Stick Marsh and Lake J

[George Welcome]

The month has continued with phenomenal catches to report. On the 13th it was Mike Martin and Bekin Youngblood ready to try their hand at hooking up using native golden shiners. A quick stop at Middleton's and we were off armed with 6-dozen of Joe's best.

The morning was mild as the sun peeked over the cypress that surround the lake. Picking our spot and placing two shiners along the edge of the grass produced bass within the first two minutes of anchoring. Throughout the morning correct placement of the shiners produced bass after bass. Hookup ratio was outstanding and as the morning ended so did our stock of shiners. Seventy two shiners produced 67 bass, and let me tell you that is an outstanding hookup record. Usually the hookup ratio is less than 60%, but these guys had the technique needed to get the job done. I'm waiting for pictures from them and will post them on the photo gallery as soon as I get them.

On the 15th Joe O'Brien and friend Karen Franzese were on deck. Joe and Karen have fished many times with me and are both very experienced fishers. Usually Joe works the artificial and Karen works shiners, but after hearing the earlier reports the days selections was wild golden shiners. Again and connection with Middleton's and we were on our way with 6-dozen. Another day of fantastic fishing greeted us as we launched. I decided to try a previous location. A cold front arrival preceded these trips and lingered so the bass were buried under grass and pads. The idea was to lure them out from the grass and today as with the preceding trip it worked like a charm. Again the shiners were consumed by late morning producing a catch of 63 bass. Once the anchors were up we proceeded with artificial baits for a bit but 3 bass later and a long distance covered brought us to the end of today's trip with smiles all around.

On the 16th Joe and Karen again made the trip with me. Again this time we were armed with wild golden shiners gotten from Joe Middleton's tanks. We had another day of fantastic weather forecasted and expectations were high. As twelve o'clock rolled around we were out of shiners. Today's catch of 103 bass was the best yet. There are pictures of Joe and Karen's bass on my photo gallery.

The decision to use shiners was based on the arrival of our first cold front for this season and so far it was by far the correct decision. When cold fronts drop water temperatures by 10 or more degrees these Florida bass head for cover and warmth and become very closed mouth.

Hope to see you on the water. Say hi if you get the chance.