Harris Chain Tagged Bass

Reap rewards for reporting tagged bass from Harris Chain of Lakes

January 11, 2011
Contact: Joy Hill, 352-258-3426

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologists are requesting angler assistance with a research study focusing on largemouth bass in the Harris Chain of Lakes, which includes lakes Griffin, Eustis, Harris and others, in Lake County. The results of this study will provide critical information needed to improve largemouth bass fisheries.

To carry out this project, biologists have attached yellow tags along the back of the largemouth bass, just below the dorsal fin. These tags carry information detailing the reward value, a printed telephone number, e-mail address and a tag number.

So what can you do to help? If you catch one of these tagged fish, please cut the tag from the fish close to the fish’s body, then harvest or release the fish as you would normally. Please report your tagged bass by calling the number found on the tag.

Biologists would like to know the tag number, date and time of capture, where the fish was caught, fish length, and whether the fish was kept or released. Receiving this information is important for the success of this project, and rewards will be distributed to anglers who report complete capture information and return the tags to the FWC.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the largemouth tagging study, please contact basstags@MyFWC.com.

To view the most current fishing regulations for Florida, please visit MyFWC.com/Fishing.

For more information on fish and wildlife research and management in Florida, please visit us at MyFWC.com.

Harris Chain Bass Fishing


Another Harris Trophy. Corey Fey, 15, shows the 10-pound, 8 ounce Largemouth bass he caught last week on Harris Chain.

Recent catches prove things are thriving
Ever since Lake County’s Harris Chain bass fishery all but crashed and burned more than a decade ago, its 40,000 acres have been bypassed by big-bass hunters.
In January, local tournament angler Richard Patterson caught a 12- pound, 15.5-ounce bass near the mouth of a Dead River Canal.
Then the CITGO BASSmasters Tour event came to town Jan. 29, and on the first day, pro Alton Jones caught a fish that weighed 10 pounds, 13 ounces.
During the first two days of the tournament, the anglers caught 1,168 bass with a total weight of 2,946 pounds, according to a report filed with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Last week, Corey Fey, 15, a ninth-grade student at Dr. Phillips High School, caught a 10-pound, 8-ounce largemouth on Lake Harris using The Original Fishing Snake.
The lifelike lure was co-developed by Mark Abernathy of St. Cloud and noted big-bass expert Doug Hannon of Odessa.
Fey said he saw the wake of a large bass head into the maidencane that rings the lake. He cast the lure into the grass, retrieved it in short twitches, and once it exited the weed, stopped it and let it float.
“There was a swirl, and the snake disappeared,” Fey said. “The fish headed back into the grass, and I had to wrestle it back out of the grass.”
After a picture, the fish was released.
Fey’s father, Tim, is a bass guide and chief field pro for the Natural Motion Lures Co., which markets the lures.
Oddly enough, it’s not Corey Fey’s favorite bait all the time.
“Sometimes I don’t have the patience for it, because you have to work it very slowly,” he said. FWC biologist John Benton said he has been encouraged by the reports of the large bass being caught in the chain’s lakes.
In the early 1990s, the chain’s bass fishery seemed on the brink.
The fish were hard to find, and many appeared undernourished and with pink rather than bright red gills.
Angry tournament anglers and Hannon blamed overly eager weed- control authorities who eliminated the exotic plant hydrilla from the chain.
The offshore stands of underwater plants were the favorite gathering places for larger bass, when they weren’t moving to the shallow waters to feed.
Without the grass, the anglers said, the bass had scattered.
In addition, they claimed, the sudden death of the plants released excess nutrients they had been storing. The sudden flood of free nutrients caused a plankton bloom and then sudden die-off that torpedoed the levels of dissolved oxygen in the lakes.
Biologists studied the fish, sending samples to experts at several universities, but never could find out what was causing their illness and die-offs.
Benton said they now believe it was caused by what is called the Largemouth Bass Virus, which was unknown to scientists then.Eventually the viral attack ran its course and left the chain with a fair bass population.
But it still had a poor reputation and caused many people to avoid fishing the chain, which helped more fish survive.
Then came an unexpected event, the drought of 1998-99, which acted as a mini-drawdown and helped improve the fishery’s habitat.
It also concentrated bait fish and made them easy prey.
“These big fish that are being caught now are old fish, and during the drought, they sure fed well and have bulked up some,” Benton said.
The rainfalls that ended the drought helped improve the water’s clarity and the spread of eelgrass, an important nursery plant for young bass.
“The eelgrass is all over the place now,” Benton said. “The water transparency looks better than it was in the 1990s. Overall, I’m very happy with what we’re seeing out in the chain.”
Copyright 2004 by The Orlando Sentinel)
Don Wilson can be reached at dwilson@OrlandoSentinel.com or 407-420- 5397.

