Clewiston-----With the heat of summer upon us and the lake level staying low, the fishing hasn't slow down much. You will want to try and get an early start so you can be in before the afternoon thunderstorms,as they can be real bad ones this time of the year. The bass fishing on the West Wall with wild shiners has slowed down some but we are still catching from fifteen to twenty on half day guide trips as long as we get an early start. The bass are also being caught on wild shiners around Rita Island, the Football Field and off the shoal around Observation Island. All of these areas depend on a little wind blowing on them to make the fishing good. While I'm on the subject of summer heat, you need to drink "lots" of cool water while you are out on the lake and if you start to get real hot take a towel and soak it with water and put it around your neck and it will keep you cool. Something else worth mentioning is that you shouldn't try to crowd to many shiners into your livewell at one time and you need to keep a bubble pump going all the time.
The artificial lure bite has been a little better this week then it was last week, with some good bass being caught from north of Cochran's Pass to Uncle Joe's cut. The bass in these areas are being caught on topwater including Zara Super Spooks and frog type baits like a Berkley Batwing frog or Gambler Cane Toad, you will want to work these lures on the edge of the grass line and in any holes in the grass that you can cast to, I have also been catching a few bass pitching a Gambler Ugly Otter ( blue shadow color) with a 3/16 weight into the grass. Crankbaits and carolina rigs are working good in the open water out from the grass line, don't be afraid to go out as far as a half mile from the grass as these fish are moving out as the water continues to get cleaner. If you can find an area that is maybe six inches to a foot deeper than the surrounding water this would be a good area to start to fish. These types of areas are great places to try a Rat-L-Trap or medium diving crankbait like a Bomber 7A or Bandit 200 series, I like to use firetiger and natural colored crankbaits. I have had good success with a carolina rigged 10" worm in junebug color, the bass this time of the year seem to like bigger worms. Some other areas I have had reports of bass being caught are Ritta Island, the Football Field, and Uncle Joe's Cut. There has been a lot of Jack Dempsey's being caught around the mouth of Uncle Joe's Cut with a few bluegills mixed in, I haven't heard of many bluegills being caught on the south end of the lake.
Bass Wishes
Capt. Scott Martin / Capt. Mark King