Orlando Bass Fishing

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

December 2008

December has seen some great bass fishing action on Johns Lake, Butler Chain and the private waters we have been fishing.
Private waters have mainly been for crappie fishing the past month, and it has been producing some very nice slabs. Bait we have been using have been the SteelShad and jigs tipped with crappie nibbles.
Most trips have been 4 hour trips with us boating between 20 and 30 per trip and they have been running from 1 ½ pounds to 2 pound slabs!
Johns Lake we have spotted bass beds all over the place! Its that time of year for the big gals to show their faces and make clients very happy, as was the case with a father and son trip of Bruce and young Dave. Bruce had been tossing Gitem Warlocks and getting bass here and there, very scattered around the lake and towards the end of the trip, young Dave working a wild shiner got the wake up call of a lifetime! A beautiful and very solid 10.14 pound largemouth bass, let me tell you, this youngster handled this hawg of a bass like a pro! Our main areas of concentration on Johns Lake has been scattered and isolated grass patches, docks and a few areas of open water holding some good hydrilla.
Butler Chain has also had some good action going on, Bass beds have been spotted all over the chain. Altho the beds we have spotted have been for the most part empty right now, we have caught some very good bass in the general areas that the beds are. Areas we have concentrated on have been grass beds very close to drop offs, as the bass have been staging to hit the beds. Butler itself has been the main producer for numbers and size with several 6 pounders being caught on anything from steelshad, gitem warlocks and spinner baits.
Please remember to catch and release, and this time of year, be especially gentle with the big gals, afterall they are what make fishing in florida awesome!
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Orlando Bass Fishing

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

November 2008

Things have been very crazy to say the least. We have had several trips to Johns Lake, Butler Chain, Conway Chain and a private lake.
Johns Lake has seen some good action, with early morning action coming from the Deer Island cut area working SteelShads and trick worms. Once the action slows in this area, we have been going into the marsh area working trick worms and brush hogs, all junebug colors, which have been producing some quality bass. Most of the action has been coming in open waters, with the baits being crawled slowly across bottom around grass beds and hydrilla. Main lake areas that have been producing for us have been the scattered isolated grass beds, once again, a single blade of grass produces a good catch. Jigs and whacky rigged senko type baits also have been producing around docks and submerged structure.
Butler Chain has also been pretty steady for us. Drop offs have been a major focus for us, tossing trick worms, craws and brush hogs into 16 plus foot of water, and slowly crawling the baits up into the shallower waters has been the ticket, most bass we have seen and caught have been suspended in 12 foot of water on the drop offs. Lake Butler and Little Lake Down have been the best producers for us, with Lake Tibet and Lake Louise also producing some good numbers.
Conway Chain faired pretty well, with once again deep waters being the big key to catching bass. Offshore weed beds were holding bass with rattle traps, steel shads and 7 inch worms catching the bulk of the bass. Several docks held some quality bass, with a whacky rig doing all the catching, as the bass would hit on the fall. Bite was light, so watching the line was big key to getting them out from under the docks.
The private lake we have been fishing on occasion has been producing very well. This body of water has seen some limited shallow water action, sitting in the middle of the lakes has been really producing some good numbers of not only bass but some 2 pound crappie. Steel shads have been the main bait for catching bass out there, and if worked like slow rolling a spinner bait, the crappie will slam this bait. Best crappie fishing action has been from 6:30am up to about 8am, then they just seem to shut down only getting a few here and there, very scattered, but you can usually get the limit by 8am. Best fishing waters have been in 12 to 18 foot of water, with bass mostly suspended in 8 to 10 foot of water, go deeper and you can catch some very big catch fish here also.
When we have gotten a good shallow water bite going, it has been mostly on brush hogs and trick worms crawled very slowly on the bottom. Water temperatures have been holding pretty steady in the low to mid 60's with schooling action going on most of the day as the bass are really starting to feed up good for the spawn. We have been seeing some scattered beds on Johns Lake, Butler Chain and the private waters so get ready for yet another great spawning season.
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Orlando Bass Fishing

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

October 2008

The first half of October has already seen some very good bass fishing action with some good catches. Most of our time has been spent on Butler Chain this month along with some scouting of other local lakes. For the most part bass have been tighter to cover on Butler Chain. We have caught a lot of bass working grass beds and docks with some bass coming from submerged structure in deeper waters.
One bait that has once again become hot for us has been the Steel Shad. This bait has once again become a bass catching machine. This bait we have been working more around waters with deep drop offs and we have been catching the bass that are cruising back and forth from deep holes to shallow waters chasing bait fish. The Steel Shad has been a perfect match when it comes to the bait fish in size and color, with the silver one really catching some good numbers.
There has been scattered schooling action out on several lakes on Butler Chain, with Lake Tibet and Lake Sheen being the top producers for us, with Steel Shads and 1 ounce spinner baits catching quality and numbers from these schools.
Spent a few day out on a private body of water with Franky V and Eric, the guys fished half a day in the morning and we broke for lunch and returned to fish until 7pm. Open water areas had seen schooling action pretty much all day long with steel shad catching some good numbers. Franky was slow rolling a spinner bait over a brush pile and managed a few good keepers off of it. Shoreline and dock areas had seen some slower action, but a few good bass fell to the old trick worm. Water temperatures and air temperatures have finally come down to very comfortable levels, and this has triggered some very good bass fishing action and finally some good top water action. Average catches have been running between 20 and 30 bass a day now, with artificial baits doing most of the catching.
The last half of October has seen steadty fishing action. Schooling action has picked up greatly and given us a pretty good early morning top water action. Once the top water action has died off for the day, spinner baits and rattle traps have kept the action going during the day.
In my spare time after trips, I have started pouring my own soft plastics, and they have been producing not only good numbers, but some size as well, so look for my new store front on the web site, should be launched by January 1st.
Bassfishingfl.com

