Fishing Forecast with Freshwater

Cap T. J O h NNy S Ta B ile

This summer has been brutally hot, and you usually would associate that with bad fishing, but in South Florida, it doesn’t matter one bit. Exotic fish such as snakeheads, clown knifefish, cichlids, and peacock bass all originate from subtropical climates. I personally have caught these exotic fish in 95° water alongside native species such as largemouth bass and bluegills.

Warm water fishing is great, but it is tough to fish with store-bought shiners. These shiners require cold water to stay alive, and if you don’t take the time to acclimate them properly, they will die in about 5 seconds. I recommend catching your own bait, like shad, cichlids, bluegill, wild golden shiners, etc. These wild-caught species will last much longer on the hook and frequently will result in the biggest fish.

Summertime fishing also offers lots of rain. Fishing culverts with moving water is the ticket to success, especially if you can catch some of your own live bait. If you can’t catch live bait matching the hatch, artificial is the second-best thing. I often will throw a small wild shiner-colored jerk bait, and I will throw it at many of my land-based spots and especially when I’m running around trying new spots. When fishing by boat, I always have a variety of baits rigged up, from a topwater frog to a walking bait to a chatter bait and everything in between, depending on the situation I’m fishing in. Go out and set your mind on one goal and then work through the rest.

This month I will focus on snakehead fishing more than anything because of the amount of rain we are getting. I have found that snakeheads bite best in the rain when small animals and reptiles are moving about, such as lizards, worms, and frogs. Throwing an imitation of any of these will result in snakehead action. I prefer a topwater frog because who doesn’t love a topwater blowup.

You can’t catch them from the couch, so get out there and have some fun!