Less can truly be best when it comes to small lake bass. The once clear waters of Lake Minneola are now stained but the bass are still there in good numbers. The water color is good with a slight stain, there are many rocky bottom structures and reefs throughout I won’t waste time on lakes like this because there are plenty of others that get little pressure that I can look at.”. drought and the addition of a water bottling plant caused water levels to plummet putting most residential boat docks far above the water. Lake County Florida contains 167 square miles of water surface area with hundreds of fishable lakes. Relatively shallow, maximum midlake depths seldom exceed 12 feet, and many (especially in coastal and northern portions of the state) have stained water that prohibits the growth of vegetation much below six or seven feet, although some may have offshore hydrilla. Catch a largemouth, a striper, a white bass and a spotted bass in one trip. Best Wintertime Lures For Florida Bass Fishing Bass anglers should consider two key factors when picking out lures for wintertime fishing in Florida. Once you find active areas, expect bass to move to outer edges (especially vegetation points extending to deeper water) early and late and retreat to shallow overhead cover at midday. A dispute over the head waters in the Green Swamp, In that case, find it! Its world-famous bass fishing makes it a popular lake for fishing tournaments. FS. The majority of small lakes in our area are spring-fed with good water clarity. A key fish-holding area on any of these lakes is where eelgrass, milfoil or other submerged vegetation grows on a 6- to 10-foot flat that ends with a distinct drop to deeper water. In case you're wondering about Rodman Reservoir, Lake Toho or the St. Johns River, they are not in Lake County. The Clermont Chain was once a peaceful pristine chain of lakes near the little City of Clermont, Florida. Bassmaster Magazine ranks the top 100 Best Bass Lakes each year, split by region. Lake Okeechobee is consistently one of Florida's top producing bass lakes. If in doubt about the facilities, call the county parks department or the nearest FWC office. Lane is a Sunshine State native. Inside, opt for weedless soft-plastic jerkbaits, frogs, spinnerbaits, and flipping soft-plastic lures. And he’s since won $2 Million dollars as one of the most decorated anglers in the history of the largemouth-rich Sunshine State. It has been a legend for longer than most people can imagine. If you want to catch big bass, the Big O is the place to go. This is one of the best “bass slam” lakes in the country. The home of a few of the world’s greatest competitions (Bassmaster Elite Series, FLW Tour), Okeechobee is nearly 450,000 acres (730 square miles) of bass fishing paradise. “Big lakes have a lot of water,” says Alley, who has been guiding and fishing tournaments in central Florida for over 22 years, “but they also get a lot of pressure. Within minutes we boated a fat 3-pound bass, and that was the start of a steady parade of fish. After eight years of ranking the nation’s best bass fisheries, you’d think the project would get easier. Either indicates that bass are there. Bass fishing in this lake is a bonus. During the extremes of heat or cold this becomes prime bass habitat. Once a lake passes that basic test, Alley will get down to finding bass. Most Popular Lakes in Florida top 10 rated by angler popularity and success, not by size, fish size or demographics. If shiners are not an option, toss a 5-inch hard-plastic jerkbait (Bomber Long A, Rapala, Yo-Zuri, Sebile, etc.) levels remain problematic. They only call Florida the “Fishing Capital of the World” because of Lake Okeechobee. colored water reflects a scene out of a Canadian nature documentary. Lake Tohopekaliga or Lake Toho for short is one of the BEST bass fisheries in the state of Florida. Visit floridastateparks.org/laketalquin. FS, First Published Florida Sportsman November 2009, © 2021 Outdoor Sportsman Group. especially good if you can find water in them. Nestled in the Ocala National forest “If I see a lot of docks with a lot of boats, I can figure that the lake gets pounded pretty regularly. Some of the most popular and well-known fish caught off of a fishing kayak in freshwater, are Large Mouth Bass and Catfish. If you're looking for the best the Sunshine State has to offer bass anglers, here are six lakes to keep in mind this year. The dispute was finally resolved but low water Often fed by one or more deep springs, sinkhole lakes are characterized by a narrow littoral zone; water clarity ranging from clear to slightly stained; and a wealth of offshore structure in the form of bars, drops and holes, some as deep as 30 feet. Here we go, the 7 best Florida bass lures. Armed with our Zebco 808s, my sister and I would lob Slug-Gos, Rooster Tails and Beetle Spins near stumps and other habitat that harbored more 4- and 5-pound bass than most lakes 100 times as large. Each presents a different habitat and the techniques for finding bass are different. Most county maps will show them. Bass on these lakes don’t live deep and move shallow to feed. Situated in south central Florida, the "Big O" covers 730 square miles and is easily accessible from Florida's east and west coasts. The same situation occurs in many other areas of the state. off highway 19, this lake looks like it came out of a picture postcard. But, there is one exception where fishing shoreline cover can pay off—manmade dredge