Orlando Bass Fishing

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

September 2008

The month of September has seen some good bass fishing action, as well as some tough action. For the most part, the action has been pretty steady. Shiner bite has actually been very slow, but the artificial bite has been good. Johns Lake has been a good early morning bite using spinner baits and trick worms. Deer Island cut has produced some descent numbers, but the size has not been to my liking.

We did make a venture out to Lake Rosalie, one to check water levels after the tropical storm, and to alo see how the bite was doing out there. We started the day out with Rich tossing some shiners around, and not surprised, there was no action on the in the first hour, so we switched Rich to some trick worms.
There was scattered success working grass lines catching one here one there kinda deal as we kept moving around. Working cuts where we spotted flowing water was the big key here, getting into the creek was a huge key. Bass were holding tight on the backside of the flow and hammering the trick worms, and brush hogs. Two areas in the creek there were trees blocking us, but with a little maneuvering, we made it over them and kept on catching bass. Lake did ok for us, catching 4 bass, but the creek was the place, as we boated 10 more bass there.

Butler Chain water levels are great, and the bass fishing has been holding steady. With all the new waters from the tropical storm, bass have a lot more new areas to roam and feed. Several good bass were caught on grass edges in 12 feet of water, with once again trick worms, and wacky rigged senkos getting the bulk of the action. Some bass have been coming from docks and flooded timber as well.
It is still very hot out on the waters, so please be sure to drink a lot of water, and use a lot of sun screen
Bassfishingfl.com

Orlando Bass Fishing

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

June and July 2008

June and July have seen some good bass fishing action. Most of our time had been spent on Johns Lake, with a few scattered trips out on Butler Chain. This time of year is typically hot and usually with very little breeze to help keep things comfortable, so we have been doing a lot of 4 and 6 hour trips to beat the heat.
Johns Lake has been pretty good on schooling bass first thing in the morning at Deer Island Cut. Spinner baits, rattle traps and a select few crank baits have done pretty good. Smaller swim baits like the curl tail minnow have been productive, as well as a 7 inch junebug worm crawled slowly across the bottom.
Once the schooling action stops, we have been hitting isolated grass beds as well as offshore hydrilla beds just below the surface. Seven inch junebug worms with a small bullet weight worked slowly has been the main producer once the air temperatures start cooking. We did have some limited success with drop shot in 12 to 16 foot water.
Senko type baits, as well as trick worms have been catching some bass off of docks, as well as the drop shot worked along the docks and worked slowly thru the passes in the docks.
Water levels on Johns Lake have come up slowly with the rains we have been having, markers are out there still, marking the sand bars to make sure people and boats stay safe.
Butler Chain water levels are still great, lots of areas with some good productive flooded wood and some very healthy hydrilla make for some good action. Early morning top water action has been ok, with some scattered schooling around the chain. Most of our bass have been coming close to deeper water drop offs, but we have still been catching bass in less than 2 feet of water in lakes Chase and Blanche.
One ounce spinner baits worked thru grasses and hydrilla have produced some serious strikes, as well as working the steel shad, typically the gold one seems to have worked best for us. Several bass have been caught working docks, big key here was to really work the dock hard, and very slowly. Drop offs have been holding some quality bass, especially around submerged brush piles.
Bassfishingfl.com

Orlando Bass Fishing

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

May 2008

The month of May has seen some very good bass fishing action in Orlando. For the most part Johns Lake has been the place to be. Even though we have seen very limited schooling action in the mornings, we have caught some good schooling bass in the cuts, mainly Deer Island cut. Bass have been hitting on Gitem Warlocks around isolated grass patches, rigged with a very small bullet weight and worked very slowly.
Several areas in mid lake with hydrilla have been producing some quality bass using 1 ounce Sugoi spinner baits, Steel Shads and 10 inch worms. Several days of higher winds than normal had us working docks that were wind blown, which had been holding bass, some docks producing as many as 3 bass, which makes for a very good day.
Live bait has been producing ok, but we have been out catching live bait with artificial baits sometimes 3 to 1, clients really love this, as it is just that much more fun to catch bass using plastics.
Butler Chain has been fishing pretty good. Lakes we have worked have been Butler, Chase and Blanche. Butler has been a great lake to start the day out early on in the mornings, from there moving over to Lake Chase has been the ticket. Numbers and bigger bass have come later in the day on Lake Blanche, working the docks and the deeper drop offs very slow worming. Altho the bite has been what we call a "small tick" instead of the aggressive hits, quality bass have been caught.
For the most part, water levels on Johns Lake and Butler Chain are not too bad, Johns Lake, we do have a few sand bars to watch out for, one right at the ramp area, one coming off the point going into the main lake area, and one going into the Horse shoe area. Butler Chain the canals could use some water, but the levels are still safe to pass thru, and with the rains the last few days, should help out with those levels.
My tournament partner and I did venture out to Harris Chain mid month to fish a Fishers Of Men Tournament, with no free time to practice out there, we went according to old notes from years past and they paid off pretty good. With some tough fishing, we did get into some schooling bass, but we could only get them to hit very small floating Ugly Duckling crank baits, once we had our limit, we switched up to one ounce spinner baits and covered a lot of water to cull some smaller bass, with a nice 5 and change bass slamming a spinner bait, landing us in 11th place, just 2 spots from the money, which equaled out to a pound, also missing second big bass by a matter of ounces.

