Help with Seasonal Pattern in Florida

[pbruessow]

Hello Everyone,

I got a tourney coming up in Sarasota Florida on a 300 acre shell pit. This is a small tourney about 12 boats, but I still want to do well.

I've had good success on this lake in the summer by fishing dropoffs with timber dropping from 8 to 15 ft or 13 to 25 ft. Water clarity is medium with tannic stain. Fishing these drops now has resulted in only small fish and not too many at that using a Carolina rig/junebug worm.

The lake's loaded with shad and the center depth averages about 25'. The surface temp right now is about 70 degrees and has fallen about 4 degrees in 2 weeks.

What would you guys do to catch fish here this time of year? Go shallower fishing flats (there are some nice 6 foot flats) or go deeper. What would be your lure of choice? Any help is greatly appreciated.