holes. Introduction Winter bass fishing is tough. The canals connecting the lakes are It has over 7,500 lakes in addition to numerous reservoirs and rivers, with dozens of different fish species to catch. If you have any questions or comments about Lake County Florida lakes, please Pinkston maintains one of the healthiest bass populations in all of eastern Texas. Most of the bass caught in these lakes run about 1 to 3 pounds, but a few can be very large. fisherman love these lakes as they are a treat to fish with light tackle. Note every place you get a strike—or, where the shiner just went ballistic. Look at the Top 25 Best Bass Lakes of 2019 for the Central, Western, Southeastern and … accessible. A number of lakes have dredge holes. from severe water level problems. Lake Dorr is in my opinion the most beautiful bass lake in Florida. Locating drainage lake bass is simple. The boat docks that line Florida's lakes provide year-round cover and shade, as well as ambush points for bass. So Scroggins’ willingness to choose four lures that no bass angler should be without in Florida, comes with a … Topwater lures, countdown crankbaits and jerkbaits are excellent choices on the outer edges. populated. The John's Lake boat ramp is about 6 miles east of Clermont on Highway 50. As Mother Nature throws curveballs (wicked rainfall in the West and South), Asian carp infiltrate new areas of the country and state fisheries departments put a renewed interest in building better bass lakes, the ebb and flow of these rankings gets more … Circular sinkhole lakes dot the terrain near Avon Park. That becomes a feeding area and bass will maintain their depth, but move along that drop and slide up onto the grassflat to feed. Florida Strain bass are known among many anglers as “monster” bass and since the FloridaStrain has been introduced, tournament weigh-ins have been increasing. bottling plant in Clermont doubling down on the problem. Lake Okeechobee. Get the Top Stories from Florida Sportsman Delivered to Your Inbox Every Week. Lake Okeechobee – Florida. That indicates retirees, who spend a lot of time fishing. Just south of Orlando is another fantastic lake. Harris Chain of Lakes. And, bass don’t live shallow in these lakes. The lake has a nice ramp in Lake Dorr Park off highway 19 just north of the City of Umatilla. If you are planning a trip, spring is the best time to hunt a trophy bass. forest lakes. And, few Florida residents are more than a short drive from it. The season starts earlier in South Florida. Mountain Lake, near the town of Woodford in Carter County, is the best known of Oklahoma's small lakes for fishing. The main lakes are relatively deep by Central Florida standards and the abundant aquatic plants and deep cover contours make for some of the best bass fishing all year around. Lake Talquin is located in north Florida around 15 kilometres west of Tallahassee. Lake Talquin is home to the Florida State University Crew Club, while the Lake Talquin State Forest and Rock Bluff Recreation Area also sit around its shoreline. this lake is right for bass. I doubt if we burned a quart of gas. Polk County, for example, has over 500 small lakes in the 200- to 500-acre range, and most have excellent county-maintained ramps. The all kinds of bass (largemouth, spotted, smallmouth, etc) will hole up in inconsistent areas and are very lethargic when it comes to pursuing food.In addition, the frequent weather changes that we experience in Florida make them even more likely to constantly change locations so they can be anywhere from a few feet from … The only real exception to this is if offshore hydrilla is present. Less can truly be best when it comes to small lake bass. Given the clarity, vegetation such as eelgrass, shrimp grass, hydrilla and milfoil can easily grow deeper than 10 feet, and often does. During droughts this lake also suffers Lake Seminole is too big of a player in the largemouth bass game to even be contained in one state, as Florida shares this lake with Georgia. Locating offshore structure on a big lake can take time. The National Park prints a There are two basic types in Florida: drainage lakes and sinkhole lakes. Top water action can Smaller lakes are easier. Carolina worm rigs, or compact Texas-rigged worms, are ideal for probing deeper grassbeds. Clewiston, FL. The lake is shallow and provides ideal forage and habitat for bass. Lake Seminole. Find a few good lakes close to home, and you can have excellent fishing throughout the year. Terry “Big Show” Scroggins won his first bass tournament in Florida at the age of 12. That’s a lot of fishing water that a lot of anglers ignore, and many are easy to access. Everything about Big lakes garner a lot of publicity, but the dozen best-known big lakes in Florida are dwarfed by the 7,000 named lakes, rivers and ponds that share the peninsula with them. The best docks are near deep water, and bass … Seminole is a 38,000 acre lake located on the state’s northern border near Chattahoochee. Small lake bass fishing in Florida offers a lot of promise. In foreground, Glenada and Lelia. 