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Highlands Today

Best Time To Catch Fish Is Now

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Dave Douglass

Published: June 1, 2008

The New Moon arrives today at 7:23 p.m. which means the angler is in for the best fishing conditions of the month.

This New Moon is closer to the earth than previous New Moons and this only enhances the usual affects of this phase of the moon cycles.

The main daytime feeding migration occurs from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and rates as a 10 on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best rating. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the feeding migration is literally off the ratings chart.

If weather conditions provide a barometric drop during the morning, expect this period to start earlier in the day, and likewise expect a rise in barometric pressure to delay the start of the feeding migration.

This lunar affect will start a half hour later each day this week and decrease in duration and intensity.

A minor early morning bite is usual during the summer, but only in areas which have adequate oxygen levels. This means areas which have some wave action or influent flow through the area or along the outside edge of the area.

Water temperatures start in the middle 70s and quickly climb into the lower 80s by late morning. The winds have been consistently out of an easterly direction for the past week and this also serves the angler's plans by providing a steady variable in the aquatic habitat. Fish move to form a pattern when experiencing constant weather conditions.

Fishing Facts
During the summer months the larger bass feed more often during the day than they otherwise would during the other three seasons of the year. This is due to the much faster metabolism brought on by the heat.

A 10-pound female bass feeds during the major feeding migrations and also feeds when the smaller bass do not.

She therefore feeds for a shorter period during the three hour major feeding migration - coming into the feeding area to feed for 45 minutes and then settling down into a protected area nearby while the fish half her size continue to feed. Four hours later she again, starts moving to where all the smaller fish have settled and consumes her prey when they are least likely to flee due to the suspended state fish experience after a heavy major feeding session.

Fishing Report
I have experienced and heard from other anglers some of the best fishing stories of the year. Presently, it is common place to catch five bass with a total weight in the mid 20s.

It is very possible to even reach a total weight in the 30s. However, expect this to "tale off" a bit as the water temperatures climb into the upper 80s and lower 90s as we approach July. By then, the larger bass will have so much food supply readily available that tricking them into biting our baits will be the greater challenge for the angler.

Every lake which is accessible is yielding excellent catches. You can take a boat up wind, throw artificial bait on a hook up wind and sit down to read a book as the wind moves the boat across the lake, dragging the bait on the lake bottom, and have great chances at battling a huge Bass, several times.

Yes, it's that good right now. So grab a book, a pole, and some plastic worms, and your boat a "Catch Up" on your reading and fish stories, it couldn't be easier right now.

Fishing News
Lake Istokpoga is currently at 37.8' above sea level (ASL) but be expecting that level to gradually drop due to evaporation and the lack of rain south of the lake. The permitted water users will be allowed to take water from the lake every week if rain doesn't occur. Lake Okeechobee is at 9.6' ASL and dropping quickly.

South Florida Water Management officials are banking on a regular or better rainy season this year. Their optimistic approach could prove to be a huge let down, again.

My approach is the opposite -- expect to see the drought continue, or at the very best a less than favorable rainy season, enforce the water use schedule limitations currently in affect or even increase them. By taking this action the best possible results and the most responsible actions will occur while we expect nature to challenge our water management planning again this summer. By doing this approach, we are truly, realistically optimistic.

When you need water the glass is always half empty, and when you don't need water the glass is always half full.

Another challenge for lake managers is created by the drought - Hydrilla growth and expansion after the 2004-05 hurricanes uprooted it all and blew it into the shorelines.

Extreme weather conditions create opposite affects - fast removal and fast expansion of an exotic evasive plant species. The FFWC, FDEP, and Highlands County lake managers are faced with managing this aggressive plant with only one tool - Aquathol Super K contact herbicide. Whole lake treatments can't be done using this chemical - a massive fish kill would result.

This means an adaptive management strategy must be arrived at each month, determined by constant lake studies, evaluations and adaptations. This means spending more money than expected at a time when budgets are being trimmed back as much as possible.

The Hydrilla in Lake Istokpoga is rapidly expanding throughout the North end and has claimed the South end already, even with the recent DEP treatments being successful within the targeted areas. Within one year, a constant aggressive Aquathol treatment plan will be essential to responsibly manage the lake. This time though, using a contact herbicide instead of using a whole lake type chemical like Sonar. This means much more work and money, for Aquathol kills on contact very quickly using up oxygen in the water column.

Fishing Tournaments
Wednesday Morning Black Bass Fishing Tournament is open to the public. Next Event: June 4 on Lake June. Time: 7:30 a.m. to noon. Pay at ramp - entry fee $30 per boat. One person may fish alone if you do not have a partner.

Note the new schedule of using only lakes Josephine and June because of the extremely low lake levels in the other lakes this trail usually uses.

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 CEO of S.O.S.-Florida Lakes, Inc.
Phone: 863-381-8474
Email: davedouglass@sos-floridalakes.org
Websites: reds-bass-fishing-guides.com and sos-floridalakes.org

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