Bass – Winter is here, and all the migrating birds have arrived. FWC drew down East Lake Toho to scrape and remove unwanted vegetation on the edges of the lake. This is long overdue and will make for better fishing. Anglers can expect the fish to have good sandy spawning areas and be able to catch a lot of fish this winter. Capt. Randy hints that East Lake should be as good as West Lake Toho during the spawning season.
West Lake Toho Bass fishing is turning on! They are going into spawn mode and feeding heavily to gain weight; the best place to fish will be in the Kissimmee Grass. The males have been moving into shallow water sandy areas to compete for spawning grounds. The bait of choice will be plastic baits, lizzards, 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. Another spot to fish is Goblets cove. There is less hydrilla to navigate through with a boat and should hold some really big fish. Find moving water and you’ll find bass waiting to ambush shad when staging for the spawn.
Crappie – Alligator Chain of Lakes for crappie fishing is turning on! Fish the flow at the mouth of the canals. Also, the crappies are still in open water and will remain there until the end of December. Best methods for catching specks this time of the year will be trolling 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.
