1234567

Lake Toho is very tempting. I was there before long before I knew much about bass fishing and missed out on a great opportunity to haul in alot of bass!!! I think I've found a sleeper lake that I need to check out. I apologize if I am blowing up someone's lake!! I was reading about Crooked Lake in Polk county and according to some sites, several bass in the 16 pound class have been caught here and on some days ten bass in the ten pound class are caught. Spring fed with deep water sounds like a big bass lake to me!!!! At around 7000 acres this lake may not be as hard to pick apart as Kissimmee or Toho. I've looked at topo maps of this lake and have a good idea where I can hunt big ones! anyone know anything about this lake, unfortunately it doesn't look like there are any fish camps on the lake or areas to charge a trolling motor. Feel free to pm any responses !!!

If you were looking for a true giant bass, which central Florida lake would you choose? I'm thinking Kissimmee has the best chance for a bass well into the teens? Any thoughts from anyone?

I agree, but i prefer 10 inch. After two years of playing with different plastics, I really don't think you need anything but a worm for t-rigs. I believe worms will get bit more than any other creature/craw baits out there. The only reason I switch to a creature or craw is when i need a compact profile when punching now. No need to spend so much money on baits that IMO aren't nearly as productive as a worm. Other baits do quite well, but day after day over time, the worm will catch get bit the most.

Agree!

1/4 ounce or lighter. The slow fall and undulating appendages or tail usually gets those inactive bass to bite. It's just to easy for them to pass up.

I seriously don't think you can go wrong just slowly swimming that worm(if it's a curlytail) or lizard. If you've been dragging it you may not have much luck if the bottom is slimy like you stated. Put a 1/4 ounce bullet weight and swim those worms and lizards just fast enough to get the tail or legs squirming and I have no doubt you'll start getting them. You could also just try lifting your rod tip and letting it fall all the way back. Good luck man, you may get a monster out of those little ponds.

Not necessarily, the small one may catch more fish, but the bigger one appeals to bigger bass, the size difference between the two is like comparing a softball and a baseball.

I love this bait. On windy days or at night you can catch a ton of fish on these. Use the 96 size, forget the little one. One thing I do is put an Owner st-41 1/0 or 2/0 on the belly and take off the hook on the back. This is a small bait and any bass 2 pounds and up will get that one treble in its mouth no problems. On windy days, SLOW and steady works for me. At night with wind same thing, when it's calm, I pop it more and deadstick, sometimes letting it sit there will pull them out of cover to come eat it. I've caught them from half a pound to 9 pounds on this bait. Mg bluegill and matte black!The only two you need in my opinion. Good luck with them!

So is some lake called big o.

Hopefully that's the case down here, that leaves plenty of water below 8 foot depth that the big ones can hide under. That is weird, 8 foot depth when the canals here can reach 20 feet! Seems only the littler ones would be shocked up at that depth, most big bass that shallow are under heavy cover.

Where can you buy medlocks jigs? I'd like to try one of those out. They were made specifically for fishing the thick stuff weren't they?

Do you mind sharing some insight about this?

Thanks for the post information about FWC. My question is how much of these canals do they electroshock? I find it hard to believe that a 7 and a half pound fish is the largest in these canals?? Reading through it, it seems that small portions of these canals are shocked and then given the fish count for that specific portion. I'm sure alot of guys here have caught 8, 9, 10 pounders or bigger in these canals. If not, I'm not all to sure I'd fish them as much knowing I'm only going to catch a 7 pounder.

My understanding of males and beds are that most male bass make the beds and the female bass can be selective as to which bed she suits best for the eggs? Maybe someone can correct me or verify this. I would think if released where he was caught he'd return to his original bed. Sorry for the underline, my computer is messing up.

I'd like to add if you're fishing thick cover try to make sure your jigs have good stout hooks. Like Gartracker said, hackney hack attack jigs have GOOD hooks on them. I've caught fish on jigs using really any type of soft plast from 10 inch worms to horny toads. I personally like Talon lures shibuii jigs, I just prefer the rubber skirts opposed to silicone. I know when that jig is at rest that rubber skirt is opening to full bloom with that plastic bait sitting right in the middle. The rubber tends to drop slower vs the silicone of the same type jig. Although sometimes a fast drop will get the better reaction bite, I have had more hits on a slower fall.

I have read alot of threads lately about bed fishing. I don't see what the point is, leave a bait on the bed and eventually it gets bit, natural insticts will not let a bass leave it alone on the nest if it's there long enough. Wouldn't it be better to leave those bedding fish alone in hopes of a more successful spawn? To each their own, I just don't see the fun in it.

I bought a few to try on an a-rig. Havn't used them yet. Youtube Bill Siemental and spro bbz baby shad, there's a few vids on how to use it.

Primus, Save those hooks on your R2Sea bottom walkers when there no good anymore, those hooks are BEEFY and stout! I take the lead off and use them on my plastics now. I like how the eye is not even with the point of the hook like on most EWG's. Getting the plastic straight is a little tricky, just run it up the line a tad bit more.

Im in, sounds like fun.

Nice fish, keep it up!

some great jigs mentioned in this thread. I am partial to wire tied rubber skirts. I use the Talon Custom Lures shiboii ooki jig and trim down the skirt to my liking. I believe at rest rubber flares much better than silicone and this is only what I prefer when fishing jigs. The hooks on these jigs are super stout and I have yet to bend one out even when flipping and literally pulling bass out with 10 pounds of weeds on it. I keep eyeballing the big o jig and I may bite on it later this year, but I have ordered over 50 of the TCL jigs that I will use up first. Only consideration is this jig has an arkie style head.

Amen!

Agree with alot of this. From my own personal experience, there are a couple areas where I fish a jig off a steep ledge that drops from around 3 fow into nearly 8-10 fow. This water is pretty clear and the slower falling jig has always been bit more than a fast falling jig.

You're right in most cases, but you don't know if it's not posted or marked in anyway. The leo's generally only show up if someone calls as most could care less about some guy just wetting a line. The canals here are similar but because of the dumping and destroying of the area it's been put off limits. Fort Myers is increasingly becoming a nonfriendly shore fishermans nightmare. I've never been talked to by people the way that I have for "fishing!!!" you'd think I was caught breaking in there car or home. It's honestly quite a joke and I can't wait to leave here and anyone wanting to know about recreational bass fishing in Ft. Myers, it's not the place to be. Honestly, I truly believe that the bank fisherman here are looked down on and treated like trash because were not towing our $100k boats to Bonita or Sanibel.

That is the key, finding fishable areas that people won't throw you out of. There are fish from the banks here and some very good ones too, the problem is most places you go, eventually they close it down ie. signs, fences, or local LEO's kicking everyone out. I know this for fact. DOT that manages alot of the canals in this area sent a memo to LCSO banning anyone in "certain" areas of the canals due to people destroying the place. If it's not posted but you are not supposed to be there more than likely you will get a kind warning ie the property owner or local law enforcement. If you're caught there again after being trespassed, don't drop the soap during your next shower.