Okeechobee and St. Johns bass and bluegill ease into fall

What's next

With flows holding near 3,300 to 3,500 cfs, expect little change in the next few days. Water temperature should stay in the low 80s unless a real front arrives, so plan around the edges of the day. Early morning and the last hour of light are the best windows for shallow topwater and soft jerkbaits, in the style Tactical Bassin describes for October.

Mid-day, slow down and work jigs close to docks, fallen timber and hard bottom. Tactical Bassin notes fish sit near this kind of structure in fall, and the same approach should work when the sun is high and the bite tightens.

The New Moon means dark nights. Fish often feed hard around first and last light in this phase, so dawn is worth the early alarm. Watch for any cooler, breezy stretch in the forecast. A drop of even a few degrees can switch fish on for a day or two.

Context

Mid-October in central Florida is a transition period. Cool-season patterns are only starting to show, and water in the low 80s is on the warm side of typical. Fall usually brings baitfish into shallower cover, and predators follow them. This year's warmth suggests the shift is running a little late, but it should build as nights cool through the next several weeks. Conditions are typically more stable than farther north, so the changes are gradual rather than sudden.