Lake Kissimmee Bass Fishing in the Summer

The Kissimmee River runs 134 miles long and is fed from Lake Kissimmee and four other navigable lakes.  Can you name them all? (Answer at the end of this article)




In this post I share my recent bass tournament experiences on the famous Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. This information successfully earned money in one event and a top 35-finish in another. The combined events should provide anglers insight into how Florida's largemouth bass transition from one seasonal pattern to another. 

American Bass Angler (ABA) Open Tournament Series - April

The event was held on the upper portion of the chain on Lake Tohopekaliga, managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.  The weather conditions in April had bass in a post-spawn mode. Forage fish such as shiners, lake chubsuckers, shad, and sunfish were spawning. 

Hydrilla control treatments by State agencies were mostly complete. Native eelgrass and peppergrasses plants were finally relieved of the choking pressure from hydrilla and beginning to grow back. For anglers that want to understand more about aquatic plants and control measures, download the free publication "Biology and Control Of Aquatic Plants", or visit www.aquatics.org.


Even though winter winds were easing and southern winds dominated the weather forecasts, water clarity on the upper chain lakes such as Toho, Cypress, and Hatchineha remained dingy.

Dock talk was circulating that bass were feeding and easy to catch in practice on the clearer waters of Lake Kissimmee. The situation was announced that the Army Corp's navigational lock leading from Lake Toho to the lower lakes was being limited to nine boats at a time. Worries of heavy boat congestion and long wait times at the locks were the top concerns on angler's list of uncontrollable factors, including my own. 

First stop in the morning I fished an edge of a Kissimmee grassline. This mixed habitat included torpedograss and knotgrass and is great for finding post-spawn bass. 

"Kissimmee grass"

The morning started fun even though I caught numerous chain pickerel and only two small bass (14") using swimbaits.  I love catching fish and the small pike added a nice start to my day.  After moving to other grasslines, I was able to fill out a small five-bass limit by mid-day. I searched the main lake for clear water and found one area where I caught a few more bass and culled up by mere ounces. I still needed to find bigger fish.

My new mental approach of fishing without pre-conceived notions enabled me to keep an open-mind and totally change my fishing pattern. I have to admit it was unnerving to fish new water (meaning areas I had not fished before) in a tournament. It put me outside my comfort zone and made me leave the fishing pattern that had produced bass throughout the day. I was constantly battled my inner voice which kept telling me "never leave fish to find fish".  

Pushing through my mental war, I spent the last hours of my day fishing shallow water areas that appeared to be older spawning flats.  I was rewarded with catching two big bass on swimbaits, each nearly four pounds apiece! Talk about positive reinforcement! Those two bass really helped increase my 5-fish limit and gained me a final weight of 13.39 pounds.

 

Accepting a paycheck from ABA Tournament Director for 14th place

While the weight was not impressive, it was enough on a tough tournament day to earn me 14th-place money among a field of 73 pro anglers. More reinforcement for my new mental game plan! 

American Bass Angler (ABA) Open Tournament Series  -June

ABA Open Series weigh-in at Camp Mack's River Resort 

Two months later, the June event was held in the heat of summer on the lower section of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes.  Most of the lake's bass population had moved into their summer deep water pattern. The shallows were teeming with newly born juvenile fish, and underwater plants were green and growing. Above the water, the sun was bright, air was hot, and the humidity challenged most angler's ability to focus in the summer sun. 

Before this event I was able to spend a few morning hours scouting the three lower lakes: Cypress, Hatchineha, and Kissimmee. Winds and evening rainstorms kept most of the lakes muddy. Lightening storms moved in and ran me off the lake by noon.

For this event we launched out of Camp Mack's River Resort & Fish Camp near Lake Wales on Lake Kissimmee.  Being on the lower end of the change eliminated the need to navigate the #ArmyCorp lock system. 

Launching out on tournament morning as boat 53 put me at a disadvantage for finding any fishing spots in the flowing water canals. Like in practice, overnight storms and winds continued to muddy the water.  I eventually stopped in an area that had good habitat but poor water clarity forced me to move shallower than I wanted. 

I worked the edge of bulrush to catch a quick limit of bass on worms. Both my coangler and I had small limits bass in the first hour. My first stop was a good choice and  set the tone for a fun fishing day.

Bulrush plants provided the habitat for a quick limit of bass

As the sun rose higher in the sky, I began moving around but was discouraged by even muddier water and lack of bass activity. I finally manage to entice a big bass about five pounds to hit a frog lure but lost it when the fish jumped completely out of the water and threw the bait. It would have made for some great TV footage!  In the end it hurt my feelings but fired me up to keep searching. 

