Lake Harris Chain For Two

Finally, the Harris Chain of lakes was consistently good to me! Tournament schedules in March for both the FL Bass Nation State qualifier and American Bass Angler's Ram Open ProAm series lined up on sequential weekends. 

First Event: FL Bass Nation Central Division qualifier was held on Lake Harris Hickory Point Recreational Facility in Tavares, FL. Due to family schedules I entered the event without having been in the water to practice or learn the conditions. I had to rely on pre-tournament research and past knowledge of seasonal patterns.

The time of the year told me that bass should be pre-spawn, with maybe a few early spawners. MyFWC guide also confirmed this to be a solid pattern.

After listening to the singing of the national anthem in the early dawn hour, my boat number was called and I raced to my starting area on the main lake Harris.  I began by using powerbaits on the main lake but only caught one bass for about three pounds.   I moved shallower and pitched weedless plastic baits into thick vegetation.  I caught a buck bass that showed common signs (red under fins) of a fish making a bed. This bass was my second keeper bass over 14 inches and gave me an important clue.  

Water lily in shallows of Harris Chain

I made the decision to move into a community spawning canal to look for any spawning bass.  I was fishing behind about eight other boats also looking for bedding bass. 

On my first pass I found lots of buck bass making fresh beds. An hour later on another pass down the bank I noticed three and four pound bass paired up with those buck bass.

Video of bass bed  from FWC study

This is when my skills and training from Shaw Grigsby kicked in and I filled out my limit.   

NOTE: Bed fishing in FL has repeatedly been studied and found not to impact the overall population of bass, mainly due to the long spawning season and high number of bass spawning events.  Read the latest study by myFWC here

At the end of the tournament my five-bass limit weighed 15.11 lbs and was good for third place in the Bass Nation Central Division ProAm qualifier. Not a bad start to my year.

Video summarizing my fishing pattern

Second Event: American Bass Anglers (ABA) Ram Truck Open series tournament was held at the Hickory Point  Recreation facility in Tavares, FL, same as the previous tournament.

Weather in Tavares had been consistently windy and unstable. Cold fronts and high winds rocked the area during the week and held the water temperature down.  After careful consideration, I made the decision in this tournament to fish the same pattern of targeting spawning bass. My backup pattern was to fish the prespawn areas if bass moved off the beds and back out to deeper water. 

My boat launch number of 26 meant I had the potential of fishing behind a lot more anglers in the community canals. When I arrived at my first canal I indeed had four other angers ahead of me sight fishing for bedding bass. Low light conditions in the early morning hours hampered the other angler's ability to see the beds.  Surprisingly, they missed a lot of bass and gave me a good chance for catching a nice limit. 

Elite pro Shaw Grigsby is a master at sight fishing

I owe #Bassmaster Elite pro Shaw Grigsby the credit on my success. Due to his training on how to spot bedding bass and how to quickly assess their potential for biting, I was able to overcome the crowded fishing conditions.  I even found a bass over 8lbs siting near a bed.   

View of the bed holding a bass over 8lbs. See underwater video here

I was able to spot and catch several bass in the three pound range. However, many of the bass I found were definitely pressured and very skittish. The ones I landed fell victim to my Bitter's craw bait. 

After leaving the community canal, I ran to another dozen canals and picked up one or two bass to cull my weight up by ounces. Like most fishing story, I lost a four pound bass that would have really helped my bag. When bed fishing on finicky bass they often pick up crawfish baits by the pinchers to move it off the bed without eating the bait.  

Unfortunately, bed fishing often results in briefly hooked, and lost bass. After several attempts at catching the big 8+ lb female I spotted earlier, I was forced to leave her as I could not get her interested in my baits. That was a bummer...

At the end of the day, I weighed 11.06 lbs in the ABA Open ProAm and finished in 18th place. Had I landed the fish I hooked, I could have finished much higher. As a competitor the potential of a higher finish made me disappointed with my overall performance in this event. 

In reality, two good events on the Harris Chain of Lakes with limits in both tournaments was an accomplishment for me! 

