May, 2023
It was a double-edged month on Kit Lake, my home water, in central Florida’s largemouth bass country. Our goals were met, and consequences were realized. Low water had anglers asking for rain, and a lot of it fell. Then we hoped for a fish and an audience and got more than we bargained for.
Early in the month, rain stayed away, water levels fell, and the grass around Kit Lake browned like a northern winter. The heat was so bad that Mrs. Kelley used her parasol when she walked her cat down to the lake for potty trips. The water stagnated, and the shallows moved inward toward the middle of the lake.
Some Kit Lake anglers searching the ten-foot ledge (which was about nine feet deep) had success with gaudy subsurface flies. And some had success patiently chucking weighted flies like rabbit strip leech imitations into the mid depths.
Then, halfway through the month, someone turned on the humidity. Day ending storms began, air temperatures climbed to the nineties, water temperatures hovered just below eighty, and vegetation greened.
Yearling bass attacked fry and flies with youthful indifference in the newly flushed shallows. Cal caught two bass on consecutive casts, next to Toby’s back yard earning a bark of cheer from Toby. Larger bass moved near the refreshed vegetation in about four feet of water, attacking poppers and weedless baitfish imitations.
Buds emerged on lilies and hyacinth, Next month they’ll color the background of our casts.
