summer in FL

[The Guy]

The water temps here are getting into the mid to high 80's. As summer progresses do you think the majority of bass will go deeper into the vegetation or venture into deeper water?  My home lake has a lot of vegetation around the shore line but it has a few decent drop offs (for Florida) and is around 20ft at it's deepest.

[RoLo]

During the long summers in Florida, the biggest issue is NOT water temperatures,

but is low levels of dissolved oxygen that's sometimes caused by high water temperatures.

Although hot sweltering weather may bother warm-blooded animals like you and me,

bass are perfectly comfortable in warm water, provided that is, it contains

adequate dissolved oxygen. If oxygen levels are depleted by a prolonged hot spell,

bass will aggregate around the healthiest aquatic vegetation, ironically,

with little regard to depth. When oxygen content is low, bass would happily converge

on hydrilla beds in 8-ft of water, however if submergent vegetation were non-existent,

they'd be equally happy to converge on spatterdock fields in 3-ft of water.

Roger

[JaxBasser]

Yeah I've been catching bass in no more than 3 feet of water. The water i'm fishing has really heavy vegetation in it though.

[Under the Radar]

A flavor of Florida!

I had the good luck to go fishing last Saturday morning. This was a good thing... but after a short time I ran out of live bait. I was sitting there deciding what I was going to do about bait.  Then over to the side I saw a cottonmouth with a frog in his mouth. Frogs are good bass bait. Knowing the snake couldn't bite me with the frog in his mouth I grabbed him right behind the head, took the frog, and put it in my bait bucket.

Now the dilemma was how to release the snake without getting bit. So, I grabbed my bottle of Wild Turkey and poured a little whiskey in its mouth. His eyes rolled back, he went limp. I released him into the lake without incident and carried on fishing using the frog.

A little later, I felt a nudge on my foot. There was that same snake with two frogs in his mouth.

Life is good in Florida.   :

[flyboy]

But, did you catch any fish on the frog?  I wouldn't share any of my Wild Turkey with a snake that brought me bum frogs.

A flavor of Florida!

I had the good luck to go fishing last Saturday morning. This was a good thing... but after a short time I ran out of live bait. I was sitting there deciding what I was going to do about bait. Then over to the side I saw a cottonmouth with a frog in his mouth. Frogs are good bass bait. Knowing the snake couldn't bite me with the frog in his mouth I grabbed him right behind the head, took the frog, and put it in my bait bucket.

Now the dilemma was how to release the snake without getting bit. So, I grabbed my bottle of Wild Turkey and poured a little whiskey in its mouth. His eyes rolled back, he went limp. I released him into the lake without incident and carried on fishing using the frog.

A little later, I felt a nudge on my foot. There was that same snake with two frogs in his mouth.

Life is good in Florida. :

[gar-tracker]

The Wild Turkey explains the grabbing of the moccasin.

The further south you go the less the heat effects them, Iv caught bass in unbelievably shallow water in the summer heat, in mid day.

[The Guy]

Thanks for the info guys

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Fish are super shallow here in the earlier portion of the day.  They are moving a little deeper as the day progresses, but not much.  Most fish I've been catching are hanging just off the edge of the drop offs on the retention lakes down here.  No really defined schools of bass on my home lake.  On one of the larger lakes in the area here they've been in tight schools chasing baitfish around in open water.  Haven't found any that were relating to real structure on that lake yet.  Bait of choice for me for the majority of the day has been something small and moving.  1/4 oz - 3/8 oz shallow running cranks around 2" long have been great lately in my area.  Swim jigs with a paddletail trailer are effective also.  I haven't used any, but with the winds we've had lately a spinnerbait should be just as effective.  Like Rolo said, the vegetation is the key to the shallow waters.  If you can find good healthy grass, you're in business.  There is a lot of dead/dying vegetation on the banks of my lake, so the fish are probably going to be heading a little deeper before too long to find better water.  It is really going to be one hot summer this year.  Make sure you wear sunblock and dress accordingly.  Long sleeves in a comfortable shirt would probably be wise.  A pair of good pants would be smart if you're fishing during the hot part of the day.  There is nothing worse than burning the back of your legs if you stand most of the day.

[evrgladesbasser]

During the long summers in Florida, the biggest issue is NOT water temperatures,

but is low levels of dissolved oxygen that's sometimes caused by high water temperatures.

Although hot sweltering weather may bother warm-blooded animals like you and me,

bass are perfectly comfortable in warm water, provided that is, it contains

adequate dissolved oxygen. If oxygen levels are depleted by a prolonged hot spell,

bass will aggregate around the healthiest aquatic vegetation, ironically,

with little regard to depth. When oxygen content is low, bass would happily converge

on hydrilla beds in 8-ft of water, however if submergent vegetation were non-existent,

they'd be equally happy to converge on spatterdock fields in 3-ft of water.

Roger

Could not agree more. Seems like I catch fish in the same locations all day long. The only difference I see is they tend to find the more shaddy spots in the middle of the day. In other words they will still be in 3ft of water, but find a tree shading 3ft of water and they are more likely to be there.

[Fish-r]

Very interesting info... I love this place

[SoFlaBassAddict]

If you can't learn something here....you got problems.   

[I.rar]

great stuff.

[frogflogger]

yesterday we had heat index of 110 the water in the glades was in the high 80's - caught 1-2#ers on worms fished 8' deep but the big ones 5# and over were all on frogs from 11 am til 2pm, when we quit before we suffered heat stroke. The fish were in 1' to 3' deep water in pad beds. The strikes on the frog were spectacular and the fish were very frisky.

[evrgladesbasser]

yesterday we had heat index of 110 the water in the glades was in the high 80's - caught 1-2#ers on worms fished 8' deep but the big ones 5# and over were all on frogs from 11 am til 2pm, when we quit before we suffered heat stroke. The fish were in 1' to 3' deep water in pad beds. The strikes on the frog were spectacular and the fish were very frisky.

Where were you fishing out of? I'm curious because that time of day always seems to be a real lazy bite to me. I only seem to get them on a slow presentation. I can't work a frog to save my life though....

[gar-tracker]

Big fish eat late, always have. 12-2.

[frogflogger]

We were fishing off of the tamiami trail - but we were out yesterday off 27 (the fingers) and had pretty much the same results. In 60 years of bass fishing my records for big bass show most were caught between  9 or 10 AM and 2 PM that's fishing all over the U.S. I think Bassmaster mag. had an article that confirms my experience.