help! FL is too hot!

[tiredbobmarley]

Its hot in Florida right now and I cant seem to catch any bass from my boat.  Or even hardly get bit for that matter.  I've been trying to fish deeper and really only have time to fish in the evenings.  I've tried d**n near every lure I have. What have you been using?  How deep have you been fishing? Any advice would be great!  Especially some advice specifically from FL anglers.  Thanks!

[Hez]

Hey man - I'm in Central Florida - and I have been having the most luck with T-Rigged worms. I use the Culprit Fat Max - crawdad in color.  - 7 inch

I usually go out in the morning and fish till it gets hot (noonish).  

What body of water are you fishing?

I fish mostly Lake Harris in the Harris Chain.  Just about the only patterns I have been able to identify lately are catching them on the edge of the reeds and grass (5 ft of water or so), and then on the downwind side of the lake - under the edges of lily pads.  

It is definitely hot, and the bite is definitely a tough one.  Hope this helps.  

[tiredbobmarley]

Hey man, thanks for the reply.  I normally fish Winter Park chain.  I stopped fishing shallow after not catching much.  My logic said that the bass would like the cool, deep water better but.....who knows, haha.  Are you dragging the t rig across the bottom? hopping it up and down? slow or fast? Thanks again.

[Hez]

18 minutes ago, tiredbobmarley said:

Hey man, thanks for the reply.  I normally fish Winter Park chain.  I stopped fishing shallow after not catching much.  My logic said that the bass would like the cool, deep water better but.....who knows, haha.  Are you dragging the t rig across the bottom? hopping it up and down? slow or fast? Thanks again.

I have been fishing T-rig moderately fast.  Not too fast, but not dead stick slow.  I have found they like it to be dragged across the bottom - haven't had any bites hopping it or swimming it - all have been dragged on the bottom.  

[tiredbobmarley]

Alright.  I'll be giving that a try the next time  I get on the water. 

[bigbassin']

Find the thickest mats you can, like ones that'll need a 2 ounce weight to get through, and punch them. It'll be dark and shady underneath.

[BassinLou]

It's hot, no denying that... but if you find the cover, you will find the fish. Punch through it, on top of it, or along side of it. Good luck!! Deep isn't necessary the answer. Nice thick green vegetation will offer 2 important things, shade and oxygen. 

[soflabasser]

6 hours ago, tiredbobmarley said:

Its hot in Florida right now and I cant seem to catch any bass from my boat.  Or even hardly get bit for that matter.  I've been trying to fish deeper and really only have time to fish in the evenings.  I've tried d**n near every lure I have. What have you been using?  How deep have you been fishing? Any advice would be great!  Especially some advice specifically from FL anglers.  Thanks!

Try fishing at night.I recently caught a bass that was less than a ounce away from being ten pounds and I caught this bass at nighttime using a swimbait.Other good times to fish during the summer are during sunrise,sunset,and cloudy/rainy days.

[geo g]

This is definitely a tough time to fish down here in Florida.  Summer bass don't always go deep, they often go for heavy cover and sit under the thick vegetation where the O2 levels are a little higher, and there is shade from the summer sun.  Also O2 levels are sometimes low in deeper water from dying vegetation especially in summer.   Look for areas with a little current.  They will set up in the shade close to the current in an ambush mode.  Wind driven current will work if you have grass islands like on Okeechobee.  As others have said fish early or fish late when the suns rays are not beating straight down.  I will also slow down with an assortment of Texas rigged plastics and either just drag them slow, or slow jerk and long pause.  Throw them in the heavy junk and be a line watcher.

[tiredbobmarley]

16 hours ago, geo g said:

This is definitely a tough time to fish down here in Florida.  Summer bass don't always go deep, they often go for heavy cover and sit under the thick vegetation where the O2 levels are a little harder, and there is shade from the summer sun.  Look for areas with a little current.  They will set up in the shade close to the current in an ambush mode.  Wind driven current will work if you have grass islands like on Okeechobee.  As others have said fish early or fish late when the suns rays are not beating straight down.  I will also slow down with an assortment of Texas rigged plastics and either just drag them slow, or slow jerk and long pause.  Throw them in the heavy junk and be a line watcher.

Geo G....any certain color that you've been using that seems to be working well? Junebug is normally the ticket for me but not recently.

[geo g]

2 hours ago, tiredbobmarley said:

Geo G....any certain color that you've been using that seems to be working well? Junebug is normally the ticket for me but not recently.

Clear water or slight stain I like watermelon  red, watermelon seed, or Morning Dawn.

