Dec 18-20 Highlands Today    Morning Best Time to Catch Fish - "Plenty of bass being caught in Highlands County"
 

The best fishing week of December starts today as we head towards the new moon and a lunar perigee—the last-quarter moon phase in winter. The weather of the last three days serves as a positive fishing-factor as well, for the first part of this week--fish tend to shut down when weather systems are in a state of change. In addition, the weather forecast for the next three days couldn’t be better for anglers—sunny with little clouds, middle seventies for a high, ten mph winds moving clockwise from north to south over the three-day period.

If you needed more angling incentive, consider this. The local and State, lake management agencies have completed their fall lake management programs on the majority of our best lakes here in Highlands County. Lake managers have done an excellent job making sure lakes produce healthy habitat for thriving fish and wildlife.

The angler-point here is simple; “The lakes are better than they would be if they weren’t around, and they’re (managers) are out of the way for a few months, so my fish will be undisturbed until then.” Well put, we concur, we shall join in concert.

Today anglers, the cold front that arrived yesterday will slow fish down in the morning hours more than in the evenings. I would normally predict that given the current lunar and seasonal factors that the better fishing time would be mornings. This will self-correct as temps stabilize by midweek. It’s a matter of when factors cause more fish follow the leading of the rising moon than the setting moon.

An overhead-moon and rising-sun combined causes more fish to feed than an underfoot-moon and a setting-sun combined--angler’s rule to remember.     

The best fishing period for today will be from 4:30 – 8:30 a.m. when the one-in-ten scale rating rises from the daily average of 4-5 to a daily high of 7. The rating will increase by one number over the next two days as temperatures return to the eighties for a daytime high. The peak period should start at safelight and end ninety minutes later. To keep up with the morning feeding migration daily remember to move this period later into the day by thirty to forty minutes.

The second fishing period for today will occur when the moon is overhead during the sunset. Today this feeding period will, in all probability, be equal in rating to the morning period at the very least, maybe even surpass it. It all depends on afternoon weather factors, if there is any that tip the scales, (pun intended) at that time of day. Today’s minor cold snap could make a negative-difference this morning and give the evening bite the ratings edge. The peak period will begin when the sun is low on the horizon and last for an hour.

The worst time of day to fish should occur from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. when the daily rating hits lake bottom at four as it follows the setting moon to its end at 1-2 p.m.

News & Events

Win a Free Bass Fishing Trip by visit the HighlandsBassAngler.com website and try your luck to win a free half-day bass fishing trip by guessing the correct weight in pounds and ounces of the bass I am holding in the Mystery Bass Giveaway Picture. Email your guess to me by using the contact info at the end of this article or on my website.

Lake Istokpoga’s level is currently at 39.52’ above sea level where it has been for over a month.

Istokpoga is currently producing huge bass in all sections. Anglers report great success using swim baits, and lipless crank baits altered for hydrilla—treble hooks replaced with types of single and double hooks in order to pull through the thick weed without fouling the bait. Shorelines are full of pre-spawn males, which have been opened up by recent weed management programs.

Over the past few weeks, I have talked with many anglers, who like all anglers have preference as to which lake is best suited for their angling ability. And, as is “not” usually the case, the predominate conclusion on the state of fishing here in Highlands County is good to very good—except for lakes of course, which have not recovered to their average levels.

Recently, more often than not, anglers boast of better-than-the-last-few-years type catches, and tell trophy bass stories that are more-than-enough to make you drop everything and head to the lake—immediately if not sooner.

Perhaps the angler’s “word of mouth” is the single most influential fishing inspiration an angler could have bestowed upon him. Did I tell you that several Okeechobee and Istokpoga anglers have boated post-spawn female bass in the last week?

Keep telling those huge “hawg” bass stories and don’t spare the adjectives, please.  

Forecast - Dec 14 - 17, 2011  -  "Highlands Today Headline: Fishing above average next few days"
 

Fishing conditions for the remainder of December’s second week look to be promising with a weather forecast that shouldn’t produce any negative factors, and a waning full moon heading toward orbit perigee, which always means a greater level of positive lunar influence on fish feeding intensity and duration. The next four days should be above average fishing conditions, now all you have to do is clear your schedule and “go get ‘em.”

Today the major feeding migration moves into the afternoon hours for daytime anglers and early, early-morning hours for nighttime anglers, however it is my opinion that the night migration is larger in both duration and intensity “until” the moonrise moves past midnight. After this point, the process reverses slowly, like a returning pendulum.

