Stick Marsh/Farm 13 Florida

[George_Welcome]

Summertime is upon us which brings with it early morning fishing success on top and the bite going deeper as the day progresses. Location during this warm period becomes everything during this period even though we have a huge population of bass in this lake. No longer are you able to just find the bass scattered around the obviously wooded areas. Instead, knowledge of the lake's sub-structures, good electronics, and consistently fishing the lake become much more important.

With the typical afternoon rains and thunder storms you will find the water to be more turbid. As the winds blow, this shallow water lake starts moving substantially, and the wave action kicks up the bottom's debris. One key during this time is to look for the cleaner water. As the day wears on and the sun gets hotter the next key is deeper water. On the farm side you will find this in the way of submerged irrigation canals. Finding the fish is simply a matter of traveling above these under water highways and this is where good bow electronics become so important.

The irrigation canals had levees, however they were different on both sides. The N/S canals had a levee on the west side that fell off into the crop field. On the east side of the N/S canal the levee also had a road bed so that side has a much broader top. These levees are where you will find the feeding fish, not in the canals. Watching your electronics look for fish on the rise as they move up through the column and slide out over the levees. Two excellent producing baits for this are the rattle trap and a Carolina rig. At all times while fishing the canals keep an eye out for shad busts. A sharp eye to detail can put you on a bass bonanza that will have the most experienced bass fisherman shaking his head in awe.

As lake levels increase and afternoon storms increase the chance for moving water gets greater. Moving water means an increase in food supply for all levels of the food chain. Given good water conditions, (plenty of dissolved oxygen) this increase of food flow attracts one level of the chain after the next. There are several areas of potential water flow conditions on the lake. Given the correct mix of movement and food, the attraction can put you on a day of fishing that will be a leader in your memory books.

In any of the circumstances when you find fish mark the area and work it extensively. Do not leave fish to find fish. During the summer months I spend most of my time in the one area that I locate fish. If you want to do any one thing to increase your success out here, stay put and work the heck out of an area where you have caught a fish.

Looking at the MAP will give you an approximation of canal layouts on the Farm side. Note the main feeder canal that runs E/W across the middle of the Farm. This canal is deeper than the N/S canals. The intersections and the north side of the canal are areas to look at. The intersections can be a major area of production if there is current being produced by incoming water.

Most of my trips over the last 30 days have had pretty good success. There have been some days when we had moving water that were absolutely fantastic. So far our biggest fish as we moved from June into July has been 8 pounds but summertime is when some of our biggest fish are caught. See my site for information on how to book a trip with us and also for information on an absolutely fantastic summer sale. At the savings offered now would be an excellent time to learn from my experience. Call and book a trip. I am pretty sure you will be glad you did. I am offering a major special on boat half day and full day trips. At this time there are no split day trips as the late afternoon is thunder boomer time and no time to be on the lake.

See you out there.