[keakar]

may to September is good for summer pattern fishing but I catch a lot more fish in the winter patterns from October thru January.

it comes down to the time you want to put in and the patterns you tend to use most but there really is no bad season or time of year to fish and find lots of fish, its just learning how and where to find the fish during the times you fish.

the only times I find fishing to not be the most productive is in the transition periods between winter and summer patterns when fish are on the move.

fish transition from outside waters to inner marsh and when they are doing this transition they are hard to find the patterns and location they are in on any given day unless you just get lucky.

the best way to answer your question is with the notation that it really depends on where you will be fishing and follow the seasonal patterns when the fish are there.

no matter the specifics of where you fish or the season if you want to stay on top of the fish movements and feeding habits I suggest you try to go at least every other week or stay in contact with other fisherman who fish the days when you cant go out.

yes, sometimes there is a lot of lying about the numbers in guide reports because lets face it, they cant say they had a bad day because if you want to hire a guide you call the guy claiming to limit out on every trip and not the guy who says he only catches a limit 3 out of 5 trips. you might like the fact that he is being honest but your first instinct is still to call the other guy.

the reports they give you are great info on how the fishing is because if they don't catch fish they will move to other areas to keep customers happy so while they might stretch the numbers they catch sometimes, they are trying to give you good helpful info in their posts so read them and pay attention to the tips they give you. they are a great bunch of guys just trying to make a living but they also are good guys that don't mind helping you out if you ask nicely.