Thursday through Saturday the afternoon migration moves later in the day to become the evening feeding migration that will have anglers heading to the lake instead of to supper—that is if the Dinner Bell rings at 5 p.m. The evening bite will be stronger than its counterpart, the morning bite, until the moon’s orbit places it directly overhead during the sunrise, which will occur this weekend.

The best time of day to fish today will be from 2 – 6 a.m. and have a one-in-ten scale rating of 5 and remain there until Sunday when it starts to improve. The peak period should tend to be near the middle-to-end of this four-hour feeding period.

Not far behind in feeding intensity and building as we speak, is the second best time of day to fish, the afternoon feeding migration. It starts today at 1 p.m. and peaks by 3 p.m. reaching a rating of 4-5, and ends by 4 p.m. Daily this period will start later by forty minutes or so and become the best time of day to fish by Friday evening.

The weekend’s afternoon-to-evening fishing conditions should be excellent, all things considered. Each day the evening bite will pick-up from the previous evening’s rate, so success should follow suit, right anglers? Fish will be increasingly moving into feeding areas daily and this will most certainly increase the odds of setting the hook.

The worst time of day to fish will be from 9 - 12 a.m./p.m. when the rating stops at 2 -3.

Looking ahead to next week anglers can expect the development of a strong early morning feeding migration fueled by the lunar perigee and beginning of a new moon.  

News & Events

Lake Istokpoga’s level is currently at 39.52’ above sea level, which has been the level--or slightly above during heavy rainfall--since the middle of July. Most of those days water releases or occurred to maintain the maximum high-pool level. Given all the advances in reducing the amount of influent agricultural pollutants in Arbuckle Creek in recent years, which flows into the lake at the north end, this has to be good for the health of the lake.

Due to lack of rainfall over the past four years, this lake has not had this amount of constant water-flow period since 2006. It should produce an “above-par” bass spawn season with so much shoreline being underwater for several months instead of for brief periods, too short for successful spawning.   

Istokpoga anglers should consult weed management treatment maps before fishing this lake due to a hydrilla treatment event last week. Maps should be supplied at the lake’s boat ramp kiosks (realtor style), if not, contact FWC biologist Steve Gornak at 863-462-5190. Istokpoga management information is available on my website, Istokpoga.info.   

Forecast  - Dec 11 - 13, 2011  -  Highlands Today Caption - "Daytime anglers facing challenge" 


Daytime Anglers start this week with plenty of negative factors to deal with before things improve here in the Central Florida angler’s paradise. Over the next two days, weather will interfere with daily feeding migration timing. The full moon phase will be leading fish to feed at night primarily. And, the seasonal fall-to-winter migration change will be prolonged due to inconsistent and extreme changes in temperatures during the past week.

For these reasons, daytime anglers will have to look to the most consistent of fishing factors for angling success, the sun. When all other fishing factors become negative and you’re determined to go fishing anyway the rising and setting of the sun can always be counted-on to trigger a few fish to feed regardless of other factors—why anyone would attempt to fish when odds are so stacked against them, I don’t know. Maybe for them, it’s the only peaceful place left on earth, yah, that’s probably it …, it has to be. Then when a fish happens to get caught during all the peacefulness, well that only validates the process, right?

The nighttime anglers are the ones who really get the advantage because of the before mentioned “Full moon” and the slight calming of the weather that usually occurs during the night; the winds die-down and become variable, thereby creating ideal top-water feeding opportunities on the slightly rippled surface. This feeding bite starts after midnight and stops two hours later. There is no peak period to speak of but the rating should climb to 6 without clouds and 5 with significant cloud-cover.

The solunar fishing-help charts are predicting the usual midday, midnight feeding bites that occur during a full moon, but I believe they will be wrong. This time of year the lunar events occur while the moon is in orbit apogee. Therefore, there is not enough gravitational pull to produce lunar-dominate factors. Instead, solar-dominate factors prevail in replace of the moon’s weakness, so to speak.

Therefore, the best daylight times to go fishing over the next three days are during the sunrise. The nighttime average one-in-ten scale rating will be in the 3-4 range as the sun starts to rise at 6:30 a.m. By 7:30 a.m. the feeding bite will be active and force the rating to climb to 5 or 6 but no higher. This peak period should last for thirty to forty minutes before dropping back to 3 for the remainder of the morning.     

The second best time to go fishing will be when the sun begins to set at 4:30 p.m. The afternoon fish-feeding rate should be dormant in the 2-3 range, and just as the light diminishes a small percentage of fish will feel safer and try to do a little feeding and end up on a being a larger fish’s meal. This small amount of action might raise the rating to 4, but not 5—trust me it won’t be that good.

