Low water, once again, is making it tough to get around on the South chain. Lakes are down 2 + ft. below normal and dropping fast. North chain is even lower. 

 Bass are starting to feed up more in preparation of upcoming spawn season. Find the bait and the Bass won’t be far behind. Look for large shad schools on your electronics or for schooling fish on the surface. Seagulls, which will give away the shad’s location, are starting to show up on the lakes. Look for the gulls to start diving which is a good sign that Bass could be feeding on shad beneath them. Throw shad imitating lures such as topwaters, rattlebaits, or jerkbaits.
 Offshore structure should continue to hold the larger concentrations of big fish til the water temp dips down into the mid to lower 60′s at which point they’ll start to move shallower in search of spawning areas. Ledges, holes, and shell beds will all hold some big prespawners. Deep diving crankbaits along with Texas/Carolina rigged soft plastics should produce in these areas. Also try slow rolling a white spinnerbait or ripping a chrome or gold rattlebait through submerged grassbeds such as hydrilla or eelgrass. Check kissimmee grass, cattails, and reeds in shallower more stained lakes with flippin’ stick. Soft plastic craws or creature baits paired with 3/8-3/4 oz weights should do the trick.

Kissimmee chain

Spotty would best describe the fishing on the Kissimmee chain. Bass are in transition moving from deeper summer haunts towards the shallows. Some fish are deep, others are shallow, and most are somewhere in between. Here one day, gone the next. Look for areas of clear water as the water temp continues to fall. Bass in clear cold water are always easier to catch than Bass in cold muddy water. Fish inside grasslines and boat trails with shad imitating topwaters, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, or swimbaits. Soft stickbaits are also deadly in these areas. Black/blue, watermelon, and junebug colors are hard to beat.
 Fish spinnerbaits, rattlebaits, and bladed jigs through submerged open water hydrilla beds. Use shad or shiner imitating colors. As the water cools, slow down your retrieve speed. Once fish are located go through area again with slower presentations such as a Texas/Carolina rigged soft plastics. Junegug, redbug, watermelon, and black/blue are all great color choices. On cold front days look for the thickest matted cover you can find such as hyacinth, water lettuce, mud tussocks, hydrilla, pennywart, or gatorvine. Flip mats with 1- 1&1/2 oz Texas rigged craws or creature baits. Use at least 50 lb braid with heavy wire hook. Also try flippin’ thick lily pads with 1/2-3/4 black/blue jig with matching craw or chunk trailer. Look in extreme shallows for early spawners. Flags, pads, and cattails growing on sandy bottoms in 2 ft of water or less should attract first wave of spawners.      

Central Florida is where you’ll find beautiful lakes, great bass fishing and Monte Goodman. Monte has made a career of doing what he enjoys and does best as a professional bass guide and successful tournament angler. Guiding and fishing competitively for the past 15 years has given him the experience, skill and knowledge it takes to be a great fisherman. Monte is also a vocal advocate of Florida’s habitat and conservation efforts, supports and practices “catch and release” himself and encourages others to do the same. A member of tournament trails such as FLW, FOMNTT, BFL, and B.A.S.S just to name a few. Credited with well over a hundred local tournament wins, was back to back Angler of the Year in the largest B.A.S.S. affiliated club in the world, and has won numerous Big Bass honors. Monte’s ability to adapt, his versatility and lengthy resume has earned him a reputation anyone would be proud of.

 Amazingly these lakes remain mostly in pre-spawn mode due to the cold weather. Most female Bass are still full of eggs and holding in deeper water. Water temperature getting into mid 60′s will start what should be a very strong spawning cycle. We could see bedding Bass well into April or even May with this late start. Most fish are still being caught on crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and jerkbaits fished over deeper submerged grass. This pre-spawn pattern should soon give way to a flippin’ stick and sight fishing. In the clear water lakes look for spawners from the shoreline out to as deep as you can see. In dark or green water lakes flip grass, cattails, pads, or reeds in 2-5 ft with 1/2 oz Texas rigged craws or creature baits. Smoke, junebug, and watermelon colors will all produce. Also try ripping a 1/2 oz rattlebait through submerged grassbeds in 4-10 ft. Chrome/black, gold/black, or red are good color choices. Get a few quick photos and release the fish immediately so that it may return to the bed and finish it’s job.

Kissimmee Chain

 Huge tournament stringers, up to nearly 40 lbs, indicate a strong bite on the Kissimmee Chain now. Texas rigged soft plastics are producing the bulk of the bigger Bass, however spinnerbaits, rattlebaits, and jerkbaits are catching their share as well. Look for sandy bottom areas with sparse or isolated cover 2-5 ft deep for spawning Bass. Cast or flip craws, creature baits, or other soft plastics around the cover. Junebug, watermelon, and black/blue always great color choices. Fish extremely slow. Search just outside spawning areas for pre and post spawners. Look for thicker cover such as floating mats, heavy pads, or gatorvine. Flip 1oz or heavier Texas rigged craws deep into the cover. Also look for any submerged vegetation such as eelgrass or coontail growing just a little deeper than adjacent spawning areas. Shad or shiner colored rattlebaits, spinnerbaits, and jerkbaits should entice a few bites in these areas. Swimbaits in 4-6 in size range also should continue to produce plenty of bites.

Central Florida is where you’ll find beautiful lakes, great bass fishing and Monte Goodman. Monte has made a career of doing what he enjoys and does best as a professional bass guide and successful tournament angler. Guiding and fishing competitively for the past 15 years has given him the experience, skill and knowledge it takes to be a great fisherman. Monte is also a vocal advocate of Florida’s habitat and conservation efforts, supports and practices “catch and release” himself and encourages others to do the same. A member of tournament trails such as FLW, FOMNTT, BFL, and B.A.S.S just to name a few. Credited with well over a hundred local tournament wins, was back to back Angler of the Year in the largest B.A.S.S. affiliated club in the world, and has won numerous Big Bass honors. Monte’s ability to adapt, his versatility and lengthy resume has earned him a reputation anyone would be proud of.

