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Hot Weather Slows Down Bite

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 30, 2008

GO FISHING is a daily look at the area fishing scene through the eyes of local charter boat captains and fishing guides. Today: Mark Cook.
Water temperatures are hovering near 90 degrees on both fresh and saltwater, and that has made finding fish a little more difficult. While bluegill and shellcracker can still be caught, the numbers slowed a little last week, as have the number of anglers out on the water.

For bass fishermen, the key has been fishing early and very late. With the water cooler at these times, bass will venture closer to the shallows looking for an easy meal. As the sun gets higher the bass move deeper. Summertime patterns of flipping and pitching are catching the majority of bass right now.

One thing to keep in mind when targeting bass is to take advantage of shade lines. Noted bass television personality Jimmy Houston in one of his books explained bass are much more sensitive to light than humans. With this in mind work the water in areas where the fish will be looking into the shady side as opposed to looking toward the sun.

Bryan Watts fished Kissimmee during the past couple of weeks and found decent bass numbers working lily pads and grass pitching a dark worm in the small openings. Working the worm slow, he pulls the worm up over the lily then lets it fall, repeating this until he gets a strike. Using a heavy-enough weight to allow the worm to fall into the holes is critical, anywhere from a 1/2- to 1-ounce weight should do the trick.

Lionel Brandt has been making trips to Rodman and having excellent success. He and two friends took 150 bluegill and shellcracker recently working near the dam using wigglers and crickets. Brandt is still catching bass in the 1- to 3-pound range on some of the secluded small lakes in northwest Tampa throwing Texas-rigged dark worms near drop-offs and vegetation.

For more information,

contact Mark Cook at

tribfishing@aol.com.

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