Lake Toho, Butler Chain, Lake Kissimmee, Johns Lake and Harris Chain Bass Fishing Report July 2006

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

Butler Chain

Today we had a free day and used it to do some scouting out on Butler Chain.
Waters were 85 to start the day out and very clean as usual. Main purpose of this trip was to work a Carolina rig and see what bite would develop. Turns out it was the perfect ticket for the day.

We started out in Lake Down and Little Lake Down, Carolina rig with ¼ ounce weight and lizards were the big time key. Working the deeper waters, starting at the 6 foot mark and going into the 10-12 foot range we picked up several good bass on both lakes.

With a quick move into Lake Butler, we stayed on the same pattern for the rest of the morning, working the Carolina rig with watermelon lizards we picked up several more quality bass, with the day being capped with 3 very nice and solid 5 pounders. Total on the day was 22 bass with the best 5 going around 21 to 22 pounds. Key to the whole day was to work the deeper waters, hitting the drop offs and working very slow. Bass were picking up the baits and swimming to even deeper waters so you really had to stay focused on you line.

Butler Chain

Butler Chain for the most part this week has been a mixed bag of tricks.
Start of the week, Monday, was some of the best fishing, just about every lake hit fish were caught. Tuesday the front rolled in and the bite had totally changed, having to work a little harder to locate fish and get them to bite. Wednesday the rains really stepped up and we fished pretty much most of the day in either a light rain or a complete downpour.

Bass were very much more scattered than usual, with no schooling activity going on, normally you can troll slowly and ping fish in good groups, but the last two days the fish being pinged on the graph were more of a one here and one there variety. Thursday brought out some serious heat and very little breeze to speak of, which made the day on the water very brutal weather wise.

Baits used during the week ranged, from a day with shiners, to Gitem Toads, Shads, Warlocks and the Gitem Drop Shot. With waters heating up, the deeper water bite was the definite way to go to get your catch, working the 10 to 18 foot range was the best tactic and the best producer. Drop Shot in the deep holes, 18 to 30 foot produced a few good bass, as well as flipping the deeper water grass beds, beds in waters 8 to 12 feet..

John’s Lake

Today we were out doing some early morning scouting on Johns Lake.
The day started out at 5:30 working some buzz baits and managing to pick up 3 good slot sized bass. Schooling activity had picked up good today, better than it has been in recent trip out here. Made a move to the horseshoe area and the bass were schooling up in a big way, you could see several bass in the five pound class breaking water chasing the bait fish all over the place. We had several slaps at a spook but no
hookups with it, as they were slapping it right out of the water.

Made a fast switch to a drop shot and managed to pick up 3 bass before Making a move back to the main lake area. Pitching Gitem Shads into holes In grass beds we managed a few more descent bass, with one other being
Picked up on a frog and calling it a day around 10am as the heat started to Really turn on. Water temps were running 87.9 with pretty good water clearity.

Lake Kissimmee

Saturday the 22nd we spent most of the day down on Lake Kissimmee.

We had made the decision to start out south of the highway 60 locks and check out the river to see how fishing was down that way, we made the run all the way to the second set of locks and slowly worked our way back to Hwy 60.

Hitting the cuts and a lot of flipping did produce some descent bass but nothing to really brag about. There was very little water flow to speak of and with little to no breeze at all.
Most all bass related very tight to cover, with 2 others being caught on a white spinner bait.

Making our way back thru the locks, we worked the southern end of the lake picking up a few more descent bass. Water levels are way down, as was evident by the pontoon boat that got stuck not once but TWICE, pay close attention to water colors as you cruise, you will be able to spot very shallow areas to avoid.

Northern end of lake had some very nice hydrilla but we were not able to get any takers from it. Scattered trees and grass beds did hold some good bass along with an accidental snag of a nice crappie. Baits used were Gitem Shads, K.O’S and rattle traps in Chrome/Blue.
Tonite we start some more scouting to kick in nite trips to help avoid the brutal heat. Lakes we will be working will be John’s Lake and Lake Toho.

