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Faster action will produce more strikes

Contributed photo

Jim Copus holds a 13-pound bass he caught with Mark Beaver's Shiner Guide Service on April Fool's Day on Lake Istokpoga.

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By DAVE DOUGLASS

Highlands Today

Published: April 19, 2009

There are six days before the arrival of the new moon, during which time the last-quarter moon gradually provides less light each night, making nighttime feeding that much more of a challenge for the aquatic food chain to hunt down the essential food sources each species requires.

Due to this natural lunar influence, the primary feeding migration of the daylight hours becomes the early-morning bite period. Fish will feed more often and more intensely each morning for the next three days.

Anglers will find fish actively moving along shoreline vegetation early and by mid-afternoon locating them along deeper areas where appropriate structure provides a good holding spot to suspend peacefully for four to six hours.

The early-morning bite starts at safe-light and ends at about 10 a.m., with a peak period of 8-9 a.m. The 1-10 rating should reach a 7 and perhaps higher if the weather doesn't radically change and become extreme. Expect this migration to start 40 minutes later each day and increase in duration.

The late-evening bite diminishes all week in both intensity and duration. It starts at sundown and peaks an hour later and ends one hour after that. At bes,t the 10-rating reaching a 5. Monday night does have a chance of a better rating if the weather cooperates by providing a barometric pressure decline.

Fishing Facts

In Florida from mid-April on, the largemouth bass return back to a normal daily pattern as two things occur; first, the weather tends to settle and not change as often and doesn't force fish to adapt by moving throughout the lake areas, and second, fishing pressure drops significantly which also allows fish to move along natural routes within areas of the lake.

Instead of a 10-pound bass seeing 12 artificial baits per hour travel past its territory, she sees maybe 12 per week and enjoys a longer period of time to adapt to weather changes. Also keep in mind that the infamous "village idiots" that anglers travel here to sport with get a break now for the next eight months to heal the multiple hook-wounds from repeatedly and easily being tricked by northern anglers.

Fishing Formula

Since bass are returning back to a normal feeding bite, a faster action will produce more strikes.

Pausing while retrieving should be less necessary because bass will be eager to chase a steady swimming food source. A slow, steady retrieve combined with a very short pause - enough to cause the bait to drop a foot or less - will attract attention from several feet away.

Bigger baits should also be tried now because bass will be looking to take advantage of the thriving food-chain since it metabolism is operating at top speed and energy due to the perfect ideal water temperatures and oxygen levels.

Fishing Fiction

"Bass learn after being hooked by the same bait more than once, and therefore, I change baits."

It might seem as though this is true, however this "angler's perspective" is not as it seems to be. Instead, the reason a bass won't strike the same bait is because she's seen and felt too many bait hooks from a variety of bait types. Chances are you need to change the bait color slightly to create more of a contrast.

Many studies have proven that two genetic types of bass - those that feed tentatively and those that feed on everything that moves.

It is for this reason that more often than not, the best way to boat a trophy-sized bass is to use a live primary food source as bait, as in a live wild shiner. However, the true angler's ultimate challenge and success comes when boating the most discriminating trophy female bass by perfectly mimicking its main food source, using an artificial bait.

Fishing Feature

On April Fool's Day, Mark Beaver and his customer Jim Copus tricked one of the more cautious Bass in Lake Istokpoga when they boated a 13-pound trophy largemouth. One thing for sure, she wasn't the village idiot, just a hungry fish attempting to eat the safest food source in the lake.

After the flash bulbs stopped flashing and they revealed her weight and size, she was politely returned to her home to face another day of attempting to choose which shiner to eat.

Your Lake Manager's Contact Information

Clell Ford, Lakes Management Specialist - Highlands County, 4434 George Blvd, Sebring, Florida 33875. Phone: 863-402-6545, E-mail: Cford@hcbcc.org

Vicki Pontius, Parks and Recreation Director - Highlands County, 4344 George Blvd. Sebring, Florida 33875. Phone: 863-402-6812, E-mail: VPONTIUS@hcbcc.org

Steven Gornak, Biological Scientist IV, Aquatic Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Sub-Section, Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, 3991 SE 27th Court, Okeechobee, FL 34974. Phone: 863-462-5190 (SunCom 761-5190), Fax: 863-462-5194 (SunCom 761-5194), Mobile: 863-697-6256, E-mail: steven.gornak@myfwc.com

Tournament News

The Monday Morning Lake Jackson Black Bass Fishing Tournament is open to the public and launches every Monday morning at 8 a.m. with weigh-in at 1 p.m. Entry fee is $10 per boat with a "winner-take-all" payout. One person or two per boat, three legal (more than 14 inches) bass per boat, and one bass over 22 inches per angler. For information, call Paul Tardiff at 863-385-8007 (home) or 863-273-4062 (cell).

The Wednesday Morning Black Bass Fishing Tournament is open to the public. Next event is April 22 at Lake Josephine, from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Pay at ramp - entry fee is $30 per boat. One person may fish alone if you do not have a partner. For information, contact Paul Tardiff at 863-385-8007 (home) or 863-273-4062 (cell), email bassbutchie60@aol.com or call Dwight Ameling at 863-471-3305.

Dave Douglass is a bass-fishing guide and CEO of S.O.S.-Florida Lakes, Inc. He can be reached at 863-381-8474, HighlandsBassAngler.com, or e-mail him at davidpdouglass@hotmail.com.

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