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Highlands Today

Late Afternoon Best Time To Drop A Line

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DAVE DOUGLASS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 18, 2009

Today the last quarter moon phase officially arrives at 5:47 p.m. and with it comes enough lunar influence to create the best late-afternoon feeding migration of the month. However, today's late-afternoon to evening bite might be a bit slow and less than it normally would be, because of the arrival of a minor front yesterday and the subsequent mass feeding it produced.

The winds are forecasted to remain moderate to mild-below 15 mph-but rotate clockwise from out of the north and eventually out of the east by Thursday. This is a typical Florida spring weather pattern; the wind comes from a northerly direction for a few days, rotates clockwise 90 degrees every few days, and in five or six days the south winds pickup to above 15 mph as a weather front approaches from the west northwest, then the winds finish the clockwise-rotation cycle quickly over the next 24 hours back out of a northerly direction as the front moves through the area.

Today we are at the tail end of that weather cycle-or the beginning depending on where you factor the "start" to be. The fish have fed more aggressively than normal over the past 24 hours as the wind cycle quickly completed its rotation-southwest to west, then northwest to north in one day. The atmospheric pressure drop combined with the change in wave action-a direction switch and larger oxygen producing wave cycles in the water column-becomes the trigger for the fishes' appetite.

The best bite of the day is the late-afternoon to evening bite. It occurs from 6 - 9 p.m. with a peak time happening at sunset-7:37 p.m.. The 1-10 rating should reach a 9 today and over the next four days decline one point each day, and start later each day by 40 minutes.

The early-morning bite is the angler's second choice of the day, reaching a 6 on the 10-scale. It occurs from 6 - 9 a.m. with a peak time occurring right after sunrise-7:32 a.m... Over the next four days this migration will become the major feeding migration of the day as the New Moon lunar phase arrives on March 26.

The nighttime bite diminishes to its monthly low on the 10-scale over the next week, reaching a 2 or 3 at best. Last week the night anglers enjoyed perfect fishing conditions consisting of a brightly shining moon, and slight drops in barometric pressure, both serving to produce active fish feeds.

Fishing Facts

The angler's primary tool in successfully achieving his art at the highest level is the understanding of how the weather influenced daily fish migration patterns-the three days before the fishing trip and the conditions at the moment and how they combine and place the fish where it is. The difference in success and failure is usually less than 50 feet from where success was three days before, or even just yesterday. It all depends on the type of lake and how extreme the weather change was or is.

The bottom line to remember is that fish are just plain lazy and won't move any further than they have to, to survive and thrive. The only exception to this rule is the rogue largemouth bass that is constantly on the move, from one area of the lake to the other-it knows it owns the entire lake and has taken several rides in angler's live wells and lived to roam free again.

The Outback Crappie Tournament on March 14 and 15 resulted in Gordon Tyler bringing 3.18 lbs to the scales to finish third. Cleadus Rose finished second with 3.34 lbs, and taking first place was Andrew Ponicki with 4.80 lbs, with one of his three fish weighing 1.76 lbs which was good enough to take the Big Fish prize.

Tournament News

The Outback USA Crappie Tournament is open to the public and will be held monthly. The fourth event will be on April 4 and 5. Entry fee is $5 and anglers can fish any lake of their choice and weigh-in on any day at Outback USA at 14021 US-27 South. Application can be picked up at Outback USA which is half way between South Sebring and Lake Placid, on route 27S. Store hours are from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.

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 on March 25 at Lake Jackson Time: 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.

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