This time of year, I have had great success scanning around on an idle with my outboard motor looking for hydrilla beds. You can use side imaging to locate fish and also use marker buoys to mark the submerged edges or other structures. Carolina rigged soft plastics and Texas rigged senkos or trickworms in junebug, black and blue, and watermelon red have been the most productive colors. I would try to vary your retrieve when fishing around the grass structure. Another area to focus on is near contour lines that are very close together that means the area has a sharp drop in water depth. These spots can really make your fishing trip successful if you dedicate some time learning to fish ledges, etc. You can look for these hydrilla ledges in Big Lake Harris, Lake Dora, Lake Eustis, and don’t forget Lake Griffin.
Always check for water flow at the mouths of the canals. Wind driven water flow will move bait, and the bass will stack up at the mouth along drop-offs and near structure like docks, plus you should check around the small grass clumps sticking out of the water near the shallow edge of the dropoff. Another bait that is still producing better than average sized bass are hollow body and soft plastic frogs. You can fish them in many types of cover. Just make sure to not set the hook right when a lunker blows up on your bait. Count to two and hit ‘em. Colors to look for are a natural green frog and also a brown and white color. This time of year try to throw your baits in those out of the reach areas where the fish are less pressured. I do guide trips year round on the Harris Chain if you’re interested in booking a charter trip please checkout my website for more information cprbasscharters.com
