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Morning offers anglers best bite

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 28, 2009

This week we enter the first-quarter moon phase which arrives at 11:28 a.m. tomorrow and it causes two daily feeding periods; an early-morning bite and an early-evening bite.

Both occur from the hours of 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. with peak times happening at the seventh hour.

The evening period has a moderate 1-10 scale rating of 5, with the possibility of reaching a 6 if the weather conditions help out by providing a storm right at sundown.

However, the morning period will increase in rating intensity and duration for the next three days.

My prediction is that if there is no rain the night before the bite will be closer to 8 or 9 a.m. and if rain does occur than the bite will be at safe-light.

Fishing Facts

For the first time in the last three years Lake Okeechobee as a fishery is out-producing Lake Istokpoga. Depending on who you talk to, the reasons for this vary slightly.

All agree that the slow steady increase in level over the last two months allowed the lake's submerged vegetation to remain healthy and thus produce oxygen rich zones along the usual fishing areas. Many also believe that a great number of fish arrive when the water releases from northern lakes of Istokpoga and the Kissimmee Chain flow into Florida's largest lake. Also, most agree that the aquatic weed management programs also play a significant part in the level of health in the bass populations.

However, if anglers truly want to experience the best Central Florida fishery, the ultimate lake to fish is Lake Toho. I've been fishing this lake over the past few weeks resulting in catching more bass from five to 11 pounds than I have fishing all the Kissimmee Chain lakes and Istokpoga combined.

And, it just wasn't a matter of "getting lucky" by being in the right lake, in the right area, at the right time. Several bass angler guides from all the major lakes and fisheries, who know where all the hot spots are on all the lakes, agree that Toho's lake managers got the summertime lake condition about as good as, can be achieved.

The result is a healthy aquatic food-chain where the bass digestion system can work at the same speed as their metabolism and subsequent appetite, allowing maximum growth and health. The Florida Bass has the ability to grow between 1.5 to 2 pounds per year, of which the majority of that incredible growth occurs from late spring to early fall-if the lake's oxygen levels are high enough, i.e. Lake Toho..

The simple truth is, the fisheries' optimum aquatic habitat is accomplished by using the current, existing, available, "vegetative-means" that the lake has to offer, and doing everything that is essential to produce healthy submersed vegetative cover from the plants that are available, especially right at a time when it is most crucial to do so-in the extreme heat of the summer.

The plan to eradicate exotic invasive plant species has never been a responsible fisheries management strategy. Likewise the fisheries' users also were irresponsible when the majority approved of the various means of eradication. You see, the problem with "eradication" is that it only produces one thing; a policy of, never-ending, continual aggressive chemical treatments, supported by the smallest budget possible designed to get the most chemical treatment for the buck.

So what does that end up producing? Let's see, the taxpayers don't see the plants anymore, thus their property and boat motors don't take a beating. The state agencies uphold the laws which were designed on the basis of an unproven theory-nuke it so the lake-user phone calls will stop, no, that's just a joke...I think, maybe not-that science is able to go to war with aquatic plants brought here by the taxpayers from other geographical areas and succeed (so far that theory has been 100% wrong, the plants are still thriving at will and anglers still don't clean their props when leaving the lakes).

And last but not least, the aquatic habitats where "eradication" was the rule of thumb, steadily diminished, year by year, producing one more less-desirable fishery in the fishing capitol of the world.

Here's one idea for consideration. Design an aquatic plant management plan based on "adaptive plant-management strategies" that start on the premise of-wait for it-the health of the larger fish in freshwater bodies which the taxpayer-anglers spend the most money on.

Since it is this premise upon which the buck starts and stops, it only seems all too logical that the entire responsibility of aquatic weed management should be placed here-with us the taxpaying angler. (I bet you thought I'd say it should be the government agencies, right? Well that would be incorrect).

The very fact that government lake management agencies do the aquatic weed management plans that they currently do, is because the majority of freshwater body users agree with the end result-herein lies the problem. The users of the bodies of freshwater are disconnected from the reality of the situation they as a whole created and instead point the finger of blame at the government lake management agency they continue to allow to maintain the fishery they say they love.

So are the majority of users wrong? Yes, they are indeed wrong for they did not continue to start with the reality of why they built a home on a freshwater body, and/or bought a boat to use, and/or purchased equipment and angler's license. The reality of "why", has become an increasingly costly one which users do not readily want to acknowledge and accept whole-heartedly as their responsibility.

"The "why" is simply the desire to enjoy the natural richness of an uninhabited fishery", said the first fishery user while building on the shores of one of the lakes that would eventually become known as the "Bass Capitol of the World." Many came to agree with this definition of "why" and to one degree or another participated in using the fisheries.

It isn't rocket science to come up with the natural conclusion that nature ends, one user at a time. Millions upon millions of users have come to use, and now shake their head as they look upon the diminished natural-state of the fisheries.

Maybe the users should consider asking the state to raise the license fees to the highest fee out of the fifty states' license fees, instead of one of the lowest of the fifty. It isn't rocket science to understand that the "Fishing Capitol of the World" where more money is spent to use lakes by more users than anywhere else in the world, can continue to be that rich "capitol" by charging so little or nothing at all.

Giving it away means you get nothing back, what part of that don't we get? We as freshwater body users either come up with ways to convince the government to raise more money by charging us more money in more ways that actually support the fisheries directly, or just accept the constantly diminishing results we are constantly creating in our fisheries. It is that simple.

Lake Toho is the best example I've seen so far, where lake users and lake managers arrive at the right end results-a fishery reaching an optimum health-level using adaptive management strategies that actually work very noticeably in the most difficult season of the year to do so. Just think of the level of success that could be achieved in all fisheries if we paid the right price for it.

Dave Douglass is a bass fishing guide and secretary of the Florida Freshwater Fishing Coalition Inc. - FLFFC.org. He can be reached at 863-381-8474, HighlandsBassAngler.com, or e-mail him at davidpdouglass@hotmail.com

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