South Florida Winter Bass Patterns

[snake95]

I have fished south Florida on the Gulf side in April for the past several years.  Seems like the bass are all over the place in terms of spawn transition at that time.  Some on beds, some post-spawn, some perhaps pre-spawn.

 

This year: planning to do some New Years fishing in a few days.

 

With the water remaining so warm, what are they up to down there?

 

Can't believe they are in true winter mode, hunkered down deep with slower metabolism and decreased activity.

 

Is it like late fall mixed with pre-spawn fishing would be further north, with no winter "slowdown?"

[Mike L]

1 hour ago, snake95 said:

I have fished south Florida on the Gulf side in April for the past several years.  Seems like the bass are all over the place in terms of spawn transition at that time.  Some on beds, some post-spawn, some perhaps pre-spawn.

 

This year: planning to do some New Years fishing in a few days.

 

With the water remaining so warm, what are they up to down there?

 

Can't believe they are in true winter mode, hunkered down deep with slower metabolism and decreased activity.

 

Is it like late fall mixed with pre-spawn fishing would be further north, with no winter "slowdown?"

There is no “true winter mode” down here as you described. 
Where do you plan to go?

 

 

 

Mike

[snake95]

4 minutes ago, Mike L said:

There is no “true winter mode” down here as you described. 
Where do you plan to go?

Thanks for the confirmation, Mike! 

 

I am used to trying to fish to the season, even in north Georgia ponds.  I had never thought about what the bass would be doing so far south before.

 

I am a small-time bass fisherman and will be mostly fishing ponds around Naples with public access - I visit relatives there and take my kids out for pond fishing.

 

In the spring I like to fish topwaters early in the morning, and also have good success on paddletails and stick worms. 

[WRB]

I am only 3,000 miles away so take this for what it's worth. 

Florida bass are extremely sensitive to cold front that drop the water a few dergrees during pre spawn.

Fishing from shore it's very difficult to see if bass are cruising the shoreline starting the bed search phase of the spawn. I would guess that is what is going on in south Florida, 1st wave of pre spawners staged with a few males cruising. 

Tom

[snake95]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

1st wave of pre spawners staged with a few males cruising.

Thanks Tom and I appreciate your extrapolation to FL.  

I guess without the winter period in effect the same way as in cooler climates, the same general trends tend to prevail, but maybe in a more subdued way.

 

For example, I know that jerkbaits and Alabama rigs tend to be strong winter baits in the SE - I assume this has to do with many factors including where fish are and their level of activity. 

 

Do the same "winter" presentations tend to be favorable in sub-tropical climates, and also a range of warmer weather presentations, or is there no such distinction for winter once you are somewhere very warm like SoCal or FL south of the Big O?

 

It probably also matters that in this area most environments are ponds, canals, etc that tend to be shallow and don't have cooler deep water at any time.

[SC53]

Bass in central and south Florida will spawn over months. They will start as early as December and go until March depending on the weather. During that time there will be all stages of the spawn going on, from pre to post.  As Tom said, cold fronts affect fl bass more than other states.  When we get one, they’ll head for the heaviest cover they can find and hunker down for awhile.  They can be caught but it’ll usually be with a flipping stick and heavy weight.

As for locations you mentioned canals typically have somewhat of a drop off not far from the edge.  They will hang off that if no cover available.

Ponds have a more gradual shoreline and will be around heavier cover or out near the center in the deepest water available.

[Fishing_FF]

On 12/30/2019 at 2:24 AM, snake95 said:

For example, I know that jerkbaits and Alabama rigs tend to be strong winter baits in the SE - I assume this has to do with many factors including where fish are and their level of activity. 

 

Do the same "winter" presentations tend to be favorable in sub-tropical climates, and also a range of warmer weather presentations, or is there no such distinction for winter once you are somewhere very warm like SoCal or FL south of the Big O?

 

It probably also matters that in this area most environments are ponds, canals, etc that tend to be shallow and don't have cooler deep water at any time.

 

Jerkbaits work well year round in Florida. During the winter, it might sit for a few seconds, but not the long periods I see talked about on videos where they get cold water fish (below 50ish). For Florida, if you find water at 60-61, those fish are cold. I was at a lake that was 60 when we started fishing, and those fish wanted a reaction bait moved, stopped, and moved again. They would hit it after the pause. By the evening, the water was 66, and it was straight retrieve on reaction baits. 

 

Each body of water in Florida is different for temperature, which means they will all be in different points of spawning stages. For example, the 60 degree lake had beds with males cruising near them with the big girls still in their winter haunts. Toho was warmer at 68 with the fish feeding pretty heavy in a pre spawn pattern. Some of the deep clear lakes have big girls sitting on beds while others you'll be chasing schoolies as there are no beds to be found. 

[snake95]

Thanks guys, we did well fishing ponds and canals.  The vast majority of our fish came on stick worms.  

[Don51]

Not surprising!  ?

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Didnt see you had already went ??

Edited January 6, 2020 by NittyGrittyBoy

[FryDog62]

I fished Naples this time last January for a couple weeks...  

 

Fished ponds, canals, Lake Sugden from shore and also by boat on the lake at the Quarry.  Most productive lure by far was a wacky worm, followed by a Whopper Plopper 75.  Lots of 1 to 2.5 lb bass.

 
Went with a guide on Okeechobee one day, but a mini cold front came through.  Largest was 17 inches/3 lbs.  

 

[snake95]

14 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Fished ponds, canals, Lake Sugden from shore and also by boat on the lake at the Quarry.  Most productive lure by far was a wacky worm, followed by a Whopper Plopper 75.  Lots of 1 to 2.5 lb bass.

Sounds like my experience.  I was catching little guys on floating rapalas worked slow and paused on surface.

 

Otherwise, T-rigged stick worms were the deal.

[FryDog62]

Must of caught over 100 fish in that 3 week period - had hoped for just one of those big Florida monster largemouth!  

[Don51]

It's not as easy as the fishing shows make it out to be! ?