This was a month of hazy improvement on Kit Lake, my home water, in central Florida’s largemouth bass country.
This third quarter of summer offered many choices. Water hyacinth bloomed, forcing us to choose new paths between stumps, flats, and docks. Temperatures came down from the outing-killing deep summer highs, but low overcast skies still muted the fishing enthusiasm. And windy afternoon thundershowers shut down several trips. So just going to the water was a real decision. When we did, comforting silence was interrupted in this year of the cicada.
The fish responded to a slight cool down, and top water flies like sprogs or sub surface flies like hares ear nymphs and bead head soft hackles attracted solid strikes. Cattails bloomed on the shore near Student’s Boat Ramp, and the fluff silently drifted to the water. But the bass were eager enough that our flies could be splashed down and presented with vigor. The bass, in their redfish-dark-phase, were back in play.
Active fish are a good thing because as it turns out, cicada buzz drowns out the maddening echo of anachronistic middle managers imposing quadruple meetings. When we choose fishing paths, we hear positive rhythms.
