Early morning bite heats up in morning

This week anglers will have a developing early morning feeding migration during the coolest part of the day. Water temperatures have also declined slightly over the past week, which is enough to influence fish to feed a little more often than they have been over past two months of extreme heat. Both factors should combine to produce an excellent day on the water for all anglers.

The early morning bite really picks up when nighttime temperatures drop into the lower seventies thus dropping water temperatures into the mid-80s. This is ideal for Florida's fish to eat-at-will which is exactly what will be taking place over the next week.

The major feeding migration of the day, for the next three days, occurs between the hours of 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. with a peak period occurring at safelight - approximately 45 minutes before sunrise. The 1-10 scale rating should reach a 5 today and tomorrow and then steadily climb daily for the next 10 days until the new moon arrives.

The secondary feeding migration occurs 12 hours later from 4 to 8 p.m. with a peak period happening during the sunset, "if" our daily thunderstorms don't interfere. This migration will gradually decrease in duration and intensity with a 1-10 scale rating of 7 today, 6 tomorrow, and then a 4 for the remainder of the week.

Fishing facts

The month of September usually brings perfect weather conditions for fish to bulk-up after the lean hot months of the Florida summer. When water temperatures averages are in the mid to lower 80s, fish begin to feed almost daily during the lunar perigee, and three or four times a week during the lunar apogee. Large bass, for instance, will start to migrate into Cattails at sunset to feed until the sun rises. This is because nighttime dissolved oxygen rates, within  vegetative areas, will gradually climb throughout the month making for perfect feeding conditions under the cover-of-night.

Fishing fiction

"Red colors on baits attract more bites because the fish see blood and therefore a sign of a wounded fish; an easy meal to be had." Fish don't see colors like humans do. Instead they see contrast between sunlight and objects that move. Studies have shown fish to interpret dark spectrum colors as brown or black, and lighter shades of the spectrum as light grey, silver, or gold or in other words, "flash" colors.

A bass doesn't look at a potential food source to see if there might be blood coming out of it. However it is true that fish can smell a scent such as blood and therefore determine to eat the member of the lake's food-chain for that reason - a tasty meal that smells good.

So red, hooks, weights, and painted-on injuries, don't cause fish to bite the bait, but they do cause the angler to bite the bait, figuratively when he forks over the cash to see red..

This saying is truer of the angler than for the fish--the angler looks for red colors on baits, because they look wounded and therefore able to produce an easy catch - the only one "had" and seeing red, is the angler. Especially when fish don't bite his wounded red bait or the other twelve bags of red baits he bought. He should have bought a red-blooded scented bait because it is the reasoning the fish does use instead of sight-produced reasoning.

Fishing flash

Fishing License Info: Phone: 1-888-Fish Florida, Website: MyFWC.com

Lake Istokpoga's Level is at 38.53 feet above sea level today with three gates open at the S-68 spillway about nine inches; flowing about 860 cubic feet per minute from the lake into the canal.

Outback USA Customer Calendar Opportunity. The Outback USA bait and tackle store is hosting a new customer calendar featuring fishing pictures sent by you, the Highlands County Angler. All ages are welcome to participate by sending a digital 5-inch by 4-inch photo--preferably by email but hardcopies are also acceptable-that clearly shows both you and your fish. Local businesses are invited to purchase business card advertisement space on the calendar as well. All photos must be submitted before the deadline of Oct. 31, 2010. For complete information please call 863-699-0035 or send an email to outbackpartsdept@comcast.net

Tournament news

The Monday Morning Black Bass Fishing Tournament is open to the public and launches at 8 a.m. with weigh-in at 1 p.m. Next event is on Lake Apthorpe, Aug. 30. Entry fee is $15 per boat with a payout of two-thirds of fees to first place one-third to second place. For information, call Paul Tardiff at 863-385-8007 (home) or 863-273-4062 (cell).

The Friday Morning Lake June/Josephine Bass Tournament will be on Lake Josephine this week, Sept. 3, starting at 7 a.m. and ending at noon. This tournament alternates between the two lakes. Entry fee is $20 and pays first two places. Big Bass fee is $5 and pays first place. For more information, call Ralph Howard at 863-381-4640, or Bob Stanley at 863-458-2118.

Your lake manager's contact information

Clell Ford, Lakes Management Specialist, Highlands County, 4434 George Blvd., Sebring, FL 33875. Phone: 863-402-6545, E-mail: Cford@hcbcc.org

Vicki Pontius, Parks and Recreation Director, Highlands County, 4344 George Blvd., Sebring, FL33875. Phone: 863-402-6812, E-mail: Vpontius@hcbcc.org

Steven Gornak, FFWCC, Aquatic Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Sub-Section, Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, 3991 S.E. 27th Court, Okeechobee, FL 34974. Phone: 863-462-5190, Mobile: 863-697-6256, E-mail: steven.gornak@myfwc.com

Erica Van Horn, FFWCC, Invasive Plant Management Section, 2001 Homeland Garfield Rd. Bartow, FL 33830. Phone: 863-534-7074, E-mail: erica.vanhorn@myfwc.com