Early Morning Has Best Bite Of Day

The morning feeding migration during the waxing of the Full Moon of October is arguably the best early-morning bite of the year.

Yesterday at 9:04 a.m. the First-Quarter Moon event occurred, starting the beginning of a new early-morning bite.

The migration occurs from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. and it's exceptional to say the least.

After this peak period, the feeding migration experiences only a slight decline in intensity. The peak will reach a 9 on the scale of 1 - 10, and then settle for the remainder of the morning at 7-8 on the scale.

Thursday through Saturday the peak period starts 30-40 minutes later each day and builds in intensity and duration.

The Florida angler will catch fish over the next week at rates and levels above the norm and perhaps the best he's every seen.

The later-afternoon bite is doing the total opposite of the early-morning bite; diminishing in intensity and duration to a 2 or 3 on the scale. The only thing that is able to help this bite improve is a significant atmospheric pressure decline caused by a lower pressure system moving into the lake's area.

Central Florida early morning anglers have what they wait for - a Florida Fall causing water temperatures to drop into the middle to low 70s, a First-Quarter Moon occurring at midmorning, and a weather forecast that doesn't interfere with lunar influences.

Visions of eight-to-10 pounders crushing top-water baits should be clearly visible to you this week - literally.

Fishing Facts

Of all the fish migration bite patterns caused by the moon, the early-morning First-Quarter Moon bite is the least likely to be interfered with by changing erratic weather. For this reason pattern-fishing is stable and reliable enough to progressively learn fish location.

Each new day, the angler can use the previous day's findings, and build off of that research, achieving greater success. It is this seven-day migration period that the angler is able to learn a great deal about how fish move his favorite lake.

Fishing Formula

The strategy for the next four days is very simple. Get to the lake as early as possible and motor to a known proven area and start working your favorite top-water baits (I say "baits" because if you're like me you have several that you like using but don't always have the right situation to warrant using them).

Start by casting a frog with no weight into vegetation and aggressively working it through the area to see if there are active feeders.

Try a frog with a ¼ or 1/8 ounce weight to create more splash and a kicking-type fall into the base of the vegetation.

While you're at it, tie on a "Devil's Horse" and use a wide variety of retrieval techniques; very quick short bursts of speed with a pause, long pauses with only slight 90 degree turns caused by gently raising the rod tip before moving it slowly forward to repeat the pause again, and a slow steady retrieve which promotes fish to chase and pursue, resulting in a accurate timed strike.

Fishing Fiction

"Fish bite all day in different parts of the lake, they don't all feed at the same time." This statement like all great fishing sayings, is based on a partial truth but expanded into reasoning which is totally untrue.

It is true that anglers can and do catch fish all throughout the day, but only if those anglers go to where the fish are and literally hit them on the head with the bait in order to promote a reaction strike from the "Non-Feeding" fish.

Note the "Non-Feeding" part. Fish do not feed all day long differently throughout the lake. A Florida Largemouth Bass will not feed at 8 a.m. on the north end and stop at 9 AM, and then all the Bass on the south end start to feed at 11 a.m. and stop at 1:00 p.m...

However it is true that if the fish all feed at 4-6 a.m. before the angler gets to the lake, and that angler starts fishing at 8 a.m. and goes to four different sections of the lake during the day and hits a bass on the head with his bait in each area, he can possibly catch a fish at different times in different areas which were "Not Feeding Fish."

Then along comes an unsuccessful angler who then says, "The fish bite at different times in different areas of the lake - they don't all feed at once, the newspaper guy is wrong."

Fishing Feature

Many days of the week I have clients who are fishing different lakes at the same time I am fishing. During the course of the day, they call me with their progress and results; relaying the particulars of catches or non-catches, as the case may be.

This week while I was boating 13 inch bass which were feeding aggressively on Kissimmee, I had two clients fish separate lakes during the same time, who called with their information.

Upon comparing the three angler reports, it became clear that three anglers, on lakes in different counties, fishing different vegetation with totally different baits and retrieve styles, all caught fish at exactly the same time for the same amount of time, at exactly the same rate.

However, one difference was totally clear - The Lake Istokpoga fisherman's bass were twice the size at the others.

Now this is not an isolated case, as I already stated. In fact as I reviewed my records I again realized that anglers do catch fish at the same time of day over 90 percent of the time and only the catch size changes slightly.

The recorded events (42) legitimize anglers planning fishing events in accordance with lunar cycles, but adjusting for weather changes.

Fishing Tournaments

Wednesday Morning Black Bass Fishing Tournament is open to the public. Next Event: Today - October 8 on Lake Jackson. Time: 7:30 a.m. to noon. Pay at ramp - entry fee $30 per boat.

One person may fish alone if you do not have a partner. Next event is on Lake Josephine, Oct 15.

For information, contact Paul Tardiff at (863)385-8007 Home, Cell (863) 446-1310 bassbutchie60@aol.com or Dwight Ameling at (863)471-3305.