This chain of lakes has always challenged me in being consistent.  The other challenge was going  into those events without any practice beforehand, and I was blessed it worked out. 

Follow me at www.jeffhollandfishing.com

With the boat cleaned up and stored in my garage, I will be working on my pre-tournament research for the upcoming Bass Nation and ABA Open series tournaments on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. Again these events are lined up sequentially on back to back weekends.

The massive Lake Toho and Kissimmee waterbodies provide anglers over 53,000 acres to fish. This is an intimidating amount of water to breakdown in a single day.  

Keep following along my blog for fishing tips and details on how I catch bass in the next events on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.       Good luck catching, Jeff 

Fishing Through Curve Balls

I recently traveled to Lake Seminole in Sneads, Florida to scout for the last Bassmaster Southern Open tour event of 2015.

Jim Woodruff dam (background) created the 38,000 acre Lake Seminole

Being a multi-tasker, I also added to my list three other goals: re-learn the lake's massive stump fields and fishing quirks, record depth contours for Insight Genesis social maps, and find enough bass to successfully compete in the FL Bass Nation state qualifier tournament which I entered without any practice.  This qualifier tournament was my second to last chance to earn a birth into the Florida BASS Nation State Championship.

Lake Seminole is located north of Tallahassee, FL on the Florida /Georgia border.  It  was a five-hour drive to reach the boat ramp and it had been over six years since I fished Lake Seminole last. When I began boating around, I found a very different lake than I knew.  A mayfly hatch was in full swing, a strong northwest wind  had been blowing for several days, and the water was severely stained at the lower end near the dam.

Mayfly hatch on Lake Seminole had the bluegill happy

The conditions had eliminated much of the open water areas I previously knew to fish. I was forced to fish the limited wind protected areas and find new fish holding areas in my limited two days.  For a reservoir nearly 60 square miles (38,000 acres), the task was overwhelming.

Woodroof Dam creating the reservoir

Since it was summertime, I took the approach to tie on basic lures to cover the top, middle, and bottom of the water column.  Topwater plugs, spinnerbaits/ swimbaits, and worms were my first choice.

I scouted in the Chattahoochee river,  Flint, and Spring Creek sections of Lake Seminole. Water temperatures ranged 88-90F and locating solid groups of shad and bass was challenging. The hot summer water had fish scattered on the flats and my first fishing attempts were unsuccessful. The Chattahoochee River was stained, and the Flint and Spring Creek river arms were clear, almost too clear for the heat.

Stained water on Lake Seminole was common on the Chattahoochee river

In other areas of Lake Seminole, the exotic plant Hydrilla was choking out acres but making the water clear (FWC weed alert). Bass in the ultra clear water were spooky in the mid-day sunshine. Using typical clear water baits, I coaxed a lot of bass to follow my lures, but none would commit. Seeing three pounds bass follow lures all the way to the boat without striking made me believe the afternoon conditions were wrong to catch these bass after the sun began to blare. I would have to use the areas as morning fishing spots.

Hydrilla topping out and reducing access for boating 

Massive acres of topped out hydrilla

My second pattern was to try the deeper main channels and stained water areas. After a second day on the water, I mapped nearly 400 acres of contours for Insight Genesis social maps and figured out how to catch some bass in the process. A few nice fish were easy to flip up, and a few others hit the mid-water baits I scouted with.

Insight Genesis freshwater mapping software free with sign up

I felt I had performed a reasonable job of reacquainting myself with Lake Seminole after only two days on the water. I was going to fish the tournament the next day with some confidence, and a good deal of knowledge of the reservoir conditions.
When the morning of the Bass Nation state championship qualifying tournament arrived, I motored out into the lake ready to tackle the day.  I noticed on the Army Corp website that the reservoir discharge had increased 4 fold.

I arrived at my first spot on the main river and worked it over for an hour without a bite. I witnessed the water flow to be much faster, water higher, and all my stained water was replaced by clear, tannic water. The reservoir managers had needed to move water overnight due to heavy rain in Georgia, and this flushed the entire lower end of the lake.  Life had thrown me my first curve ball! The sudden change in water conditions altered fish behavior and locations.  I was forced to start practicing again after wasting an hour trying to coax bass in my area to bite.

