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Old Bait Can Be Taught New Tricks

EXPECT PERFECT FISHING DURING MIDWEEK MORNINGS

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 19, 2008

This week's last-quarter moon, which occurs on Tuesday at 11:55 a.m., means the Florida angler can expect an excellent very early-morning bite and a weak late-afternoon bite.

While the afternoon bite diminishes - except in the case of a thunderstorm - the morning bite increases progressively each day this week. By Tuesday morning early morning, fishing should be an 8 or 9 on a scale from 1 to 10.

The early morning bite occurs from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. today if your favorite lake did not receive rain last night. If it did rain, expect the bite to end before 7 a.m. The more consecutive dry nights your lake experienced, the longer the bite will extend past the lunar forecast. Each day this feeding migration bite will start 30 minutes later and increase in intensity and duration. Expect Wednesday and Thursday to be absolutely perfect early morning fishing days.

The late-afternoon bite occurs from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and is weak at best - a 3 or 4 on the scale. However if a weather front or thunderstorm moves through your lake area, count on that number upgrading to a 6 or 7 as the larger fish in the lake move into feeding areas.

Fishing Facts
Atmospheric pressure decline, combined with a subsequent decrease in hydraulic pressure in the lake, affects the aquatic species in the same way at the same time - migration along established lake structures toward healthy feeding areas in more shallow depths.

How this fact affects your fishing depends on which fish you're angling for and how deep the area is where you work your art. If you're fishing Lake June for crappie at a depth of 10 to 13 feet when the barometer drops, the fish will migrate in a specific route toward shallow water. Perhaps all the way to shoreline vegetation, this is where that particular route ends.

If you're fishing Lake Istokpoga in the hydrilla on the "west wall" for bass at a depth of five to seven feet when barometric pressure falls, (and the spillway is open) expect the fish to move with the current and along the weed/lake bottom contour toward more shallow protected areas.

Fishing Formula

I would suggest having two types of bass-fishing rods prepared for two different extremes.

First is your top-water bait rod - which I would use two: one with braided line for working within thick vegetative areas, and one with monofilament line for working open water outside vegetative areas and over the top of structures such as tree-piles.

Second is a drop-shot rod and/or a Carolina-rig rod. Both rods enable the angler to adjust to the post-feeding bass which migrates from the feeding area to a "holding area" to suspend and digest their food. Both rods enable the angler to place the bait at exactly the right depth the fish are suspended at. Also, both allow for slowing down to a "halt" which anglers call "dead-sticking." This technique places bait at the fishes' nose for long, periods of time - effectively exhausting the fishes' patience, resulting in a nuisance-ending kill-strike.

Fishing Fiction

"New fishing baits work better than old used ones."

This is false if not used in the proper context, which is, if the fish hasn't been hooked by a particular bait before - traumatized, injured and tricked by a perceived potential meal - it is more likely to "try" what it perceives as a potential food source.

However, this assumes (which I refuse to do) that the bait was offered by an experienced angler using a proven successful "action presentation" at the right depth and speed, with a color that contrasts best in the available light and water color.

The fact is, you can take the oldest, most used bait in your tackle box and move it through the area and depth where fish are, at the correct speed, and always catch fish at the same rate of success as new bait fished in the same manner.

If the older bait starts to fall behind the performance of the new bait, just customize it slightly with a glass weight, tooth pick, nail polish, dye, or hook change.

Heck, just write, "bite me" with silver nail polish on both sides and throw it out there and see if they don't listen.

Fishing Feature

Many of you have called me this last week with stories of your angling success.

I always enjoy hearing from you; it's an inspiration for me to know so many people are passing along the art of angling to their family members, or just trying fishing for the first time on their own from the shores of their local lake.

I'm sure all you readers out there would like to see some pictures of the fish my callers are telling me about, so I invite you to email me your pictures and the fish stories that goes with them. Since I am usually not where I can write down the information when I take your call on my cell phone, it's hard to get all the facts straight and remember everyone's name and details while driving through traffic after a day on the lake.

So please call and send your emails and pictures and you'll be the next "fishing feature."

Fishing Tournaments

The Wednesday Morning Black Bass Fishing Tournament is open to the public. Next event is Oct. 22 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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