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.
Butler Chain and Johns Lake Bass Fishing Report Feb 2009
Orlando Bass Fishing
February 2009 Report
The month of February has seen some very good bass fishing action here in Orlando. We have had most of our focus on Butler Chain and one of the private lakes that I fish. Butler Chain we have had some good bass come off beds, despite high winds that had consistently pounded us along with what seemed like an endless run on cold fronts.
Most of our trips this month were with artificial baits, with steel shad and a wide range of Gitem Baits catching most of the bass. Steel Shad have been doing a great job in deeper waters when fronts have hit us, working them mostly in 10 to 16 feet of water, almost slow rolling them, with the very tight wobble and close resemblance of bait fish, these baits have been awesome.
Gitem Baits have been plugging the bass for us in and around scattered grass beds, offshore hydrilla beds and docks. The Twin Liz and the Curly 7 have been doing great tossing them under docks texas rigged with a 1/16th ounce screw in weight. The Gitem Curly 10 has been great pulling it thru heavy eel grass to catch some nice quality bass, one day numbers will be up, and size down, but only to be followed up with some very solid bass being caught the next day.
We have found when the fronts have rolled thru, the bass were pushed away from the beds, but still in the area, so setting up 30 feet off the bedding areas had been the key to catching the quality bass, with some good schooling action 
towards the end of the month. Shiner fishing has been doing good, slow trolling the shiners with no float around deep drop offs on Lake Butler itself has produced some quality bass. Lakes Chase and Blanche have also held some good action, Chase has been good in areas where the lay downs are as well as Blanche. Blanche has been very good around the docks as well as just offshore from the docks, finding the offshore hydrilla has produced some very good quality bass.
The month of March has carried over pretty much from the same action we have seen in February, although the majority of the bass had already spawned, we still were catching some bass off beds, or cruising around the beds. Butler Chain we have been catching most bass just off the grass beds and under docks, wacky rigged Gitem KO’s have been doing great under docks as well as the curly 7’s.
Johns Lake has started showing some limited schooling action in the Dear Island cut, steel shad and High Roller Rip Rollers have got some good action. A few docks have produced on Johns Lake for us the past month, but one of the biggest patterns seems to have been isolated grass patches worked with either the KO’s or the curly 7’s in Florida Grass color. A few bass have been caught on smaller crank baits in 2 to 4 foot of water as well.
Both Butler and Johns Lake the Crappie bite has been limited and very scattered, some being caught early morning in deep water, while majority have been caught around the grass beds, size of crappie has been down the last 2 weeks.
Private waters have been producing some very good numbers, along with some size, all bass have been caught on artificial baits with bass coming from docks and grass beds. Wacky rigged KO’s and Shad have been the way to catch them.
My reports have been slow coming the past 2 months but I should be back on schedule with them now, we have launched a new web site Thefishingtube.com which has taken up most of my free time. This web site is totally free so we want everyone to come join us, create yourself a member user name and set up your profile, you can upload pictures and videos. We currently have a teaser show filmed and uploaded with Pro Golfer JB Holmes and on our Skill Zone I am Hosting How to Videos. I would also like to welcome Deep South Fishing Rods to our family, as a sponsor on both our Fishing Show and my Guide Service. These rods are awesome, so please check them out.
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.