Weather change threw me a curve ball

I fished many promising areas again and focused on efficiently covering the habitat, while at the same time looking for a sign of bass or fish activity.

By 9am the wind had died to present me with a mirror-calm Lake Seminole, 99F degree heat index, and sunny, cloudless skies.  This second curve ball made conditions even tougher!

Lack of wind produced slick water and slowed the bite down

I put my trolling motor down just went fishing through fishy-looking areas with a mix of plants. I managed to find one area where I picked up three bites on my spinnerbait.  I landed only one of the three bass, and gave myself a pathetic 33% landing average.  Later in the day I hit a bass flipping but failed to land it too. This dropped my landing average to a horrible 25%. To state the obvious, I had a mentally challenging day!

My single bass was big enough to finish in 9th place

In the end, I brought only one bass to the scales in my state qualifier tournament.  However, since bass tournaments competitors fish under the same changing conditions, the weights are all relative. The champion was a local expert who weighed in 18-pounds for a five-fish limit, beating me by a large margin.
I was happy to see my bass was big enough to earn me 9th place, and a birth into the 2015 FL Bass Nation State Championship! This was great news on a hard fishing day.  The State Championship is scheduled this November to be near my home on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, FL.  I should have a much better tournament with the ability to practice more.
My trip was successful on all accounts except my fish landing skills. I met my goals of re-learning the stump fields, scouting Lake Seminole's quirks, recording depth readings for Insight Genesis, finding aquatic plants and bass, and earning my birth into the state championship!  I had mixed emotions on the outcome.  I enjoyed the time on the water, but I was not happy with my poor execution of converting fish bites into landing fish.
I remain motivated on building my skills at adapting to on-the-water-conditions, and improving my conversion of hookup-to-landings.  Had I achieved a 100% ratio in the tournament I would have made a top-five finish.  I should have done better.....
Now that qualified for FL Bass Nation State Championship, I already started mapping the Harris Chain Of Lakes for Insight Genesis social maps and re-learning the location of this year's bass communities and aquatic vegetation.

Began practice on Harris Chain for State Championship

Having to share the water with anglers and aviators

In September, I'll join KISS (Kids In Support of Soldiers) for a packaging event for our military troops.

In October, I fish my last Bassmaster Southern Open event of 2015 on Lake Seminole. We launch out of Bainbridge, GA, so I will need to learn some more stump fields to successfully navigate around that section of the lake.

Finally, In November after the Bassmaster Southern Open, I return my focus to winning the FL Bass Nation State Championship on the Harris Chain of Lakes, FL.  Accomplishing that goal will provide me the opportunity to fish the Bassmaster Classic!  

I was taught by anglers much better than myself, and I still have much to learn, so I am always willing to pay it forward to other anglers who are wanting to learn more.
Visit my webpages "Angler Resource" for aquatic plant info, maps, water info, techniques, and more.


www.jeffhollandfishing.com
Thanks for following along!
Jeff

Lake Toho Bass Nation Qualifier 2014

The Florida Bass Nation held one if it's last qualifying tournaments for the State championship on August 23, 2014 on my favorite lake, Lake Toho, northern most lake on the Kissimmee Chain Of Lakes. 

I ended up finishing 4th place with just under 11lbs and earned my entry into the State Championship on my favorite river, the St Johns River in Palatka, FL. 

How I found and caught my bass on Toho:

The last time I had visited the lake was during the January Bassmaster Southern Open event. Wind blew heavy, the lake was muddy, and cold fronts brought freezing temperatures that covered my boat with ice each morning of that tournament. 

The month of August was the polar opposite: a heat wave with an index of 105 degrees F was forecasted, sunny skies heated lake temperatures to 90s F, and I lacked the time to practice and locate bass. I had to rely on my ability to quickly assess an area and find a pattern.

