Florida's Real Bass Fishing Capital
By Captain Ed Bussard
The
St. Johns River has always been known
as the Bass Fishing Capital of Florida
but in recent years, it has lost some
of it's limelight to other bodies of
water in Florida. This beautiful Florida
waterway stretches 310 miles starting
from wetlands and marshes south of
Melbourne, Florida, and then flowing
north through Jacksonville, Florida,
finally emptying into the Atlantic
Ocean at Jacksonville Beach. The northern
section of the St. Johns River from
Lake George to Jacksonville Beach is
a tidal river. South of Lake George
to the head waters in Melbourne the
river has a north flowing current without
a tide.
The
area of the river that I am writing
this article about deals with the Central
St. Johns River from Lake Harney, north
to Lake George which is approximately
a 75 mile stretch of the St. Johns
River.
The
bass fishing through out this section
of the River is next to none in terms
of the sheer numbers of Bass and Trophy
Bass. One of the reasons this section
of the St. Johns produces such great
bass fishing is the speed limits and
idle zones that are through out this
area of the river. The 25 mph speed
limits and the numerous long idle zones
do not draw a lot of bass tournaments
simply because, who wants to run their
bass boats at 25 MPH or less.
Bass
fisherman can use this to their advantage
as the fishing pressure is very low.
The speed limits and idle zones also
eliminate a lot of boat traffic on
this section of the River which makes
for a great way to spend the day bass
fishing, or just going for a nice quite
nature ride as the river banks which
are full of wildlife. Deer, Wild Hogs,
and Bald Eagles are seen on a daily
basis and the St. Johns River is also
home to over 300 Manatees.
Bass
fishing on the St. Johns River can
be tough for the new comers as the
river banks are laden with the fallen
trees and the large lily pad fields
that line the river. All these areas
look promising, and many new fisherman
to this area have a hard time figuring
out just where to start.
Summertime
patterns can be easy to establish once
you learn the bait fish that the bass
are feeding on. Early summer is usually
the tail end of the shad run which
starts in the early spring. During
this period the bass will usually be
on most of the main river points, sand
bars, or shell beds. They stage in
these areas to ambush the 3 to 5 inch
size shad that line the river heading
north to the Atlantic Ocean. The top
water action can be non stop and these
fish can be spotted very easy as they
crash the water in feeding frenzies
on most main river points. Catching
these schooling fish can be done in
a number of ways. A few of my favorite's
are casting soft jerk baits, or top
water prop baits. A good cast into
these busting fish will get a bite
most every time. You can also cast
net these shad and free line them into
these schooling fish with great success.
After
the shad run is over, the bass start
to feed on the natural forage that
lives in the river. Wild River shiners
and pan fish are at the top of their
food chain list during this period.
Most Lilly pad fields will hold a bulk
of the bass during the summer months
as the pan fish will be spawning around
these areas. This is when the river
becomes a flippers dream as most days
will produce big numbers of bass, along
with some real trophy size fish. Flipping
a 6 inch worm rigged with a 1/4 oz
rattle weight can be heart stopping.
On the windy days, burning a spinner
bait through these big pad fields,
and dragging a soft plastic frog over
the pads can be quite deadly in locating
and landing some nice size fish.
The
fall of the year can be great fishing
as well, but a lot of your success
will depend mostly on the water levels.
Most years we see the river being high,
or above average depending on the amount
of rain fall we see during the summer.
Another factor is the number of Hurricanes
and Tropical Storms we see during the
summer.
Early
fall we have another shad hatch. Just
like the summer months, the schooling
fish can get very active. Later in
the fall, the bass will start to roam
the banks of the river and start to
migrate towards the spawning flats
where they will spend most of the winter.
This part of the fall is when you need
to fish as much as possible to keep
up with the bass movement. One day
they are on a stretch of river bank,
and the next day they may be a mile
a way. A small number of bass will
still be in the pad fields if that
area is one that doesn't have much
current running through the inside
section. These types of pad fields
will make good areas for the bass to
spawn. If the current is to strong,
the bass will not spawn, and will move
on to a different area where the current
is slack.
Fall
of the year is also a great time to
fish the fallen trees that line most
of the banks along the St. Johns River.
I try to look for the trees that have
fallen within a few feet of the main
river channel as this tends to be the
best areas for the bass to ambush bait
fish in the current. A deep diving
crank bait, or a spinner bait slow
rolled through these trees can bring
some real excitement to a day of fishing.
Winter
time is spawning time and this is when
the artificial action can get tough,
but the shiner fishing is at it's best.
The reason the artificial fishing can
get tough is we will start to see big
drops in water temperature. Most new
fisherman visiting Florida from our
northern states find it hard to believe
Florida bass go dormant when the water
temperature drops from the 70's to
the mid 50's, as they just left home
catching bass in 40 degree water temperatures.
The thing you have to remember is our
average water temp in the winter will
be in the mid 70's, and a drop of more
then 15 degrees will send these Florida
bass into shock.
During
the colder days, the mid afternoon
bite will always be better as the water
warms. Shiner fishing is the most consistent
way to catch these dormant fish as
anytime you can dangle a steak (shiner}
in front of them, they just can't resist
taking a shot at it. During the winter
a bass will stick to one area, not
moving from place to place. After the
spawn gets started and it is not necessary
for the bass to move long distances,
they will not be burning a lot of energy,
and there for they are not hungry everyday.
On
the warmer days of the spawn, the artificial
bite can be unreal on the larger flats
sitting off the main river. Some of
these flats that have hydrilla and
eel grass have clean enough water to
sight fish. Your day can be successful
with artificial baits fishing the Lilly
pad fields on these larger flats. If
there is no hydrilla or eel grass present,
this will usually mean that the bottom
is soft. In this case the bass will
spawn on the big root systems of the
Lilly pads. A good way to detect spawning
activity is watching the pad steams
as the male bass will rub on the root
of a pad to fan off a spot for the
female to lay her eggs. The female
will also many times use this big root
to rub her sides to help her to release
her eggs. Watch for the pad steams
to shake, and you have found the right
place to fish. Fan casting a worm with
a lite weight, or weightless, will
trigger these fish to bite on the warmer
days. But again, a shiner fished under
a cork is hard to beat.
Spring
Time Bass Fishing Is Red Hot On The
St. Johns River. This is the time of
year I like the best on the St Johns
River as everything is taking place.
We will still have some late spawner's,
and we will have a big number of fish
in the post spawn mode feeding heavily.
One of the special things about the
river during the spring is the many
different shad hatches are taking place.
Unlike any other lakes or rivers in
Central Florida, the St. Johns River
has the American Shad that migrates
from the ocean up the St Johns River
to the Central area to spawn. This
shad hatch takes place at the perfect
time of the year when the bass are
in their post spawn feeding pattern.
The big trophy bass can be caught in
great numbers, and on a regular basis.
The top water action will be great,
you can catch these St Johns River
Bass just about any way you wish to
fish. Rattle Traps, Spinner baits,
Carolina Rigged worms, soft plastic
jerk baits, hard jerk baits, and on
and on. Again just like the early summer
months, these fish can be seen busting
these big American Shad up and down
the river on most points, and shell
beds. Many out of state fisherman think
of schooling fish as small fish, but
the fact is we catch just as many 10
pound fish schooling on these big shad
in the spring as we do during the spawn.
I hope
this article will help you enjoy what
the Beautiful St. Johns River has to
offer and help you understand why this
river is still called the Bass Fishing
Capital Of The World.
