Afternoon best time to fish

The new moon arrived early this morning at 2:51 a.m., which is good news for the daytime anglers.

Less moonlight means fish feed less and work harder to locate food during the night which serves to create a larger appetite for the daytime feeding migration. The bad news is that over the next three or four days the nighttime low temperatures will drop into the mid-30s and the daytime highs into the mid-60s and this translates into fish feeding less as they move throughout the lake in order to locate the warmest water possible.

Water temperatures are expected to drop down into the 50s again this week as a daytime high so anglers will have to work harder to locate fish, and once they do, producing a strike from a non-hungry fish won't be easy either.

Today the major daytime feeding migration will occur from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a peak period occurring when the sun is full and the water temperature reaches its daily high degree. The intensity rating might reach 6 because of the cold weather when normally it would be an 8 with temps in the 70s.

The early morning bite normally would start to build over the next three days as the midday bite becomes a weak afternoon bite, however the cold weather will put a stop to this normal seasonal pattern and instead create a stronger afternoon-to-evening bite.

Monday through Tuesday anglers can expect the early afternoon-to-evening bite to be "the dominant" feeding migration of the day. If temperatures return to seasonal norms in the second half of this week, the early morning bite will pick-up and become the major bite period of the day. For the next three days the rating will be a dismal 3 or 4 with no distinguishable peak period to speak of.

Yes again the unseasonably cold weather will test the angler's resolve to put fish in the boat. Climate change seems to be taking a downward turn during this winter season; the fish actually "feel" colder than in past years - or maybe it's just that all the hype about global warming changed my perception of temperature changes in general.

Fishing facts

When water temperatures drop into the 50s and 40s here in Central Florida, the fish are forced to search for the warmest water available. In many of our lakes this means that high-turbid waters with plenty of suspended solids will be the choice of the majority of the lake's food chain. Suspended matter holds heat and this attracts the entire food chain not to mention that muddy lake bottoms also holds heat better than clean sandy bottoms. Both facts combined; serve to provide fish with a suitable environment in which to wait out the colder-than-normal weather conditions.

Fishing formula

Anglers should start in the shoreline areas and work their way out to depths of three to four feet. Fish are lethargic and non-responsive but if bothered will move slowly out of the way and return when you leave. For this reason longer casts and exceptionally long pauses after the initial splash of the bait will be required to entice the semi-suspended fish into considering investigating the intrusion. If a successful hookset occurs the angler is faced with a much longer distance in which to battle the fish back to the boat deck.

Fishing fiction

"The best way to fight a hooked bass is to muscle it up to the water's surface and retrieve it as fast as possible across the top of the water." This might work with bass less than three pounds but definitely nothing larger. The hookset also must be in a solid part of the fishes' mouth that won't tear open during the battle allowing the fish to tear its own mouth to get free.

I prefer to do the opposite strategy and only fight the fish hard enough to keep the line firm with no slack as to not tear the hook free. Once the fish has tired out a powerful trolling motor is the better tool and method to get to the tired, tangled-up bass while reeling in the line, keeping the line taunt as the fish is approached.

Larger bass always have one last battle in them right as the angler attempts to use the net or hands to get them in the boat. Having the drag setting just right in order to allow a thrashing fish to pull some line will prove to be the right move in the angler successfully landing a large bass.

Horsing the fish in, as they say, proves to be a heartbreaker more often than not. Finesse and strong trolling motors and a proper drag setting on the reel will produce more trophy bass in the boat.

Fishing flash

Lake Istokpoga is currently at the seasonal high pool-level of 39.5' above sea level with all three S-68 spillway gates open about a half a foot as of Saturday morning. The FWC is continuing tussocks removal on Big Island, Henderson's Point, and in the Arbuckle Creek/Istokpoga Park area on the north end of the lake.

The FWC's plan is to open up areas that have been overgrown with native vegetations. All three areas used to provide spawning areas for bass but over the past five years or more have gradually become rank and therefore unusable for bass to spawn - bass require clean water, structural protection, and a modest current following through the bedding area.

FWC representatives ask that boaters using the Big Island Cut use caution and speeds just fast enough to stay on plain because of the machinery working in that area. Fish and Wildlife personnel have posted information maps at lake access ramps around the lake to inform lake users of the ongoing work.

Getting the maps provided at the Istokpoga access ramps by the FWC is essential for public safety and angler enjoyment. With the recent FWC project the ball was dropped in this regard but because of a few proactive Istokpoga anglers and two weeks of effort and communication and a few close calls with high-speed bass boats blasting through the Big Island Cut while mechanical harvesters filled barges, information maps were provided for the public's benefit.

Tournament news

The Monday Morning Lake Josephine 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 Tournament will be on Lake June, Feb. 17, and next week's event, February 24, is on Crooked Lake. Launch time is 7:30 a.m. and weigh-in time is at noon. Entry fee is $30 per boat to be paid at the ramp. For complete information, call Paul Tardiff, home: (863) 385-8007, cell: (863) 273-4062, or Dwight Ameling (863) 471-3305.