Don't Wait Until The Weekend

The full moon happens three days from tonight at 9:16 p.m., which means today's peak feeding migration occurs from 10 a.m. to noon and starts about 15 minutes later each day and builds in intensity as the moon's position to the earth becomes increasingly closer; influencing more fish to feed longer and in greater numbers.

Thursday's peak period is from 10:15 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday's is from 10:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., and Saturday's is from 10:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. As always, pay attention to the weather patterns in order to make correct adjustments to the lunar tables.

Fishing Formula

For three days prior to a full-moon lunar phase, use the following formulas: Lots of rain the night before delays the lunar effect, and no rain at all the night before causes no change. A dropping barometer prior to the lunar event starts it early and one that happens afterward delays it. Overcast days force fish out of thick vegetation into sparse vegetation with wave action, and sunny days does the opposite.

Fishing Facts

In Florida, bass fishing on weekends in the larger lakes yields far less than fishing during the weekdays.

The reason for this is "fishing pressure", which causes the trophy-sized bass to move either into thick protected oxygenated vegetation or into the deepest oxygenated water columns.

Due to the "catch-and-release" practice the majority of anglers use, the chances of a recovering-from-a-hookset trophy bass swimming for cover as your boat settles down off plane into her area, are very high.

The best bass fishing day of any week is when the right combination of lunar phase and weather pattern happens between Wednesdays through Fridays. In the last four years, more than 2/3 of my best bass were caught during this exact scenario.

Fishing Flash

HT3'sSummer Slam Series team tour was on Lake Istokpoga on Saturday and launched out ofWindy Pointramp at safe-light. It was a tough day on the water with lots of wind and rain to contend with.

First place went toGary and Linda Paul with 17.74 pounds for a three-fish limit. They also took big fish with 8.60 pounds and finished almost nine pounds ahead of the second-place finishers of Bill Seibert of Outback USA and his partner Geoff Balog with 9.72-pounds and a 4.06-pound big bass.

For all the news on HT3 tournaments, visit HT3OUTDOORS.com

Fishing Feature

This week's feature is a quote from Linda Paul on her account of how the HT3 tournament was won.

Linda Paul posted the following entry in her HT3 Pulse blog: "Gary and I discussed our strategy the night before and the morning of the tournament. We had several areas that we wanted to fish, but were not sure if they would produce. As the day went on, we kept asking - what should we do next? Our morning spot did not produce a bite! We worked the area rigorously, and became discouraged when we didn't get any early fish. We talked a lot about where to go next, and arrived at the next spot around 9:00. We finally got our first bite around 10 ... and it was a nice one! The fish almost pulled Gary's rod into the water when it hit!

We were on the board with a nice five-pounder. We threw out a marker and circled the area. Our second bite didn't come until a half hour later ... and this time the four-pounder was mine. It felt good to contribute to our team effort. We fished the same area for hours. I was able to put another 3 pounder in the boat. This gave us about 12 pounds. We thought we would need at least 15 lbs to be in the money. So, around 2, we decided to try our last spot. Bam! The eight-pounder slammed Gary's bait. We were so excited about landing that fish, we just decided it was time to go in. "

Fishing Tournaments

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

The following two-day bass tournaments both take place on the weekend of Aug. 16-17 on Lake Istokpoga, launching at opposite ends of the lake. The weigh-in events are at different times so it is possible to attend both if you don't mind driving from one end of the lake to the other by boat or car. Lakeland Bassmasters weighs in at 2 p.m. and HT3 is from 2:30 to 4 p.m. (Most anglers weigh-in closer to 4 p.m.).

The Lakeland Bassmasters Istokpoga 2 Day Tournament, which is the largest federated Bass club in the world, will be launching Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 16 - 17, from Istokpoga Park, route 98, Lorida. Weigh-In is at 2 p.m. For more information. visit their website at www.lakelandbassmasters.org

HT3 Sunwest Xecutive Tour 2 Day Event will take place on Lake Istokpoga this Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 16 - 17 launching out of Istokpoga Marina in Lake Placid, located on the southwest end of the lake. Weigh-In is from 2:30 - 4 p.m. For more information contact tournament director Pat Malone at 352-735=502 or visit HT3OUTDOORS.com.