Harris Chain

Hello from HOT lake county, we spent the last 2 days out on the Harris Chain with a mixed bag. Fishing lakes Harris, Eustis, Dora, and Carlton had us running pretty much all over the chain. We had reports the fish were “very scattered” and boy were they on the money with that info. Tossing everything under, spinner baits, crank baits, Carolina rigged worms, and which bait was the reliable bait? DROP SHOT!!!!

Sitting up on Lake Harris at the mouth of the Dead River drop shotting yielded 3 bass and one small striper, moving to the opposite end of the chain, and again drop shotting in Lake Carlton yielded the exact opposite, 1 small bass and 3 stripers, big striper came in at 4 ½ pounds. Water a very dirty, but that is pretty much typical for Harris, water temps were running right at 90 degrees, surprised the bass weren’t half cooked at these temps! But as well all know, here in Florida, the temps will get even higher and the bass will still come out and play, we just have to work harder for our catches. Big key, hit the waters EARLY or switch to night fishing. Till our next report, tight lines, great fishing, and drink ALOT of water.

Lake Toho,Butler Chain, Johns Lake and Harris Chain Bass Fishing Report June 2006

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

Butler Chain and Johns Lake

Week ending June 3rd
We had a few days where we were able to get out and spend some time working drop shot baits from Gitem Baits, and toss around a few lures that just don’t get used a lot, or are not talked about much.

We started out with a run to Butler Chain, bass had moved off the grass edges and were suspended in deeper water, so the perfect bait of choice was a drop shot.
Working in 14 foot of water on various lakes we did manage to get a few good keepers.
We had also tossed around a small swim bait which did very good, allowing it to fall to the bottom before swimming it back was the key to catching the quality bass.

John’s Lake

With the schooling activity slowing drastically, the deeper water bite and flipping bite has been the way to out here. Flipping Gitem Bugs in junebug has been very productive. Bass have been holding tight in the pockets and with the cleaner waters here, a line switch from braids to 15 pound test Berkley Big Game has been the ticket. Spinner baits and a Mepps Minnow worked on the outside edges of grass beds has produced a few good catches, with a very early morning bite on Pop R’s and spooks. Something t remember on both John’s Lake and Butler Chain, these are NOT your typical Florida waters, these bodies of water are much cleaner, which dictates when using lures you make those longer casts and focus more on the mono lines and try to avoid the braided lines. With the dog days of summer here, a slower presentation will be the definite way to go.

Harris Chain

Saturday the 10th we spent a few hours out on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Lake County.
Not having been here in several months, we opted to start our day off on Little Lake Harris, working mainly grass beds. With our day starting at 6am, we spotted some bass feeding on the surface along and inside of scattered grass beds, trying spinner baits and topwater baits along these grass beds produced not even one strike. We made the switch to the good old flipping stick with a Gitem Bug and on the second flip, picked off a nice 3 pounder.

With a move to the northern end of Big Lake Harris, we followed the same pattern, flipping the grass beds, but here the focus was more aimed at the isolated holes further back into the heaviest grass beds. Here we opted for the Gitem KO pitched back into those little pockets, generally 20 to 25 feet back, managing to pick up a few more good bass, but not the ones we were looking for.

By 10am, the sun was already scorching hot and no breeze to speak of, so on our run back to Little Harris, we made a stop and tried some drop shot and swimming some jigs under the bridge, with no takers, we worked our way back into Little Harris, continuing the pattern of working the grass beds, slowly and methodically was the key to catching anything, along with pitching under the docks.

There were several tournaments being run out there this weekend, which made for some heavy boat traffic in areas. Word is that Lake Griffin and Yale Canal has been the hot spot to catch good limits up to 25 pounds, but it has also had its days of small limits with all the pressure it has been getting. With us putting in at Hickory Point, the run to Griffin really was not an option. We will be heading out there again in the next 2 weeks and launching from Buzzard Beach, we will check out Griffin and report back as to how it is and if the pattern out there is still running consistant.

Lake Toho

Lake Toho Week ending June 17th
We had a few runs out on Lake Toho over the past week. Waters are on the low side, going into the far backside of Gobblets cove, past the St Cloud canal, the waters are VERY shallow, if your not on plane coming out, expect a slow ride coming out as you will be bumping bottom in several areas. Waters were looking good otherwise with scattered schooling activity going on.

Toho had produced some good bass for us on a wide variety of lures.
Spinner baits, spooks, toads and worms were the main lures used. Main areas to target were Reeds, but the best producing reeds were the scattered ones, especially the stands with a grouping of 4 or 5 reeds, bass were held tight and hit very aggressively. North Steer Beach and the cut into Gobblets Cove were top producers when it came to the reeds.