The third time of day that someone in the world might catch a fish—time zones and hemispheres considered--and perhaps, I said, um, probably not, I mean, …um, the rating won’t go up much, but maybe a little, from noon to 2 p.m. And. that anglers, is the truth!

So if you’re on the lake at noon and you’ve caught nothing, (as I predict). There is a chance—like the one-dollar scratch lottery ticket offers—that 1-in-100 anglers will set the hook on one fish. Then promptly throw it back for being, “way too small”.

The worst time of day to go fishing is …. When the fish aren’t biting?  (Had to do it, had to “slap your face with a flounder” as they say in some New England towns when an old angler can’t seem to find ‘em). Yes, it’s when the fish won’t bite anything. And, anglers, …that will happen from 9-11 a.m. and again from 2-5 a.m. when the rating sleeps at 2 or 3.

Looking ahead to the end of this week anglers can expect an improving evening bite.  

News & Events

Lake Istokpoga’s level is currently at 39.48’ above sea level, with three S-68 spillway gates releasing 300 cubic feet per minutes (cfm) for the past few weeks to maintain a level below the maximum high-pool of 39.5’.

Istokpoga anglers should consult weed management treatment maps before fishing this lake due to a hydrilla treatment event last week. Maps should be supplied at the lake’s boat ramp kiosks (realtor style), if not, contact FWC biologist Steve Gornak at 863-462-5190. Istokpoga management information is available on my website, Istokpoga.info.    

Fishing Forecast  - Dec 7 - 10, 2011  -  Highlands Today Caption - "Weather will enhance fishing".

 

The fishing forecast for the remainder of the week looks something like this. Today the weather will cooperate and enhance fishing chances with the perfect amount of wind, clouds and sunshine, combined with steady barometric pressure and a feeding migration that has been building on the stable weather pattern of the past four days. All fishing components will combine today to provide anglers with better-than-average fishing conditions.

Tomorrow however, might not be such a day for confidence, at least not for the angling community. The “current” weather forecast—sure to change the minute this is published—seems to suggest a cold front arriving tonight into tomorrow. If this occurs, and if it occurs to the literal degree forecasted (12 degree drop), will slow down the feeding activity somewhat as fish stay closer to seasonal territories and suspend more often until water temperatures stabilize in a day or two.

Friday will be warmer than Thursday and should offer the best midday fishing of the next four days. The full moon is one day from complete—Saturday at 9:36 a.m.—and rain is expected to arrive in the evening hours out of the northwest.

Saturday should be ideal for midday fishing even though there will be a slight drop in temperatures, it shouldn’t be enough to worry about. There should be plenty of sun, moderate wind and wave action, and a weak full moon (close to apogee) with some clouds to slow nighttime feeding activity.

The best time of the day to fish is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. The one-in-ten scale rating reaches 6-7 during the peak period from 10-11:30 a.m. Adjust this feeding period later in the day by forty minutes per day.

The second time of the day to fish, and some argue is the best feeding bite of the day leading up to the full moon, is almost twelve hours opposite from the midmorning feeding bite—11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

There is a third fishing bite that is possible if weather doesn’t do anything strange. With the weather pattern the way it is currently, combined with the lunar phase-timing over the next four days, the chances of the fishing-factor combo producing a feeding bite is very possible. The moon is directly overhead as the sunset is finishing and no matter which fishing theory you subscribe to, if at all, (for some fishermen, even suggesting that you have to have a theory would destroy the whole event of fishing, period.) this means, feeding fish will be in large numbers in feeding areas.  

The worst times of the day to go fishing until the full moon arrives is from 2-5 a.m./p.m.

Looking ahead to next week the weather forecast predicts normal stable winter patterns with no significant cold fronts expected as we move through the lunar phases—full to last-quarter moons.

News & Events

Lake Istokpoga’s level is currently at 39.50’ above sea level, with three S-68 spillway gates releasing 300 cubic feet per minutes (cfm) for the past few days to maintain a level below the maximum high-pool of 39.5’.

Don’t fish in a recently treated area. Remember to consult Istokpoga weed management maps before fishing this lake in the next few weeks due to a hydrilla treatment event last week along the southeastern, southern, and southwestern shorelines. Maps should be supplied at the lake’s boat ramp kiosks (realtor style), if not, contact FWC biologist Steve Gornak at 863-462-5190. I also supply Istokpoga management information on my website, Istokpoga.info. The latest management information is there for download.