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Speck Bite Cold Like the Weather

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By MARK COOK

Published: December 7, 2008

With the recent round of fronts over the past couple weeks, the speckled perch bite has slowed. Water temperatures have dropped to below 60 degrees and specks are in a lockjaw pattern on most waterways. A warm up should trigger the bite and limits will start becoming more common.

Lake Kissimmee has been hit the hardest with the slowdown, but area fish camps and bait stores are confident of a rebound shortly. Although fishing has been slow, bait shops are still selling tons of minnows, so folks are still searching. Look for the full moon to also help with the bite, and the normal speck spots like Marker No. 6, Bird and Rabbit Island will hold good numbers.

Only thing slower than the Kissimmee speck bite is the bass fishing, with bass extremely hesitant to chase baits. Those willing to fish the heavy cover super slow can pick up a few fish and most action has been on wild shiners. If the shiners are too active don't hesitate to trim their tails a little as bass aren't going to try and run down their supper.

Don Prine of Pinecrest has had a very good fall speck fishing Lake Arbuckle, but he also noticed a recent drop off in numbers since the water chilled below 60 degrees.

In November Prine and Sammy Conrad had several trips where they brought home their limit, but Prine's last trip he and his grandchildren only managed 20 fish. Prine noted the females all had roe although not fully developed.

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