 Kissimmee chain

 The Kissimme chain is alive and well. Here we are in the dog days and still it’s taking 25 plus pounds (5 fish) to win just about every tournament! I have not seen summer fishing this good here in years. Lake Toho seems to be the most consistent lake on Kissimmee chain right now. As long as there’s plenty of healthy open water hydrilla that should continue. Have heard rumors of spraying over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully it’s just a rumor. There’s clean water from big grassy island all the way to the north end of the lake. That’s where most of the good hydrilla is growing. Still a few fish hitting topwater early but getting tougher as most of the fish are moving deeper or into thicker cover. Spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits worth a try early as well fished over open water hydrilla. Texas/Carolina rigged soft plastics are producing the lion’s share now. Junebug, black and blue, and watermelon are always good color choices here. Some of the biggest Bass are being caught flippin’ the deeper matted hydrilla with 3/4 – 1oz Texas rigged craws or creature baits, however bites can be few and far between. Fish attractors are holding some nice fish but be prepared to take a number.
 There’s just a trickle of current in the rivers and creeks now which will put the running water bite on hold until more heavy rains arrive. Still worth checking though especially after a good rain. Good looking hydrilla growing in Lakes Cypress and Hatchineha but a little on the shallow side for the most part. There’s some fish biting along the reedlines early and late, but tough to get bit during midday hours.
 The outside grasslines in Lake Kissimmee continue to produce both size and numbers. Bass are schooling on shad and minnows in and along grasslines early in the morning. These areas change from day to day as the Bass follow the bait schools into new areas. Find one of these schools and you can load the boat quickly. Topwaters and spinnerbaits work well if the fish are busting bait along the outside of the grass. If they’re busting up in the grass you will more than likely have to flip them out depending on the density of the grass. Use smaller baits to “match the hatch” and be patient, you’re trying to get a Bass to eat your lure with ten-thousand little baitfish swimming all around them. As the sun rises higher and the grass bite gets tougher, switch over to a flippin’ stick armed with a 1/2-1oz Texas rigged craw/worm. Flip deeper grass or pad lines. Also a few good fish hanging around open-water structure such as: shell beds, drop-offs, ect… Try a firetiger or shad colored deep diving crankbait or junebug, black and blue, or watermelon Texas/Carolina rigged soft plastics.
 

Winter Haven

 The south chain of Lakes is mostly navigible now but still 2 1/2-3 ft low. All three canals to lake Cannon are impassable for most boats. The north chain of lakes remains impassable with some of the canals being bone dry. I’m afraid it’s going to take a tropical system to fill these lakes up to their normal level. Water restrictions obviously don’t apply to those who have lakefront property on the chain of lakes as they continue to pump out thousands of gallons of water to keep their grass green, even with all the rain we’ve had. I’ve even seen some home owners extending their pipes further into the lake…duh!
 The fishing however remains outstanding on the chain, which suprisingly has, for some time now, been the most consistent public Bass fishery in Polk County. Twenty-five lb limits of fish are being caught consistently, mostly around deep structure. Deep submerged grasses such as hydrilla, eelgrass, peppergrass, coontail, or shrimpgrass all hold fish. Some of these grasses grow out to 15 plus feet deep. There’s also hundreds of brushpiles that have been planted in deep water on every lake of the chain over the years. Natural ledges that drop-off sharply into deep water are also abundant along with many man-made dredge holes. Shell beds or mussel bars hold numbers of big Bass as well. A little time spent watching and learning how to read a depthfinder can and will lead to some hefty summertime catches here. Also GPS makes life a lot easier when you are in the middle of the lake.
 Bass on the Winter Haven chain and surrounding lakes will  go deeper now than at any other time of year. They can be very hard to find and tricky to catch. Crankbaits and Texas/Carolina rigged soft plastics are always king here in the summer months. Keep your lures in contact with whatever cover/structure you are fishing. Use crankbaits that dive deep enough to dig into the bottom and worm weights heavy enough to stay on the bottom. Try firetiger or shad colored crankbaits and junebug or redbug worms for Texas/Carolina rigs. These open water fish, especialy in the clear lakes, sometimes suspend and relate only to baitfish. Find the schools of shad and you will find the Bass with them. Choose a lure that you can fish right through the school. Jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits, and spoons are usually good choices. At times a school of Bass will hold up on a peice of structure for a week other times only for an hour or less. They may move only fifty yards or they may move across the lake. Be prepared to do likewise. There’s still a few fish on deeper emergent shoreline cover such as grass, cattails, reeds, and docks in the dirtier water lakes. Try flippin’ 1/4-3/4 oz Texas rigged smoke, watermelon, or junebug craws or creature baits.

Central Florida, where you’ll find beautiful lakes, great bass fishing and Monte Goodman. Monte has made a career of doing what he enjoys and does best as a professional bass guide and successful tournament angler. Guiding and fishing competitively for the past 15 years has given him the experience, skill and knowledge it takes to be a great fisherman. Monte is also a vocal advocate of Florida’s habitat and conservation efforts, supports and practices “catch and release” himself and encourages others to do the same. A member of tournament trails such as FLW, FOMNTT, BFL, and B.A.S.S just to name a few. Credited with well over a hundred local tournament wins, was back to back Angler of the Year in the largest B.A.S.S. affiliated club in the world, and has won numerous Big Bass honors. Monte’s ability to adapt, his versatility and lengthy resume has earned him a reputation anyone would be proud of.