Lures/Baits for south Florida's hot fall

[niiickboy]

Its been rough fishing in south Florida lately due to the extreme heat (even though its like this year round), I usually catch a decent amount in my community ponds/ lakes on zoom flukes and micro lures like the bitsy minnow and a few on worms like the trick worm and u tail zoom worm, but lately i have not been able to catch anything except for a small dink and a mayan cichlid in the last 2 weeks. Any ideas or tips or lures to use? I was looking into the neko rig to try today. 

[Captain Phil]

Be on the water at first light.  Fishing will be all over by 9 AM.  Come back again about an hour before dark, especially if a thunderstorm came through earlier.  If you can fish at night, do so.  If you must fish in the heat of day, fish a plastic worm on the bottom.  Most South Florida lakes are rock pits.   They are pretty deep.  That's where the fish are.  Things will pick up in November.  

[niiickboy]

@Captain PhilWhat should i use for evening/night fishing? I only fish from shore. What type of plastic worm should i use? weightless trick worm or like a weighted u tail worm?

[Captain Phil]

15 minutes ago, niiickboy said:

@Captain PhilWhat should i use for evening/night fishing? I only fish from shore. What type of plastic worm should i use? weightless trick worm or like a weighted u tail worm?

You can try top water lures at night.  When I fished those rock pits, I used a black 7-9" Texas rigged worm with a 1/8, 5/16 or 3/8 oz sinker.  The type of worm is not that important.  It depends a lot on the depth of the water and the bottom composition.  I assume the water is 10-20 feet deep away from shore? If it's shallower, lighten up on the sinker.  I have never caught many bass deeper than 30 feet in Florida.   Many rock pits have bottom structure like big rocks and ledges.  Slow down, work the worm along the bottom back to you.  Be patient.   As the water cools, fishing will get better. 

[niiickboy]

Ill try that, but do you have any peacock bass tips? Only fishes i see roaming during the day, but hard to get them to commit.

[bigbassin']

11 minutes ago, niiickboy said:

Ill try that, but do you have any peacock bass tips? Only fishes i see roaming during the day, but hard to get them to commit.

Just work a size 7 or 9 husky jerk as fast as you can, they’ll commit.

 

Gold, Silver, or Fire Tiger all work.

[niiickboy]

I don’t have that, the closest thing i have is a rebel jointed minnow lol, is size 7 or 9 the inches it is? cuz my rebel is a 4 1/2 inch silver blue back @bigbassin'

[bigbassin']

1 hour ago, niiickboy said:

I don’t have that, the closest thing i have is a rebel jointed minnow lol, is size 7 or 9 the inches it is? cuz my rebel is a 4 1/2 inch silver blue back @bigbassin'

No, it’s centimeters. So 2.8” and 3.6”.

 

4.5” Rebel should work, they’re not picky at all. Just needs to get down 4-5’, twitching as fast as possible, and you’ll get hit.

 

Any cold front completely shuts them down.

[geo g]

On 10/7/2020 at 4:05 PM, bigbassin' said:

Just work a size 7 or 9 husky jerk as fast as you can, they’ll commit.

 

Gold, Silver, or Fire Tiger all work.

I have caught a bunch of peacock on 4" senko type baits.  I also caught thousands of bass on the same bait.  The difference is for peacock keep the bait moving and close to the outside edge of grass.  Jerking erratically is the key!  For bass let it settle and slow pull along the bottom.