Forecast - Highlands Today Title -  "Morning bite improves each day"

 

Fishing conditions for the remainder of the week look to be pretty good with a weather forecast that predicts normal winter weather for our State—after the brief disturbance expected later this evening which predicts rain in some counties—through the weekend.

The waning full moon is heading towards a last-quarter phase while in orbit perigee next Tuesday, and will create a strong morning feeding migration that will have early morning fishermen rushing for the net, or crappie poles, for several hours.

As most anglers know, during a full moon period fish feed primarily at night and this causes the daytime fish feeding activity to slow noticeably. And, during the nights of this lunar phase, the timing of feeding activity is set by the dominate factor—water temperature, wind direction and speed, or barometric status. Largely, this criterion is what makes either, the early-morning bite, or late-evening bite, better than the other in the days following a full moon--or more exactly, during the six-day period of the full moon lit nights without cloud cover.

Looking at this past full moon period, we have had bright nights for fish to feed successfully while water temperatures were ideal--in that there were no radical changes for the fish to deal with, and wind-driven wave-action was also non existent, keeping turbidity low (in shallow lakes). For these reasons, I predict that the early-morning feeding migration will be the larger of the two daily migrations that take place normally. The solar/lunar fishing charts and algorithms predict an early-morning bite over the next four days, but this possibility was, “negated”, by the clear full moon nights of past five days, that attracted the majority of fish over that period.

The best time to fish over the next four days therefore will be in the early, early, morning hours from, as soon as you can get there (assuming you sleep at night) to an hour after the sunrise. I suppose this is really, nighttime fishing, but you’re considered an early morning angler if you actually see the sunrise at night’s end—angler-journalist license exercised  The one-in-ten rating won’t be much to brag about topping-out at 5 or 6 today, but by the weekend expect something in the 7-8 range. There will be no peak period until the weekend, which should active ninety minutes before ending during safelight at 6:30 a.m.

The secondary feeding migration, if there is much of one, might …, or could be from 6 – 10 p.m. as fish react to the influences of a setting sun and a rising moon, 5:50 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. respectively—and the fact they’re starving for lack of feeding-success. The rating will be low at this time however, (Village Idiot Warning Here) expect it to pick-up as the moon leads the evening angler towards the quiet world of the nighttime angler. Should start out at 4 and maybe 6 by midnight. Watch for cloud cover to be the key determiner.

Popular fishing charts list the 12-3 hours of the day to be the best fishing periods. They are wrong for this State, especially for the mid to southern counties where the lakes food-chains remain very active year round even in cold fronts.

The worst time of the day to fish will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (yes, I know it seems to contradict the secondary migration info, cause it will in reality. If there had been solid clouds over the past week, I would reverse this decision--If I end up being wrong, at least it is known that I did know of the truth only to reject it wholesale).

Looking ahead to next week, anglers will have a last-quarter moon, a lunar perigee, rain, and a mild temperature roller coaster ride of ten degrees, between 68 and 78 degrees—near perfect.  

The key to angling success is “Failure”, pure and simple. If you want to catch more fish, day in and day out, season in and season out, inclement weather included, you’re going to have to get comfortable with…, ironically, not reaping results from your fishing efforts. Yet, not “comfortable” with results, but rather, with the essential act of failing itself. Failure, once fully embraced, yields an “understanding” obtainable, and an improvement plan can be identified by a summation of the failed components of your fishing plan.

If that last wise-segment gave you a headache, please disregard. Don’t let me get in the way of a good book while listening to the steady slapping of the waves, as your bobber bobs—oh to be a fishermen instead of an angler….”Not!”

News & Events

Win a Free Bass Fishing Trip by visit the HighlandsBassAngler.com website and try your luck at 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 39.35’ above sea level.

Attention fishing tournament directors If you would like to advertise your fishing tournaments and events please call or email me with the particulars and I will be glad to include them.

Also if you have a picture of you and a fish, and a little story about how you caught it, I would invite you to send me your picture and information to be used as a featured story or segment.

Nothing inspires anglers more than other successful anglers. People who “go fish” just need a “good read” so they don’t get bored waiting for dinner. And readers, there is certainly nothing wrong with that, is there—I can see myself there with you once the arthritis sets in.