Dark stain, muddy water, Junebug, black.

4" senko, or BP sticko has been doing exceptionally well.  Fish weightless, or light weight, and slow pull on bottom and slight jerk and long pause in the thick stuff.   Watch your line closely, the bite has been very subtle 

[geo g]

This morning I went out for a couple of hours and the bite was tough.  All bass were deep close to the bottom and hugging the drop off walls.  I thew the stick-o in watermelon purple and had to dead stick it until it reached the bottom, then slowly pull it a foot or two and let it sit again.  The bite was very subtle, you could barely feel a slight tick on the line.  Anything faster would produce nothing.  Ended up catching ten in a two hour period.  Big one was over 4 pounds.  Summer with 90+ water temps is a tough time of the year, and takes a lot of patients to catch fish.

[Acheron1377]

I agree with most of these guys.  I have only had luck early morning 0600-1200. T-Rigged Junebug senko works best for me on a very slow retrieve.  I have noticed that the bass will hit the bait but they will not run once they bite.  If you miss the tick you will miss the fish.  

[Fishing Cowgirl]

We have still found them shallow. Just fishing flukes (Mardi Gras) dead stick slow, and very barely moving a speed worm in Junebug. I just caught two trophy catches in June and July, the first 8.2  (Stick bait black and blue) in reeds and the 9.2 on the speed worm crawling it over submerged hydrilla. Both were in less than 2' of water.. Husband caught his 2nd trophy catch (8.3) on a floating frog (white), slowly twitching by gator grass. It cleared the water like a submarine and crashed down on it.  

 

I think the heat is just harder on us than the fish. Its like you have to drop it or drag over them.

[davecon]

When it gets really hot I fish for snook. Never gets too hot for them. I'm on west coast of Florida and do great this time of year. You may be closer to the east coast though.

Only problem - once you catch a snook bass will never be the same.

You've been warned !

Google a couple of videos to see what I mean - snook fishing 101 and snook fishing 102. Keep in mind the guy is using bass tackle, same stuff you probably have, just tie on a short leader. You'll see.

[Hez]

1 hour ago, davecon said:

When it gets really hot I fish for snook. Never gets too hot for them. I'm on west coast of Florida and do great this time of year. You may be closer to the east coast though.

Only problem - once you catch a snook bass will never be the same.

You've been warned !

Google a couple of videos to see what I mean - snook fishing 101 and snook fishing 102. Keep in mind the guy is using bass tackle, same stuff you probably have, just tie on a short leader. You'll see.

I refuse, lol!  

 

"Only problem - once you catch a snook bass will never be the same." - specifically because of this!!!!!!!

[davecon]

Hezeez, if you are in Apopka you are relatively close to snook. If you can withstand the temptation of the "forbidden fruit" , snook that is , you may remain content with the bass. Once you do catch a snook there is no turning back. I fished exclusively for bass for well over twenty years. Moved across the street from a brackish river. Had to try the river for bass and caught quite a few then had my religion changed when I caught my first snook. No going back. Kinda like discovering sex - wow !

I now fish for bass primarily during the spawn. As soon as it is over - back to the snook.

Not to brag, it's just that I've been doing this a long time right here in central Florida, and have caught a LOT of bass over 9, with the biggest two in the teens. Believe me when I tell you that a good size snook, say 35 inches or so which is not uncommon, will out fight any bass that swims !

If you don't want your fishing life drastically changed DO NOT watch those videos and STAY AWAY FROM SNOOK !

Hope you realize I'm just kidding, but nothing I said above is incorrect.

LOL,

Dave

[soflabasser]

I agree with Dave that a 35" or better snook is a much better fighter than any largemouth bass in existence. They get even funner to catch when they become +40",a equal sized muskie cannot hold a candle to a snook of this size(not many freshwater fish can compare with a big snook).I still fish for bass though since I enjoy how convenient it is to fish for bass(hundreds of lakes,ponds,and canals down here) and how much of a challenge it is to consistently catch big bass from land.

[davecon]

Soflabasser,

never mean't to imply that I don't love bass fishing, it is my first love and I'm still a bass fisherman at heart. It's just that a Snook, especially a big SNUK as the old timers called them, are so much fun.

Sounds like you understand.

Dave

 

[soflabasser]

Dave it is obvious that you enjoy bass fishing and you are very good at it.I feel the same way about bass,that's why I keep fishing for them, even though we got so much variety to choose from in our state.Snook season just opened a couple days ago in my area,so I will start targeting the linesiders more often now until the season ends.