Good hyrilla patches off the islands held some descent bass, working worms slowly thru the patches along with heavier topped out hydrilla yielding a few good toads. The bite at times has and can be off and on, but with some patience, the bass are there. This seems to have been the pattern on most lakes as of late

Shiner bite has been best around the reeds, deeper water hydrilla and around the islands, free lined in the deeper waters, and bobbers set to about a foot off the islands has produced good bass to 5 pounds, with a few break offs which were pushing the 7 to 9 pound range. Although the waters are not crystal clear, mono lines are still recommended as you will notice your hookup rate is much better.

Clermont Chain

Today we had a run out to Clermont Chain to do some scouting for up coming tournaments. Started the day out at 6am on Lake Minneola, working grass beds and docks, we were throwing rattle traps with one good thump and a miss, made a switch to a Gitem Toad in Black/red flake and picked up 3 quick bass. From there we made the move heading to Wilson and checked out the river, River looked horrible with all the spraying that was done, be careful navigating it. Lake Cook looked great as did Wilson, a couple schools were blowing water in the river between Wilson and Cook, but it wasn’t schooling activity we were looking for.

Top water bite was pretty good, Slim Dogs were the hot bait as the sun came up and got HOT fast. Best way of working this bait was to walk the dog and let her rest, we generally leave the front hook as original, and switch the back hook to a bleeding bait series, this has faired well for us, I hit Capt Al on the radio and had him come join in on the action, we nailed a good toad and she wrapped us up in deeper waters, tried working her lose but with tapping the tip on bottom, revealed the old train tracks that were dumped in the lake.

Water levels on the chain are way down, which has pushed the bass out of the marsh areas and out into more open waters, most all bass were caught in 6-8 foot of water off of submerged grass beds with one or two being picked up off of stickups.

Butler Chain

The last two days has had us out on Butler Chain of Lakes. Yesterday the day had started out pretty good, with bass coming from deeper waters on Lakes Down and Little Down, shiners slow trolled was the definite way to go and has been the case for several weeks now. Around 11:30 we hit the ramp for to take cover as a storm rolled in and it was the smart move. This storm produced a ton of lightning, and as we sat in the truck by the ramp, watching the storm roll by and keeping an eye on the boat tied off to the dock, we heard the spookiest noise we ever experienced, a bolt of lightning wizzed by the truck, hitting a cypress tree and exploding the tree, sending timber flying some 50 feet in every direction.

Today, the 28th we were back out on Butler again, with a two boat party from New York.
Fishing was hit and miss most of the day, bass were schooling up, and you could manage one good bass from each school as they disappeared as fast as they appeared. Most all fish were caught in 18 to 32 feet of water, the guys hooked up some good numbers, and lost just as many. This is definitely the time of year, where shiners are going to be your best bet, and deeper waters will yield some good bass, as the guys said, these babies fight like small mouth bass. Despite the little to no breeze, and being HOT, the guys had so much fun, they will be coming back in March, when the weather is much cooler.

Attached is the picture of the cypress tree that was hit by lightning, folks we cant stress it enough, if you see a storm coming in, position up close to the ramp, if you hear thunder, or see ANY lightning, GET OFF THE WATER!!!!! Its great catching bass in Florida, but your safety and the safety of others is more important than any green fish.

Johns Lake, Butler Chain and Harris Chain Bass Fishing Report May 2008

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

The month of May has seen some very good bass fishing action in Orlando. For the most part Johns Lake has been the place to be. Even though we have seen very limited schooling action in the mornings, we have caught some good schooling bass in the cuts, mainly Deer Island cut. Bass have been hitting on Gitem Warlocks around isolated grass patches, rigged with a very small bullet weight and worked very slowly.

Several areas in mid lake with hydrilla have been producing some quality bass using 1 ounce Sugoi spinner baits, Steel Shads and 10 inch worms. Several days of higher winds than normal had us working docks that were wind blown, which had been holding bass, some docks producing as many as 3 bass, which makes for a very good day.
Live bait has been producing ok, but we have been out catching live bait with artificial baits sometimes 3 to 1, clients really love this, as it is just that much more fun to catch bass using plastics.

Butler Chain has been fishing pretty good. Lakes we have worked have been Butler, Chase and Blanche. Butler has been a great lake to start the day out early on in the mornings, from there moving over to Lake Chase has been the ticket. Numbers and bigger bass have come later in the day on Lake Blanche, working the docks and the deeper drop offs very slow worming. Altho the bite has been what we call a “small tick” instead of the aggressive hits, quality bass have been caught.

