Winter is here as all of the migrating birds have arrived. In the month of November, the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes was at high pool stage due the hurricane rain. The state of Florida has been spraying and removing unwanted vegetation in shallow water spawning areas. I can’t wait to see the result. Most of the water ran south to Lake Okeechobee. During that time the fish were stacked in the flow at the entrances of the canals. Now the water is stable, and the bass are going into spawn mode. The best place to fish will be in the Kissimmee grass. The males have been moving into shallow, sandy areas to compete for spawning ground. This time of year, the bass are feeding heavily to gain weight to prepare for spawning. The bait of choice will be plastic baits, flukes, trick worm and vibe worms. The best colors to use are watermelon seed, watermelon red and June bug. Another good location for catching big bass will be in open water in the hydrilla patches. Bait of choice will be rattle traps, chrome with blue back. Goblets cove is full of hydrilla. Hard to navigate thru, but should hold some really big bass.
Crappie – The crappies are still in open water and will remain there until the end of December. Best methods for catching crappie this time of the year will be controlling multiple rods with jig heads tipped with minnows. If you cannot find the crappie in open water, move to the outside edge of the Kissimmee grass where females stage while males prep beds.
