Florida Freshwater Fishing Forecast for March May 18-27, 2025

Sunday's Comprehensive Fishing Article for Florida's Freshwater Anglers

Best Fishing During the Overhead Moon This Week.

The Florida Freshwater Fishing Forecast for the week of May 18-25, 2025, gives anglers the last quarter moon phase and a weather forecast predicting lots of sunshine, little cloud cover if any at all, and mild wind speeds until the midweek when an ideal west wind occurs as a high-pressure system approaches the state.

All fishing factors considered, fish will primarily feed during the sunrise period when the overhead moon improves both the duration and intensity of the feeding effort. During the second half of the week the mid to late morning hours when the moon is overhead will also have high pressure increasing fish adjustment activity which could improve the feed rating.

The high-pressure system will be a slow mover, causing 0.10 in hg of pressure change both Friday and Saturday mornings, triggering some minor upward migration into shoreline feeding areas. I expect fish to feed at above advertised feed rates during the forty-eight-hour period as a result. However, the upward movement doesn’t mean fish will remain in the shallows for long because of better oxygen rates at greater depths which enables normal digestion. So, expect fish to feed shallow Friday and Saturday but move deeper to their summer homes after feeding.

And it should be noted that pre-front conditions will occur Wednesday through Thursday which will trigger fish adjustment activity prior to the pressure change that will occur as the high-pressure system begins to enter the state Thursday night. Fish will feed in the deeper holding areas during the pre-front conditions and also feed during the upward movement when pressure increases Friday and Saturday. But again, they’ll return to cooler depths after they successfully feed.

If the extended weather forecast turns out to be accurate, there will not be any rainy season thunderstorm activity until the end of the month. Fish will be tight to protective cover until rainy season weather returns. And as water temperatures climb out of the ideal feeding temperature range of seventy to eighty-two degrees, expect dissolved oxygen rates to decline enough to cause fish to move to cooler oxygenated depths within the water column.

It’s time to be looking for healthy grass beds in depths of ten to twenty feet because fish will be holding in these areas to maintain normal digestion and feeding. Deeper open water grass beds are the summer home of the fish. Fan casting open water feeding grounds will produce better than flipping and pitching the shallows.

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