60 or so feet behind the boat and slowly troll the edge under outboard power. about an hour south and some of the best fishing on the St. John's River is only about 1/2 hour from my home. Winter Haven, FL is a destination of water, recreation, and tons of family fun. Florida is one of the best states for freshwater kayak fishing trips. Surrounded by pine forest covered hills, the black tannic If offshore hydrilla is not present, the fish-holding cover will be the littoral zone. Fly These lakes are best fished on the weekdays as jet-skiers and cruisers are a distraction Find a few good lakes close to home, and you can have excellent fishing throughout the year. Reno Alley gets away from the crowds and into the fish. Lake Dorr and the Ocala National Forest Lakes. Mountain Lake held the state record for largemouth bass for six years in the 1990s. It was among the first lakes in the state to be stocked with Florida bass (1976) and has since been salted with more than 20,000 Toyota ShareLunker offspring that have flourished in a habitat-rich environment comprised of hydrilla, lily pads and abundant wood cover. beautiful and full of fight. When it comes to fooling bass on the surface in Florida, Lane’s topwater tips and picks can help you fulfill your Florida topwater dream. These are characterized by being somewhat “soup bowl” in shape, with very gradual depth contours and little in the way of offshore structure. The lake not only had been stocked with bass , it also featured a prolific sunfish population, providing a steady diet of big fish food. Known as “Florida’s Sweetest Town,” Clewiston got its nickname due to its success producing sugar cane at farms near the town. Javascript DHTML Drop Down Menu Powered by dhtml-menu-builder.com. Lake Toho is Even with the development of most of the shoreline and it's close proximity to Orlando, this lake produces excellent bass fishing. It would be impossible to list them all, so I have listed some of the most Nestled in the Ocala National forest off highway 19, this lake looks like it came out of a picture postcard. Some are now closed to the Twenty years ago these lakes hosted numerous national bass tournaments including the B.A.S.S. Lake Eustis Florida // Photo credit: City of Eustis. Nice drainage lake bass taken in mixed hydrilla and pads. Reno Alley wheeled us into a small boat ramp off a side street in Haines City and we quickly launched his 18-foot bass rig. Tremendous over Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida The nine lakes of the Harris Chain total approximately 76,000 acres. “If I’m prospecting a new lake,” says Alley, “I’ll spend an hour or so just idling around watching the depthfinder. But here are 10 other lakes (in no particular order) where you probably won't break a record, but can catch some fish. Alley, who operates Memory Makin’ Guide Service from his home in Frostproof, likes that. The bass will stay deep, but they want to be around something—grass, a drop, a hole or a hump.” This selection of bass fishing lures will cover just about anything that you’ll come across in Florida. The key areas depend upon the type of small lake you are fishing. The lake is big, so most people don’t brave it alone; they hire a charter. Lake Dorr is in my opinion the most beautiful bass lake in Florida. bass fishery. I like to stick a 6-inch shiner four feet under a float, toss it 50 feet behind the boat, put the trolling motor on slow speed, bring the boat to within 10 feet of the outer weedline, and then just circle the lake. The lake’s tributary streams headwaters to the Everglades ecosystem. Spring holes are also excellent, especially during extremes of heat and cold. Sixty seconds later, we made our first cast. “Unless the bass are actually spawning,” Alley notes, “fishing bankside vegetation is largely a waste of time, because the mature bass are going to be holding on offshore structure.”. But, just a few miles away there could be a small lake that may not have seen an angler in weeks. Gainesville, Fla., touring pro Bernie Schultz suggests visiting anglers should take along lures that work well in shallow water and aquatic vegetation. The shiner is your “bird dog.” You can learn more about a drainage lake in one day slow-trolling shiners than you can in a week of casting lures. Incredibly, amidst all of these water supply problems the Water Management Authority approved a water general public but all the larger lakes have public boat ramps grandfathered in from the days when the county was less much “First thing I do on any small lake I’m considering is to just idle around the lake and look,” explains Alley. Lake Toho is one of Florida’s largest lakes and is renowned as one of the best fishing places in Florida for catching trophy bass. Lake Toho is located in Kissimmee, FL. the lake and there is adequate cover despite the building of huge homes around the shoreline. Finding small lakes with ramps isn’t difficult. Throughout Florida’s mild winters, heavyweight largemouth bass lurk in … The Florida largemouth bass has a reputation as a "tackle buster." Most drainage lakes are rimmed with shallow vegetation extending outward to a defined weedline in five to seven feet of water. Rodman is about 45 minutes north of my home in Eustis. This is where fill sand was removed to build the ramp or level a lawn, and the resulting hole has sharp drops and good depth that provides a deepwater refuge close to shore. The best was pushing 7 pounds. We weren’t more than a modest rifle shot from the ramp and never needed to put the boat on plane to get there. The Florida fishing experts rated lakes 9. It is known as “The Chain of Lakes City.” Winter Haven Chain bass fishing happens to be one of the BEST ways to experience the outdoors. contact me. This was a tough one to come up with because there are so many good lures out there but the 7 that I’ve chosen are consistently better producers