Going into the event, I made three assumptions: state agency weed control efforts from January had completed their job of reducing hydrilla in the lakes, water clarity would be a key to success, and dog-days of summer would slow down the bass bite. 

It appeared to me the summer pattern of aquatic life was normal: shad were schooling and feeding on algea, bluegill and redear sunfish were spawning, and bass were probably feeding heavy at night. 

Throwing topwater baits on a glassy morning lake was great fun, but failed to get me a strike at the first three areas I tried. Then, a gentle breeze from the west brought feeding baitfish to the surface, each fish noticeably dimpling the water as they fed on microscopic food. 

A cast to the area and a solid 3.5lb bass ate my topwater bait and gained me my first fish of the day. Several casts and several short strikes later, clued me in that something was off. As I stopped the bait to check on my live wells, a bass over 5lbs sucks under my topwater bait as it was sitting still on the surface. I was out of position, and after a brief battle I lost the fish. I knew that was going to cost me, and it did. But the strike did fulfil my assumption that the bass bite would need to be slow. 

I was able to catch three more keeper bass by fishing soft plastics baits through the area. It wasn't long before the wind died and the bite ended. 

The other typical summer pattern in Florida is flipping, so I ran to a grassline and started speed-flipping to locate active fish. About half a mile down I missed a bass that grabbed the tail of my worm. A few more feet down the grassline and I missed another fish. Same thing, the fish grab the tail. I thought, bass or bluegill?

It took me another ten missed fish before I dialled in on the bait and how to present it. Since the bait's fall triggered the bites, I just had to keep reducing the bait size until the bass ate the hook too. Once I figure that out, I caught a bass on my next hit and filled my five-bass limit. 

Lake water temperatures in my area reached 94F and I was glad that Triton live wells have a recirculation feature which vortexes air into the water. Leaving the circulator to contant-on provided great fish care and kept oxygen levels high in the hot weather. I would suggest all anglers maintain a good live well battery so the live wells can be set to constant-on in summer months. 

I continued pitching my bait along the grassline and finally caught a decent bass, a four pounder! That bass allowed me to cull a smaller one out of my live well. I caught a few more bass that helped cull a little more weight before I had to end the day.

Looking back, had I executed better and landed every fish, I think I could have made run for the 18lbs needed for second place. Many of my missed fish felt strong, but when fishing in thick grass, the tough plants make it easy to lose some bass.  

Overall, it was a fun day on the lake with bass biting steady all day. I reached my goal of qualifying for the State Championship and I earned a little money to pay for gas. 

My congratulations go out to Kyle Fox who ended up taking the win at 20+lbs.

I look forward to seeing all my fellow Bass Nation anglers at the State Championship on October 18-19, 2014 in Palatka, FL. Until then, tight lines...

Pre-practice Comes to a Close

Father Time caught up with me and I had to end my pre-practice session for 2013 on Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.  The past two months have been nice, allowing me time to examine the conditions of the lakes and moods of fish at a leisurely pace. Now it’s late January, and my tournament season is fast upon me.  The first event, Bassmaster Weekend Series, is scheduled on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in two weeks, immediately followed by the Bassmaster Southern Open event Jan 31-Feb 2.
   
The Kissimmee lakes are acting very typical, with bass in all three phases of spawning.  Professional anglers like Chris Lane are predicting good weights.  Weed control efforts against the overgrowth of nuisance Hydrilla have taken affect.  Some lakes are fishing easy, giving up ten pounds limits within minutes, others were difficult at best.  The new lake maps that Florida's fish & wildlife agency has been placing on the Internet were very helpful to my practice.

Taking advice from Gary Klein I plan on fishing to my strengths.  That is, I plan on keeping a spinnerbait in my hand and slow rolling my bait through the deep, open waters of the chain.  Over the years I have been able to catch many bass six to nine pounds with this technique and for the Southern Opens I know that I have to concentrate on quality fish, not just limits. 

In pre-practice I had to slow down even more and occasionally cast a worm to a submersed plant bed to check if bass were present.  As you see, they were!

Kissimmee Chain of Lakes pre-practice bass, 2013