeding migration pattern returns. The full moon becomes the sole determiner without the complication of dramatic weather influences.

For the next three of four days there is not a time which is better than the other. Fish will feed all day in an above-average general feeding migration.

Add to this lunar effect the fact of the bass spawn and water temperatures in the middle 60s and you have some of the best fishing conditions for largemouth lass anglers and fishermen of the year.

Fishing Facts

Water is to the fish was an eardrum is to the human.

Everything that moves causes sound, and this vibration triggers a response. Water, because of its density, magnifies or multiplies the physical laws of our atmosphere and the environmental changes we add to the water. The closer to natural elements we work in harmony, the greater our chances of perfecting the art of angling.

Fishing Report

Last Thursday and Friday I received so many great fishing reports from all the various lakes in Highlands County I would need to write another article to present them all.

Lakes, Istokpoga, June, Placid, Josephine, Jackson, Olivia, Lotela, all provided the type of fishing Florida is famous for. Crappie, bass and bluegill were caught in above-average numbers and sizes — "fish-story production" abounds and will be passed on for centuries.

Other News

Last Wednesday, I provided the levels the lake could be dropped to, if drought conditions continued as it has over the last year and a half. Since last Friday (Jan. 11) SFWM has had the right to release water through the S-68 Structure spillway and has not. The general consensus of Highlands County citizens seems to be that once SFWM has the approval from the Army Corp of Engineers, they would immediately draw down the lake to the level the deviation request was approve to — ACE approved a 36 feet above sea level (ASL) deviation.

This is not the case.

Consider this: If rain falls south of the lake — on farmlands — and no rain falls on the lake or on the rest of Highlands County, SFWM will not release water because the farmers don't need it. If rain falls on all of Highlands County including the farmers fields, no water is released and the lake rises until it reaches the high water level of 39.5 feet ASL. — the high-water mark is the highest point due to residential areas.

If the drought continues at the same rate it has over the last year and a half, and no rain falls on the farmer's fields, SFWM will release water as needed with the 40-60 percent cutbacks factored in.

SFWM, USACE, and Highlands County officials don't want to drain the lake or destroy the lake — there is no conspiracy. What there is, however, is a one-in-100-year drought which no one was prepared to deal with, not having anything historically to analyze facts from.

It all comes down to one roll of the dice at this point for SFWM and the ACE. The farmers crops are at record losses and the lake is approaching an average record low for this time of year — normally the lake is six inches higher right now. Both state and federal agencies are attempting to spread out the pain equally — I have yet to see the numbers on how this has been arrived at and therefore don't know if they've achieved this or not. If the drought doesn't end and the rains return Lake Istokpoga will follow in the events of Lake Lanier in Georgia.

Tournament News

Ridge Anglers Bass Club kicks off its new season on Lake Istokpoga today, launching out of the U.S. 98 Istokpoga Park County ramp. Event is from safelight to 2 p.m. weigh-in. This is a club only tournament — to join and/or find out more information, contact Jerrel Mott at 863-494-3199 or 558-1244.

Extreme Crooked Lake Series Tournament kicks of their new season today on Crooked Lake, launching from Bob's Landing at safelight with weigh-in at 3 p.m. For more information, contact Mike Blocher at 813-363-5266.

You can reach Dave Douglass at 863-381-8474, e-mail davedouglass@sos-floridalakes.org or visit reds-bass-fishing-guides.com.

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