For the most part, water levels on Johns Lake and Butler Chain are not too bad, Johns Lake, we do have a few sand bars to watch out for, one right at the ramp area, one coming off the point going into the main lake area, and one going into the Horse shoe area. Butler Chain the canals could use some water, but the levels are still safe to pass thru, and with the rains the last few days, should help out with those levels.

My tournament partner and I did venture out to Harris Chain mid month to fish a Fishers Of Men Tournament, with no free time to practice out there, we went according to old notes from years past and they paid off pretty good. With some tough fishing, we did get into some schooling bass, but we could only get them to hit very small floating Ugly Duckling crank baits, once we had our limit, we switched up to one ounce spinner baits and covered a lot of water to cull some smaller bass, with a nice 5 and change bass slamming a spinner bait, landing us in 11th place, just 2 spots from the money, which equaled out to a pound, also missing second big bass by a matter of ounces.

Waters at the ramp on Harris were very low, with only one of the ramps open, and apparently a boulder sitting at the end of the ramp making launching and pulling out entertaining to say the least. Next months tournament is State Championships on Lake Rousseau and from there we go to Southeast Regional’s the end of October, site still to be determined.

Florida Fall Bassin

That time of year is fast approaching us, the time of year that everybody has been patiently awaiting, Fall. The temperatures make a swing for the better, cooler air temperature and water temps drop, from what used to be bath water to bass busting water.

What does all this mean for bass fishing in Florida? It means its time for some of the best top water action of the year. The time of year where we can put the worms on the self, and dust off our favorite top water baits and enjoy some serious explosions on the surface. Bass will start feeding up in a big way again, fattening themselves up, once again for what promises to be yet another great spawning season
The typical summer pattern had been, very early top water action, and then the rest of the day was spent slow worming, or even a drop shot, and flipping, flipping, flipping. Water temperatures as of late have started out around 83-85 degrees first thing in the morning thanks to the summer rains we have finally gotten, which is roughly a 5 degree drop in temperature to start the day, which has helped out the bite throughout the day. But this is also my favorite time of the year, as clients generally won’t even ask about shiners!

Shiners are always a good bet to catch bass, but when fall rolls around and the bass start feeding up, they are what I consider a “needless expense” although some prefer the use of shiners, as they are generally wanting to relax and catch fish, they really are not needed and can save a person anywhere between $60.00 and $120.00 on a full day on the water.

Butler Chain, right here in the middle of beautiful Central Florida shows what we believe to be some great promise for yet another great fall/winter season. This great chain of lakes has a huge population of shad for the bass to feed up on and the typical fall season has always see some of the best schooling action around Florida. Bass on this chain feed up very aggressively and allows the angler a wide range of tactics to catch bass. From the typical top water action to using jigging spoons in some of the many deep holes this great chain has, that can be as deep as 43 feet. Northern anglers have really taken a liking to this chain, as it has allowed them to come to the south and still be able to use some of their all time favorite lures, such as Mepps Minnows, Road Runners and jigging spoons.

Kissimmee Chain, what more can we say about this great chain of lakes. Lake Kissimmee bounced back from the major clean up years ago, to produce a bunch of bass this year ranging from 10 to just over 16 pounds. Lake Toho, although at times was a hit or miss deal at times this year, produced some great bass this year also, as was proof at the 2006 Bass Master Classic, where records were not only set, but shattered!!

Harris Chain of Lakes, in beautiful Lake County Florida has been fishing really good as expected. Years ago this chain really had a bad drop off in bass fishing action due to over spraying, but has rebounded by leaps and bounds, great bass fishing action is once again expected, with the never ending possibility of catching a few stripers here and there can make the day on the water very entertaining.

Those are just 3 of the major fishing areas that show a lot of promise once again this year for some great fall/winter bass fishing, all within 30 minutes or so of all 3 major theme parks in Central Florida, which helps to make it the best choice for all of your family vacation action, the hustle and bustle of hitting the theme parks and then a relaxing day on the water with the family, setting hooks and catching bass, and believe me, nothing makes a vacation more complete, than seeing your kids holding up some great bass for pictures.

Reap rewards for reporting tagged bass from Harris Chain of Lakes

Florida Fall Bassin

Lake Toho

Butler Chain of Lakes

Current Orlando Fishing Reports