Kissimmee Chain and Butler Chain Bass Fishing Report
The month of July has seen some good bass fishing. Despite the heat, the bass are still willing to play well take the baits we offer them. Main baits of choice have varied depending on the waters we have been hitting, but two baits have been consistent on all the waters, those being a white spinner bait and the Strike King Redeye Shad.
East Lake Toho has still being holding steady with action in the early morning hours getting very limited top water action, but the redeye shad and white spinner bait have been picking off the bass steadily. When the day heats up, the big ticket has been senko type baits and flukes, worked in and around topped out grasses scattered around the main lake. The 6 to 10 foot range has been the areas that have seemed to hold more bass, and the better quality bass out here.
West Lake Toho has been fishing a lot like East Lake Toho. One big out here though is locating moving water after the rains. These areas will not only hold some good sized bass, but will also hold some good numbers as well. Northern end of the lake seems to be one of the better areas for producing bass as well as a few areas of offshore grasses.
Lake X, as I like to refer to it, is a part of the Kissimmee chain and has been a great place to fish. Bass in the early morning hours have been pretty active on senko type baits and flukes, with a few being caught on the redeye shad. Speed craws and trick worms have also been catching a good amount of bass out here as well. Topped out hydrilla has been the hot spot to be when the sun is up and the heat of the day is in full swing.
Butler Chain is still doing good as well. Our usual dock pattern has gone to the way side as the bass have moved offshore. Most of our fishing has been out in mid lake areas where grasses are just below the surface. Steel shad have been good in these areas as well as the flukes. Flukes were rigged with a small bullet weight and crawled thru the grasses to catch the bass. The hits were not aggressive but the bass were solid. Slow and steady pace will boat bass out here for you even in the heat of the day.
East Lake Toho has been good. Early morning bite has been the best part of the day here. Scattered grasses through-out the lake has been producing not only some good numbers, but some good size as well. This has been an often over looked body of water, but believe me, this lake is a sleeper. You just need to know how to fish it. Start planning your fall and winter trips out here for split day trips, fishing for four hours, breaking for lunch at one of the two fine restaurants on the lake, then fishing the last four hours.
Bass fishing on East Lake Toho has been doing great. Schooling activity had slowed down first thing in the morning for us, and towards the end of the week the bass were a little more scattered out than in previous trips.
Before I got married on June 6th of this year, I had some fun time on the water with my son. We managed to spend some time on East Lake Toho tossing around Strike King Redeye Shads and senko type baits. We managed to boat a few good solid bass even in the heat of the day. Most of our action came on the East side of the lake around the offshore grasses and some around the reeds.
Water levels were definitely much lower than my previous trip out here, maybe one day the state of Florida water Mismanagement will leave a good thing alone, but I highly doubt that. Despite the lower levels the lake is very safe to travel around, and the bass were definitely more than will to play. Great thing being, all the bass caught today were right in the two to three pound range, and very scrappy fighters.

