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Angling As An Artform

Contributed photo

Dave Douglass holds a 5.12-pound bass he caught using the "drop-shot" technique in 10 feet of water, using a worm rigged "wacky style" - 16 inches up from the weight. Bass were not holding along vegetation, but instead along the lake bottom drop, a foot off the bottom.

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DAVE DOUGLASS

Highlands Today

Published: July 30, 2008

We're experiencing one of two new moon events, which will occur during August.

The first happens Friday at 10:13 a.m., and the second is on the last Saturday of the month at 7:58 p.m. A Florida Bass angler can't have it any better than starting and ending the month with new moon lunar sessions.

This translates into nine or 10 days of the finest angling days any month has to offer - that's 50 percent more premium days on the water. Each new moon event produces three days prior and after, plus the day of the event, totaling seven days.

August has two shared new moons - first and second day to the last day of the month - which adds up to 10 days instead of the usual week.

That's three additional reasons to be out on the lake, which is three more than the angler usually gets per month. Ten out of 30 - one out of three - those are numbers that could spoil a gambling man, I'll take it.

The major feeding migration period occurs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today and gradually starts later each day by about 30 to 40 minutes. The duration and intensity builds each day until Saturday when it starts to reverse and decrease for three days.

The early morning bite diminishes somewhat over the next week, but is still worth getting out on the lake before sunrise.

There's a chance the late morning major migration might start early if the weather conditions serve as an early trigger. Be watching for early midday storms to arrive before noon, as this will cause fish to feed at the beginning of the normal lunar peak influence.

The afternoon bite should be weak, but there are always fish which feed during barometric drops in pressure. Combine that with increased influent flows, and it becomes an ideal situation for the trophy bass, which feeds according to an independent set of rules and tends to defy normal environmental influences which govern the majority of the fish population.

Fishing Facts

The angler's knowledge of the fish habitat is essential to successfully planning a day on the lake.

An angler can read correctly the weather patterns, understand the lunar phases, and have enough advice from his fellow anglers to fill his boat, but if he doesn't understand particular fishing holes real well, he'll end up with days without hook-sets and subsequent battles to land fish on his boat deck.

The angler's art is learning the various adjustments fish automatically go through when weather conditions and lunar phases change. For instance, when the weather report is all wrong and the barometer soars through the top of the gauge and the skies are clear and the sun bright, where do the fish go? Are they still there or did they move out of the area completely? Should a different bait be selected, or just the color changed, or both?

If the angler figures all of the previous questions out and accomplishes a full understanding for a particular fishing hole, will that same information work on a different type of lake in a completely different type of fishing hole?

The experienced angler who approaches his days on the lake is an artist - taking his environment as it is and becoming "one" with it, moving in harmony within it.

He does not struggle nor force his assumptions, but rather has none.

If he does not possess the knowledge needed, he falls back on the basis of the art - unassuming experimentations strategically designed to systematically identify what does not work.

One of two things will naturally occur: First, the process of elimination will eventually put fish in the boat. Second, he'll suspend his research, carefully noting each negative in order to use it on the next occasion, which he plans as the final step of his road to success for that day on the lake. The angler understands that true art never just occurs; it is designed by working naturally with the "first steps" in the process - failures.

Without failure there can be no success, for success is in fact a series of failures systematically arranged over and over until the end result determines that it becomes intelligence.

Now get out there on the water and become "one" with those fish, and remember to above all, have fun and bring a camera to you can send me a picture of your catch.

Fishing News

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) successfully planted pond apple trees on Big Island on Lake Istokpoga over the past week.

This will provide much-needed forage for the rare Snail Kite bird, which has steadily returned to the lake over the past three years. Several nests have been sited along sections of Big Island, Bumblebee Island, and the West Wall areas of the lake.

The Torpedo Grass treatment that was scheduled is still on hold while South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and FFWCC waits for confirming distance setbacks from use of the chemical imazapyr in relation to Snail Kite bird nesting/activity, and state work plan/permit conditions, and generally confirming that all work details make sense for the SFWMD contractor, Applied Aquatic.

Lake Istokpoga is at 38.3 feet above sea level with the spillway gates dropped between 2.5 - 3.5 feet to release water at a faster rate than Arbuckle Creek flows into the lake.

Lake Okeechobee is at 9.75 feet (ASL), which is still too low for the pumps on the northwest part of the lake to pump water north to the farmland canal system. Hopefully, enough rain will fall to raise the level above 10 feet ASL, so that during the dry fall and winter months, water for the farmers won't have to come from Lake Istokpoga instead.

Fishing Tournament

The Wednesday Morning Black Bass Fishing Tournament is open to the public. Next event is today on Lake June. Time: 7:30 a.m. to noon. Pay at ramp - entry fee $30.00 per boat. One person may fish alone if you do not have a partner. For information, contact Paul Tardiff at (863)385-8007 Home, Cell (863) 446-1310 bassbutchie60@aol.com or Dwight Ameling at (863)471-3305.

Dave Douglass is a bass-fishing guide and bass tournament angler and CEO of S.O.S.-Florida Lakes, Inc. He can be reached at 863-381-8474, or e-mail him at davedouglass@sos-floridalakes.org.

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