Spring is here and summer is creeping up fast. The water tables are steadily dropping down to low pool for the summer rains and hurricane season. The hydrilla is now at the water’s surface, it is easy to see the edges. The bass are moving to current at the canal entrances and are hanging around the edges of the sand bars. Bait of choice is crank baits, X-Raps, and Rattle Traps. A lot of the bass are heading out to open water hydrilla patches and will stay there all summer. Bait of choice in open water vegetation is plastic baits. Zoom Speed Worms, flukes, Skinny Dippers, and Gambler Easy Swimmer are the hot baits this month. Good colors are June bug, watermelon seed, black and blue.
Crappies are out in open water now. Troll at various depths until you get a bite. The bluegills have moved up into shallow water to compete for spawning areas. This is the best time to locate the spawning areas when the males are really aggressive and are starting to fan the beds – they will be easy to see. Shell cracker will also be mixed in the same area. They are finishing up and will be spawning in a little deeper water. Both panfish prefer the same type of spawning area but will move out deeper to spawn due to the warming water temps. This is one of my favorite times of year. I love to catch them on fly rod with a popping bug. Good artificial baits are beetle spins of various colors. If you are a live bait fisherman crickets under a float is the best bet…Capt Randy DuMars.
