Bass Fishing Kissimmee Chain: The bass have moved out to open water; mostly due to the Chain of Lakes are at low water levels for the summer hurricane season. The hydrilla is topped out all over Lake Toho; fish the edges where deeper water will allow your lures to work. Bass are schooling in open water chasing bait. The schooling bass range in size from one to four pounds. The baits of choice are small Rattle Traps and Rapala X-Raps. Plastic baits of choice are flukes, jerk baits, and swim baits in shad colors. Anglers are catching multiple bass on the outside edges of Kissimmee grass using artificial soft plastics. Tip: Don’t get frustrated with heavy vegetation. When your lure’s hook picks up weeds, give it a yank to clear the lure. Many times this is when strikes occur. The black crappie bite has been good on the Kissimmee Chain. On West Lake, fish open water between the two islands. On East Lake, fish open water, the 12 to 15 feet range seems to be where most crappie are being caught. The best method to catching crappie is trolling with jigs in various colors tipped with a minnow. Vary the depth until you start catching fish.
For bluegill and sunfish, look for open water shell beds with live red worms. Fish on the bottom. If you like to fly fish, popping bugs are the best bet. Search out Shingle Creek and fish the outside edge of the vegetation. Also look in shallow water for spawning panfish towards full Moon phase, quite common this time of year.
