Trying To Figure Out Florida Patterns

[Matthew Caldwell]

i've fished 2 tournaments in florida with very little success. the only bites i've gotten have come before 10am. I've been throwing moving baits like buzz toads, lipless cranks, and speed worms. i need help trying to figure out what to throw in the afternoon. it sucks not having any bites for the second half of the day. any suggestions on how to catch em in the afternoon in florida would be most helpful.

[davecon]

SLOW DOWN !!! So slow you can barely stand it. If you can't smoke half a cigarette during one cast you are fishing too fast. Keep it simple, black or green pumpkin worms with as light of a sinker as you can get away with.

[Shanes7614]

i've fished 2 tournaments in florida with very little success. the only bites i've gotten have come before 10am. I've been throwing moving baits like buzz toads, lipless cranks, and speed worms. i need help trying to figure out what to throw in the afternoon. it sucks not having any bites for the second half of the day. any suggestions on how to catch em in the afternoon in florida would be most helpful.

What lakes are you fishing?

[Matthew Caldwell]

my club fishes lakes all over fl, mostly central region. 

[gatrboy53]

a little more specific on which lakes would help.like toho or kississimmee flippin heavy mats is a good option.deeper clear lakes like johns lake brushpiles are the key.it just depends on the body of water. If your a bank beater only,which there is nothing wrong with that,then like stated your going to have to fish very slow and methodical.

[MCS]

speed worms will catch, you are fishing it too fast. fish it below the surface....lift, fall, sit, repeat... or sllllooooow roll....not buzzin on top.....10" worms or flipping mats 

[LuckyGia]

Weeds, weeds, and weeds

slow, slower and slowest

[kadas]

If you are fishing the Toho chain this time of year work up in the lily pads in the deepest water you can find and start pitching plastics or a jig --if you find some pads with grass mixed in start there--JMO from past fishing

[F14A-B]

Having lived in Florida & fished there for decades, it sounds quite normal for this time of year. I won a big tournament on Lochloosa in July 87.. All fish caught in the first 45 mins.. Bass fishing can be daunting, it's a fact.. I wish we could all be so fortunate to catch fish all day in summer.. Catch em early, then you gotta grind out the day..

[kikstand454]

Get off the bank. The fish have. ......

( or punch mats)

[1234567]

All excellent advice. To add if tou can find any kind of current that should also help especially this time of year. Current=cooler water and more oxygen. I like the above answer most. Go offshore or find matts

[Shanes7614]

Any advice on lake Ida this time of year and any certain areas?

[Shanes7614]

Get off the bank. The fish have. ......

And gone where?

( or punch mats)

[topwaterrob]

Punch the slop.  You may catch some in the early morning on quicker moving baits, but once the sun is up high you gotta get deeper or punch the canopys.

[kikstand454]

Get off the bank. The fish have. ......

And gone where?

( or punch mats)

IME after a good evening/night time feed, you may find some stragglers up shallow early....but after that, the fish will move off to the SECOND drop off to deep water in the summer. This should also correlate to your particular lakes thermocline. But in GENERAL, 12-15ft is a good start. Humps, sand or even better muscle bars, stump fields....etc. Anything to break up that transition to deep ( 15+ft) water. That's where your "active" fish are. The ones your more likely to catch.

Alternatively, if you're fishing a grass bowl in the middle or southern part of the state, then find the heaviest mat with the deepest water under it and get out that 2oz punch rig. Contours in the grass means contours on the bottom, and mixed vegetation is the sweet spot. Hyacinth blown up against reeds is money.

[theomen207]

Hey man hit me up maybe we can meet up and fish I'm the Waterford lakes area we have some nice size bass here. I have success with the watermelon with red flake yamamoto senko

[doyle8218]

For me in dead of summer it's 10 in worms in deep water very slow. 

Keitech Swing Impact FAT 4.8 & 5.8 lightest weight you can get away with crawl in along bottom very slow.

[Mike L]

Most folks who don't fish Florida much assume that the lakes don't change, bass can only be found shallow in the grass...You're learning that's just not true.

I know a lot of bosters, guides and pros who don't even bother to use the same way points every year. Why? Because the lakes down here change so much. Year to year and in some cases month to month. Okeechobee is famous for that.

Also, the bass down here will be shallow at some point but I'm convinced they all don't live year round there.

They'll move in to feed and head back out.

Once you grasp and believe that, your catch rate will improve..

Mike

[Gunshinestate407]

If ur a bank beater try turning around and casting away from the bank. Id guess most of the lakes ur fishing here in central Florida have under water vegetation. Use a Texas rig with a glass bead and work the edges of under water grass lines in 8-15 ft of water.

[frogflogger]

slow worm and slower frog -