The past two weeks has seen some very good bass fishing in Florida, especially on the Kissimmee Chain of lakes to include Lake Jackson.
Friday some really brutal weather here. Heavy rains, thunder and lightning, not what one would consider a good day for bass fishing. Well we ventured off to check out water levels anyways. Figured if the lightning stopped we would fish in the rain and see what would happen. Things worked out perfect for us. We hit the boat ramp just before 9am and the rain had stopped.
Water levels on Lake Jackson are still down, but with the rains this past week it has kept it steady and very fishable. We opted for fishing the flats and look for spawning bass. Bass beds were scattered all over the place but we really could not see much on them as the waters were muddied up from all the rain.
Spinner baits had tagged a few good bass here and there to help keep a steady bite going, but the bait of choice today was definitely the Zoom Brush Hog. We not only got some good numbers, 16 bass for just a few hours of checking things out, but nailed three very nice bass as well.
For the most part the bite was really soft, watching your line was very important. Most the bass caught were in very shallow waters with Kissimmee grass and lily pads close together. Bass caught on the spinner baits were in the lily pads, casting them to the wind blown side of the pads and working them right thru the lily pads would trigger a strike.
The Kissimmee Chain has been fishing very good this year and with the spawn starting to kick in things can only get better. Weather has been pretty steady this year, with two days of cooler temperatures and then the typical warm up, it is definitely not like it was this time last year.
Ari and Karl fished 6 hours out on Lake Jackson with me on Sunday and had a pretty darn good day. I believe final numbers were 16 bass boated and a few others missed. Bait of choice was wild shiners and it was a good choice for sure. The guys boated a couple bass that went three to four pounds with the big gal coming in just over six pounds.
This required patience on our part where it seemed at times we were letting them have the bait for twenty seconds before we could set the hook, and with the circle hooks they were set perfect right in the corner of the mouth like they should be. The guys did a great job out there and we all had a blast.
For the most part the bass were slow to commit to our offerings of wild shiners, just mouthing the baits and swimming some with them before really taking them. This meant patience once again on our part, but the guys got their hook ups and boated well over 20 bass for the day.
The last few days has seen some really good action out on Lake Jackson. The lily pad fields have really thinned out in a big way since the state sprayed them and this has opened up a few more areas for us to bass fish. Hydrilla is still very healthy out here and so are the bass.
Tom came back once again, along with good friend Frank and they had a blast out here. Between the two of them they boated right about 20 bass in six hours, along with 2 nice catfish and a huge bowfin. The bass the guys were catching were running from school sized bass to the big gal which was just over 7 pounds. Mix in three bass at an easy five pounds a pop, that makes for one great day of Bass Fishing in Florida!
Kissimmee Chain of Lakes bass fishing has been doing very good for us. We have been focusing on mainly Lake Jackson as it has been producing not only some great numbers of bass, but some good size as well. We did a quick scouting trip out here to check out a few other spots. These spots in the past have produced some great trophy bass for us and have typically reloaded after a few months.
Bass Fishing in Florida is still a hook setting bonanza. Sid returned once again for some great bass fishing action out on Lake Jackson here in Central Florida. We started the day out hitting the ramp very early so we were on our first spot just before 7am. Cooler temperatures than the day before and a fog that did not let go of us until just after 10am, looked like it was going to be a tougher day than we had been used to.
Central Florida Bass Fishing has been going strong this month. Most of our trips have been done on Lake Jackson as of late and this lake has been producing some great numbers of bass, as well as some pretty good sized bass. The lake was getting choked out pretty bad with the lily pads, almost to the point is was limiting the areas we could get to but with the spaying that was done, the pads are disappearing and has opened up a lot more areas to catch these trophy bass out here.
Artificial baits have been doing pretty good. Spinner baits and red eye shads have been getting some very nice quality bass out here. Some of the bass we have started to notice some sores on their under side, classic sign they are starting to fan some beds. We have also caught a few bass that showed signs of filling up with eggs. These bass are starting to get some good sized bellies to them.
Central Florida Bass fishing is still on fire folks. Artificial bait trips are producing some good numbers as well as size. Live bait trips have been off the hook. Lake Jackson has been the hot place to be with my clients boating up to 40 bass in 4 hours of bass fishing using live wild shiners. Live bait has been free lined working around lily pads and hydrilla and the bass have been responding very good. Combination trips have seen us burn off 4 dozen shiners in 2 hours with 30 bass making it over the side of the boat.
. Even with higher winds the bass have still been playing great for us. Live wild shiners pitched to the edges of the lily pads have been not only producing good numbers of bass, but some good size as well.
The bass have just been slamming our offerings and the size is getting bigger. We have been seeing more and more bass with sores on the tail end, meaning there is some bed fanning going on and these bass are starting to get some nice bellies. Artificial baits have been doing pretty good as well. Several nice bass have come over the side of the boat using spinner baits, red eye shad and the best bass was nailed on a swim bait. Corey was working his swim bait nice a slow, actually crawling it along the bottom when his big bass slammed it and gave him one heck of a fight. He did manage another nice one working the swim bait a little closer to the surface and thru the pads.