Waters at the ramp on Harris were very low, with only one of the ramps open, and apparently a boulder sitting at the end of the ramp making launching and pulling out entertaining to say the least. Next months tournament is State Championships on Lake Rousseau and from there we go to Southeast Regional's the end of October, site still to be determined.
Bassfishingfl.com

Orlando Bass Fishing

Orlando Bass Fishing Report

April 2008

The month of April has seen some great bass fishing action, as well as some tough action as the cold front came thru. This front grabbed a hold of us for a good two days, and after some very good bass fishing action, it really put a clamp on the action. Bass were still caught, but we did have to work harder for our catch. We had a few days of combo trips, working live and artificial baits, for the most part, the artificial baits we used were Gitem Warlocks and 7 inch ribbon tail worms, both worked with a 1/16th ounce bullet weight in and around grass beds.

Tom and Robert had a day of high winds which limited us to certain areas on the lake, the bite was very scattered and very light, as the bass would just pick up the baits and swim some with it, heart breaking moment came with Tom getting a light tick and the bass swimming under the boat, only to turn and come back out and jump right next to the boat, this beauty was an easy 7 pounder, as she spit the worm and swam away.
Doug and Todd had two days with us on Johns Lake, the first day was once again very light hits on the baits, with winds still up and weather very cool to start the day, bass were scattered as we hit several areas to get our catch. Day two we had much better action with calmer winds and warmer weather. Big bass for them coming in at 5.13 pounds.
Brian and John had some good action as well on live baits, bass were schooling some in the cut but were very scattered, as most bass caught came closer to docks, with one dock yielding two bass within minutes of each other. For the most part, the live bait action has remained pretty steady on Johns Lake, schooling action has seemed to slow down some but the quality bass have picked up considerably as Doug and Todd saw on day two, catching only one dink, with the rest coming in between 2 and 4 pounds and very scrappy.
Sorry for the delay in my fishing reports, things have been very crazy around here. First half of the month has seen some pretty good bass fishing. Most of my trips have been done on Johns Lake with a few stops at Butler Chain. For the most part most of my trips have been artificial baits.
Using a lot of Gitem Warlocks, spinner baits and of course the Steel Shads.
Johns Lake for the most part, the early morning schooling has slowed to a crawl, with a few bass being caught in the Deer Island cut in the morning. We have caught some good bass in wide open waters on the main lake, as well as quality bass around isolated grass patches.
This seems to be a pattern that has held up for well over a month now. Several bass in the 5 pound class had made it to the boat in this time frame on Johns Lake.
Butler Chain was a little tougher fishing. Most casts were pin point under docks, and to grass patches with submerged wood close by. Lakes that produced for us were Tibet, Chase and Blanche. Memorable trip out there was with Chris G. We had been plugging away for some quality bass and Chris had told me his life long dream was to catch a 5 pounder.
His previous big fish I believe he said was 3 pounds and it was not even a bass, so mid way thru the day, I told him lets head to what I call " junk lake" Lake Blanche, with all the docks and submerged wood, there had to be a big bass waiting for him. We got on a good stretch of water using the Warlocks, when Chris got hit and the bass didn't stand a chance, and yes, his dream came true with a solid bass coming in right at 5 pounds on the gripper. Great job Chris, and when your back next year, we have to catch one bigger.
The last half of April saw some good bass fishing on Johns Lake and Butler Chain. Schooling action on Johns had been very limited for us in the mornings, but always got the day off to a good start. For the most part on Johns Lake, our bass have been coming off some of our typical deeper water areas. Steel Shads and spinner baits being the best at catching the bass, a few have been caught on smaller series Ugly Duckling crank baits.

Butler Chain we had spent most of our time on Lake Chase and Tibet-Butler. Lake Chase has been good working Gitem Warlocks and heavy one ounce Sugoi spinner baits in and around thinned out grasses and lily pads. Tibet-Butler we did have some schooling action, and the heavier spinner baits tossed into the schools picked off the better quality bass. Docks have produced some good bass with the steady action coming mainly around grass beds and areas with hydrilla mixed with the grass. A few of the deeper water areas have held some good bass, working the Steel Shad like a spoon has been a very good way to pick up some from the deep drop offs.
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