Wind Enhances Major Daytime Feeding Migration

On Thursday, we officially enter the first-quarter moon phase at 2:34 p.m., and 12 hours prior to that, the moon perigee occurs heightening the lunar affects to the highest level.

Both lunar events will influence fish to feed more intensely in the morning hours than they would if the opposite lunar events occurred - moon apogee at 2:32 p.m. and a last-quarter moon phase. I'm predicting Friday to be the best morning fishing day out of the next four, that is, if the weather doesn't drastically change from the current four day forecast.

Winds will come from a southerly direction for the next five or six days reaching moderate speeds in the mid- to upper-teens by mid- to late-mornings. This works well and serves to enhance the major daytime feeding migration which occurs just prior to this. As with all wind forecasts, if the predicted speed is 15 mph, the actual lake speed will be about 5-10 mph more depending on the size of the lake. In the case of Lake Istokpoga, add 10 mph for the downwind side of the lake.

The early-morning bite is the major feeding migration period of the day and occurs from 6-10 a.m. with a peak time of 8-9 a.m.. The 1-10 rating should reach 7-8 today and increase slightly each day until Friday when it will reach a 10.

The late-evening bite is only slightly less than the morning bite, and it's possible that weather conditions could serve anglers by influencing fish to feed more heavily than lunar affects would normally prompt. The rating should reach 6 or 7, and possibly an 8 today, however, this bite period will diminish noticeably on a daily basis and by Friday drop to a 5 rating.

The nighttime bite starts to form as the waxing of the full moon occurs over the next eight days and culminates next Thursday at 2:56 p.m. As this nightly feeding migration intensifies daily by the increasing light of the waxing moon it will take over as the dominant daily-feeding migration by Monday.

Daytime anglers' only hope is that there will be heavy nighttime cloud-cover to offset the positive affects that the moonlight provides a feeding fish.

Fishing Facts

When weather fronts arrive during the night, causing barometric pressure to drop and rain to fall, the fish break out of the lunar pattern they normally operate within and feed heavily.

The daytime angler should note what time during the night this type of event occurred and adjust his expectations of a daytime feeding migration to happen 12 hours from that nighttime weather event.

Fishing Fiction

"Successful angling is based in sheer luck - when the fish bite and you have bait in the water you catch fish, if not you don't."

This has to be fiction because of the fact that some anglers "always" catch twice as many fish as everyone else and even boat fish when no one else seems to be able to, but just maybe they are the "lucky ones."

Fishing Feature

Last week during the new moon phase, the type of weather pattern I mentioned in "Fishing Facts" dominated the daytime feeding migrations - rain from 5-6 a.m. caused bass to feed six hours earlier than they normally would have and shut down the midday feeding migration.

The lunar/astro Charts were worthless - trumped by the weather five out of seven days. We fished 12 hours each day using every type of rig and method possible and caught bass from an hour before safe-light to sunrise and then again twelve hours later.

We couldn't buy a fish using lunar-influenced based predictions - which assured us plenty of bass from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (I do know how to trash my own article when the weather dictates I should).

Fishing Flash

Lake Istokpoga's level is currently at 38.6 feet above sea level and holding because of the recent rainfall.

The Fish & Wildlife Commission, combined with SOS Florida Lakes Inc. (of which I am CEO) have installed kiosks at all the boat ramps supplied with lake management maps as to where aquatic plant harvesting will take place over the next month. There will most likely be a very high turbidity level in those designated areas.

Also a note: I have heard many say that South Florida Water Management has been dropping the lake level in preparation to the upcoming work to be done on many of the residential canals on the Lake Istokpoga.

This is not true: The water releases are for agricultural permitted users on a weekly schedule, who use their permits when it doesn't rain at normal seasonal amounts - which happens to be the case again this winter. We can only hope we don't have a drier-than-normal springtime.

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 today - April 1 at Lake Josephine 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.