Fishing Reports - Bass Fishing Florida

Orlando Bass Fishing Sept 1st 2010

Orlando Bass Fishing

Orlando bass fishing has been doing very good the past 2 weeks. Most of the Orlando bass fishing trips have been done on Butler Chain of Lakes. This chain typically does pretty well in the Florida heat simply because of the deeper waters it has. Every one of the 12 lakes out here will have at least one drop off going to at least 20 feet deep, which is a very good area for bass to stack up at times as the water heats up.

Our main targets on this chain as of late have been areas on Lake Down and the main lake, Lake Butler itself. Both of these lakes seem to have the cleanest water on the chain, and both have been seeing some very good schooling activity as of late. Live wild shiners have done good out here, but the heavy hitter has been the artificial baits. Flukes and senko type baits have been very good out here, as well as the trout and fire tiger pattern steel shads.

Lake Down has been very productive out in the mid lake area where there is some good topped out vegetation. Flukes worked thru it has been a very good way to catching some quality bass. Lake Butler has been the same way, fishing the deeper waters and the drop offs has been the ticket to catching the bass. Water temperatures have slowly been coming down, rain mixed with a few days of some good overcast has helped drop water temperatures some and seems to have made the bass much more active.

Forecast for September bass fishing is looking good. Previous years have been productive and we fully expect this year to be no different. With the amount of schooling action we have been seeing, we see no reason why the action will slow down any time soon. Be sure to check out the newest bass fishing video on my site, filmed on Butler Chain on August 30th. It was just one of several bass I caught myself while I enjoyed a day off on the water.

Lake Toho Bass Fishing August 13th

Lake Toho Bass Fishing

The last several days have seen some pretty good bass fishing on Lake Toho. Our main target had been East Lake Toho, which has not been letting us down. Action has been remaining pretty steady out here using artificial baits and it does seem that the artificial bait bite has been out producing the live bait.
Main lake has been yielding some good numbers as well as size, Lake Ajay has also been kicking out some good numbers as well on the chain. Senko type baits, flukes and redeye shads have been getting more than their fair share of bass out here. Most of the bass being caught have been coming from along the grass lines in about 4 to 6 foot of water with some flow. Junebug silver fleck and red shad have been the HOT colors to use out here for us.

Mike and Klye had a great time out on East Lake Toho catching bass pretty consistently all day long, with an hour break for lunch at East Lake Fish Camp. Most of their day had been spent working the various canals out here, and the bass played very well for them. Higher winds had forced us into the canals, put with the winds pushing the waters into them, the bass were stacking up in there and we had no problem catching them, boating roughly 20 bass on the day made for a very good trip.

Altho it has been hot out, my new “break for lunch” trips have been a great success with clients. That brief hour long break in the middle of the day has been all we needed to fish a full eight hour trip without getting over heated and still catch bass.

Be sure to also check out my split day trips, fish four hours in the morning, and then finishing off with four hours in the afternoon, yet another great way to beat the heat.

July 2010 Bass Fishing Report

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.

Orlando Bass Fishing, End of June 2010

June has been an eventful month for bass fishing. The last half has seen some pretty darn good days of bass fishing.

Lake Toho has been very good in the early morning hours, especially with some top water action. Horny Toads and buzz baits along the grass lines have produced some explosive strikes and some good bass. Redeye Shad and steel shads are still producing some numbers out here as well as the old reliable senko type baits and trick worms.

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.

Butler Chain has been pretty good itself, once again it’s the early morning bite that is the most active. This is pretty much the typical pattern this time of year with the Florida heat. Bass have still been hanging around the outside grass edges and close to drop offs, as well as under the docks out here.
Spinner Baits, Redeye Shads, senko type baits and trick worms have been the main ticket to catching bass. There has been some open water schooling out here but from the lakes we have been on that has been limited and scattered.

Johns Lake has had some good days, and some days where you have to work for your bass. The days you work for them, you just basically move around more than usual, but you will still catch the bass out here. Early morning hours generally see the schooling action in the Deer Island Cut, sometimes it is heavy schooling action, and there are those days where that action is very limited. The show up and are gone quick. Just toss a Carolina Rig and be patient, they are still around.

Great baits have been senko type baits, 7 inch worms, redeye shads and steel shads, remember these bass are chasing smaller sized shad, so for best results you want to stick to baits closer to shad patterns and try to match the size. All too often we hear “ bigger baits means bigger bass” sometimes this is true, but you will catch a lot of bigger bass with French fry type baits as well.

July Heat is now here, but there is still action going on. Best results can be produced in 6 hour trips. Fall is just around the corner and dates will start booking up so check your calendar and jump on board.

Lake Toho Bass Fishing Report June 13th

Lake Toho Bass Fishing

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.

Strike King Redeye Shad still has been the bait of choice out here. Tonya had been a real trooper tossing this bait around, while her husband Mike had missed a few as they shook off close to the boat, and a few others following him all the way back to the boat.

Mike was catching a few scattered around when we heard Tonya say she had one on. We both turned and looked and sure enough, she had the big gal of the day right next to the boat, after a few serious head shakes from this gal, we had her in the net and snapping pictures of her. This bass came in easily between 5 ½ and 6 pounds.

East Lake Toho Bass Fishing

Before I got married on June 6^th 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.

West Lake Toho has been on fire as far as big bass being caught. This insane weather pattern we had to start the year off had changed all the normal typical patterns, prespawn, spawn and post spawn so the big bass fishing action has continued later into the season than usual.

Lake Toho Bass Fishing report May 20th 2010

Lake Toho Bass Fishing

Got to spend a few hours out on East Lake Toho first thing this morning. My plan was to just scout out a few areas and enjoy some time on the water.

Whether I have a guide trip or not, there is nothing more relaxing than just kicking back on the water and doing some bass fishing. Well that plan failed today, as there was no relaxing. I hit my first spot at 6:55 and had my first bass, on video and to the boat by 7:05.

Tossing Strike King Red Eye Shad kept me very busy out here today. I got in roughly 2 hours of bass fishing and boated 10 bass and a very good size crappie, all of which were caught on the Red Eye Shad.

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.

Waters look great, nice and clean and the grasses looked very healthy. Main keys to catching them today was working areas with some good vegetation. Main area was offshore vegetation, mostly areas where grasses were just below the surface. For those that have been asking how the crappie fishing has been out here, it has been doing good, mostly early morning before the sun pounds down on the water, But as you can see from the picture, if they are willing to slam a red eye shad burned thru the water, they will eat anything.

Videos from today will be up on my web site before the days end, so be sure to come back and check them out.

Lake Toho

Butler Chain of Lakes

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