Florida Bass

[Robert Riley]

Howdy, I'm moving down to the Florida area in August and I don't want to take all my stuff right, now (gives me an excuse to buy some new stuff too). I plan on fishing Apopka and Toho, as well as a bunch of smaller waters. What would the recommendations for gear/techniques? I'm looking to take about 3 or four rods and reels at this point; I've got a pretty well stocked arsenal right now, so I'm probably more than ready to tackle some Florida bass!

[N Florida Mike]

Books have been written on your questions so we'll have to try and simplify things.

First of all, do you have a boat ? 

If you do I would personally start with smaller water bodies. It makes finding the fish easier for someone new to an area. I would probably not fish Apopka. It was a dead lake for many years due to agricultural run off, and only recently has begun to improve. But there are thousands of better lakes than that at this time.

Toho is legendary  , but a big lake . I assume you'll be living near there so if you do fish it, it'll take time to learn it.

I know many of the N and central lakes but anything south of Ocala is out of my area of expertise.

Some of the baits I would use for starters : Some kind of ribbontail worm, like culprits, 4-5 inch senkos, Zoom super flukes, all t-rigged,and some kind of spinnerbait. Swimming and floating frogs are good too esp. Late spring to early fall. And don't hesitate to use native live Shiners. Best bass bait there is.

Let the water color dictate the colors you choose.

Where to fish is hard to say because there's so much variety . With the weather heating up , I would focus on boat docks, esp. After 11 a.m. I  like fishing grass lines early. If you can ease along parallel to the grass and throw a spinnerbait, esp. On a cloudy day with some wind, you should get bit, and fish the spinnerbait by weed edges.

I love cypress trees as well, they usually hold some fish.Mouths of feeder creeks can be good too.Offshore fishing can be great, but that only comes with much time and learning the contour of the lake. Lay down trees are great too. I fish them slow and use a skipping technique, like I do with boat docks, to get the bait where they are in a subtle presentation. Senkos work great for this.You can also do some flipping or pitching into pockets of pads or grass.

I honestly catch many of my fish just diligently blundering around the lake, not over thinking it. 

Like I said, It's just too big of a subject to really address well on here.

If you come north of Ocala I can be more specific.keep us posted.

Mike

 

 

[frogflogger]

Johns lake is between Toho and Apopka and holds really big fish and isn't too big a water to figure out - if you fish apopka the gourd neck spring is where you have your best shot.

[Robert Riley]

Thanks for telling me of Apopka! I probs would have taken me awhile to figure that out. I don't have a boat, but I'm looking to make friends and join a club as soon as I can. Sounds like I'll be happy with my jigs, frogs, and plastics. 

[soflabasser]

Welcome to Florida. There are plenty of bass over 8 pounds in Central Florida so you should have a good time fishing. Make sure to bring plenty of weedless lures since Central Florida's natural lakes and rivers tend to have lots of aquatic vegetation.

[Mike L]

On 5/12/2018 at 11:43 PM, N Florida Mike said:

Books have been written on your questions so we'll have to try and simplify things.

First of all, do you have a boat ? 

If you do I would personally start with smaller water bodies. It makes finding the fish easier for someone new to an area. I would probably not fish Apopka. It was a dead lake for many years due to agricultural run off, and only recently has begun to improve. But there are thousands of better lakes than that at this time.

Toho is legendary  , but a big lake . I assume you'll be living near there so if you do fish it, it'll take time to learn it.

I know many of the N and central lakes but anything south of Ocala is out of my area of expertise.

Some of the baits I would use for starters : Some kind of ribbontail worm, like culprits, 4-5 inch senkos, Zoom super flukes, all t-rigged,and some kind of spinnerbait. Swimming and floating frogs are good too esp. Late spring to early fall. And don't hesitate to use native live Shiners. Best bass bait there is.

Let the water color dictate the colors you choose.

Where to fish is hard to say because there's so much variety . With the weather heating up , I would focus on boat docks, esp. After 11 a.m. I  like fishing grass lines early. If you can ease along parallel to the grass and throw a spinnerbait, esp. On a cloudy day with some wind, you should get bit, and fish the spinnerbait by weed edges.

I love cypress trees as well, they usually hold some fish.Mouths of feeder creeks can be good too.Offshore fishing can be great, but that only comes with much time and learning the contour of the lake. Lay down trees are great too. I fish them slow and use a skipping technique, like I do with boat docks, to get the bait where they are in a subtle presentation. Senkos work great for this.You can also do some flipping or pitching into pockets of pads or grass.

I honestly catch many of my fish just diligently blundering around the lake, not over thinking it. 

Like I said, It's just too big of a subject to really address well on here.

If you come north of Ocala I can be more specific.keep us posted.

Mike

 

 

Can't really add much to this. 

If you come farther south, post

 

 

 

Mike

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Grew up east of Tampa, hands down loved flipping and on kissimmee

[davecon]

One thing to add here - cold fronts !

 

Once you figure out a Florida lake and think all is well, don’t be shocked if after a cold front you go back and zero !

 

Just part of the price of admission in Florida.

[Robert Riley]

I came down for a vacation and booked a trip with a guide on Toho, cold front put us out of fish, unfortunately, but then again, the lakes I fish in my area of central IL are pretty similar, anything will crush your chances to catch fish ahaha.

[DINK WHISPERER]

If you ever find yourself in S FL hit me up. I may have a hole or 10. 

[hawgenvy]

You'll probably want at some point (in addition to lighter stuff) a 7 1/2 foot heavy fast action rod with #40-50 braid to pull a swimbait or swim jig across heavy grass or pads, or pitching jigs or plastics deep into reeds.  And an even stouter rod with #65 braid for punching heavy mats with 1 1/2 to 2 oz weights. Then later you may be finessing a fluke, shakey head,  or dropshot with light mono or fluoro. Or you might be pulling a big crank or Carolina rig across a deep hump in the middle of the lake. I usually carry 7 rods as a coangler.  There is great variety in Florida lakes, and you'll want a considerable arsenal to maximize opportunities. I would bring down all your rods if you can. But then I'm a bit OCD.