of giant Florida bass than any other lures that I’ve found. If you are looking for a trophy-sized bass all year long, Lake Toho is your destination. This is one case where bass and grass can mix when the fish are not spawning. be good early in the morning with Carolina rigged worms working later in the day. Whether or not an individual lure … Amazingly, he doesn’t have a lure sponsor. He has fished for bass in Florida since he could hold a fishing pole and has caught hundreds of Florida bass on topwaters of all shapes, sizes and actions. Florida’s biggest lake and the 2nd largest lake in contiguous U.S. is Lake Okeechobee, one of the best bass fishing spots in the whole world. Bass on these lakes also school on the surface at times, making compact topwater plugs and countdown crankbaits a good choice. development in South Lake County has had a serious negative effect on this chain. The Harris Chain of Lakes, in Central Florida in the aptly named Lake County, was once choked with pollution. They live shallow and move to outer weedlines to feed. That is not the case. Picking the right lake is key. brochure that can be obtained at the park information centers detailing all the lakes and providing access information. On all of these sinkhole lakes it comes down to deeper water structure, drops and cover on them. Some have a tournament on them virtually every weekend, and those anglers who fish those tournaments spend a lot of non-tournament time on the lake to keep up with the fish. The lake has multiple RV/camping sites and is home to Big Toho Marina. This destination is in the center of a chain of lakes that consists of up to 50 lakes. Best Florida Lakes To Target Winter Trophy Bass If you wish to catch that once-in-a-lifetime trophy bass this winter, you need to visit one of Florida’s renowned bass fisheries. Bass can live here and move to the nearest weedline to feed early and late in the day. February through April are peak months in Central Florida. Throughout the Ocala National Forest there are many other small A few weeks ago I took a trip down to Fellsmere Lake in Florida. Winter Haven Bass Fishing Trips. It is a great lake for boating, sailing and canoeing, as the scenery is quite spectacular. By the time an early afternoon thunderstorm ended our day, we had tallied over 20 bass. Much of the Conway chain lies within the incorporated towns of Belle Isle and Edgewood and both have dedicated law enforcement. Locate the key areas and you can expect to find fish there on subsequent trips. Here we’ve got a 730 square mile lake rich with some of the best lake bass fishing in the country. 2. Florida Small and/or Private Lakes. Some of the best-known bass waters in Florida, which include lakes Okeechobee and George and the Kissimmee chain, are also among the state's largest. This is especially true if there is an RV park or mobile home park on the lake. Lake County is covered with thousands of small natural lakes. Clearer water is best handled by lighter lines (8- to 12-pound mono). The result is that the bass are looking at a lure darn near every day of the week.”, With high usage also comes congested ramps, limited parking and a lot of boats vying for the best spots. But, some lakes are more productive than others due to current water levels, previous spawning cycles, and a number of other factors. Florida's fabled "bucketmouth" will attack just about anything- minnows, frogs, even baby ducks. There are a lot of these lakes along the Florida Ridge and in phosphate country. In a lot of cases, you can pull your boat up to the ramp on a Saturday morning and have little, if any, company. They may be located close to the ramp, or next to someone’s backyard. Now, the chain’s story amounts to a great comeback. That’s especially true near the town of Lakeland, where small 50- to 1,000-acre lakes dot the landscape like craters on the moon. View Map. Megabucks. Sailing, motor boating, and water skiing are popular too. The State of Florida occasionally restocks the lake with bass fingerlings and the lake has regaining it's reputation as a great Most are private, but some have public boat ramps that were grandfathered in before the county was developed. Extreme care should be taken when using at the Highway 50 boat ramp in low water. 2) Lakeland Lakes: While lots of large Florida lakes get notable publicity for giving up bass, it’s likely more lunker largemouths are caught by more people from small, virtually unknown waters. Given the smaller waters, that’s not that difficult to do because prime cover is not abundant. All Rights Reserved, Entering your valid email address signifies you wish to receive our newsletter and have read the, Florida Sportsman Launches Action Spotter Podcast. Most such cover will be well-removed from shoreline vegetation. You may have to sort through a dozen lakes to find a couple of prime ones, but it’s time well spent. Florida is well known for its magnificent beaches and entertainment parks, but it also has a large number of magnificent lakes that provide respite from busy daily lives, places to come for the winter for the snow birds, great spots to catch some prize fish and spectacular environment for water sports – kayaking, canoeing, sailing, and nature observing. on weekends. Most of the time, the trolling motor provided all the propulsion we needed on the 450-acre lake. The tactics for locating bass are different, and so are the best ways to catch them. 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