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Summer (mid May through
September)
I consider the summer
season to have two parts; starting with post-spawn dog days followed by
the summer flipping season. May, June and July can be slow.
That's not to say you can't catch fish, but it's hot as blazes and the
midday sun is brutal. The best way to catch bass at this time is of
the year is to fish early and late in the day. The morning bite is
usually over by 9:00 AM. In summer, many tournament anglers drag Carolina Rigs on deep ledges, fish
attractors and spring holes during the heat of the day. In recent
years the lakes have begun to clear and deep cranking offshore structure
is beginning to win tournaments. Winning
tournament weighs around this time of the year usually average around
12-18 pounds for 5 fish.
The summer
flipping season starts when lake levels increase due to the afternoon
thunder showers we have almost every summer day in Florida. This is
usually by August or September. The fish follow the water level up
and decent bass can be found cooling themselves in deeper
grass or under boat docks. You normally don't catch a lot of numbers this time of
year but the bass you catch flipping will be fat and healthy.
Summer
temperatures in Florida can range from the seventies to well over 95
degrees with the humidity at 100%. It's very hot by 3:00 PM, when
the summer thunder storms start rumbling through. After the storms
have done their thing the evening is generally nice and we usually have
a another period of good fishing just before dark. Night tournament
anglers routinely weight 15-20 pound 5 fish limits. |