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.

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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.