Like the tournament before, I knew I had to leave my comfort zone and fish new water In order to catch bigger fish. 

After and hour of searching I finally found clearer water and started fishing this new area. My coangler Wayne earned the first bite on a swimbait and landed a three-pound bass. My first cast drew a hit but I missed the bass. My second cast with a worm picked up a 3lb bass that culled out a small fish.  The fish activity died quickly and I continued the search.  

With two hours left to fish, I picked up my flipping rod and began picking apart the plant habitat. Using a creature bait I found a few more bass resting under mats of heavy plants and debri. My biggest bass was about four pounds and really helped boost my small limit of bass up to 12.21 pounds.  

Keeping an open mind allowed me to switch fishing patterns and rewarded me with a few big fish to cull with.

Back at the weigh-in tanks anglers were talking about the good flipping bite they experienced in heavy plant mats. It always amazing me how similar bass act all across the water. 

While I solved the angler's puzzle of lure and location, it happened too late in the day. My one lost bass cost me a paycheck. Had I landed that five pound bass, I would have culled out a 13 inch bass and gained another four pounds in total weight. 

In the end, my stringer earned me 35th place out of 72 pro anglers. 

Video summary of the Kissimmee tournaments 2016

Direct link to my video summary of the pre-spawn fishing conditions on the Kissimmee chain: 
https://youtu.be/CHyuQlA1k8Q?list=PLB048ACEF1C040D01  

With these two tournaments over, the regular season of the ABA Open Series ended. Top ranked anglers move on to the higher level, two-day championship round.  I am happy to post that I will be among those competing in September. I remain ranked 10th place overall for the year in the American Bass Anglers Florida Central Division Open Series. 

I am really starting to settle into my new fishing approach and gaining confidence in finding bass in a short amount of time. This gives me hope that my journey to becoming a more natural and instinctive angler is moving in the right direction.  

Nice pre-spawn bass caught flipping heavy vegetation

Keep checking back as I share my work on instinctive angling!  Maybe you should give it a try as well. 
Remember to visit the angler plant identification guide presented by TVA.gov,
Jeff     

Answer to question: The navigable lakes that feed the Kissimmee River are West Lake Tohopekaligo, Lake Cypress, Lake Hatchineha, Tiger Lake, and Lake Kissimmee. 

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 

Let the Lessons Begin for 2015

The 2015 Bassmaster Southern Open started with a full field of 200 pros, multiple weather fronts, numerous lessons to be learned, and ended with Chad Morgenthaler taking home the win!

My #AERF #MercuryMarine Triton boat rig at #BigTohoMarina waiting to launch out in the Bassmaster Southern Open

I finished 122nd, well outside making a check, but earned some valuable "Angler of the Year" points. This mediocre result hurts, and sets my year up to be tough. Now I am behind and I must perform better in my next two events.  Regardless of my finish, I always enjoy representing my sponsors and introducing the great work of Kids in Support of Soldiers to the audiences.

Competitor Chad Morgenthaler holding my trophy

It is nice to see a good guy like Chad win, but I am not happy to have donated my money to him again. He beat me at the Bassmaster Wildcard on Lake Okeechobee, where at least I finished 14th in that event and earned my money back. 

My Bassmaster Wildcard event on Lake Okeechobee where Chad beat me the first time 

Competition

Fishing the Bassmaster Opens is a serious game of competition. The skill level of this group of anglers is extremely high. Many are full-time touring Bassmaster Elite and FLW pros.

The winner of the Opens is typically the fastest and smartest at figuring out bass movements and capitalizing on that knowledge over a three day event.

The #AERF #Triton #MercuryMarine rig fishing for "Kids in Support of Soldiers"

During my practice I found good areas where bass wanted to spawn, but my "on-the-water street skills" were not up to par with bass movements.  Each day I quickly caught my limit by 11 am, but I was never able to keep up with how the big female bass were reacting to the fishing pressure, the winds, and the muddy, cold water.  Chad's win showed us the bigger bass simply swam back out to deeper cover near the main lake. 

I had the gut instinct that while Lake Toho fishing was tough, it would turn on any day.  I never caught a lake-fish shallow in this event.  Meaning, all my bass were dark colored, which told me they had been up in the shallow water cover awhile.  Bass I caught out in main lake hydrilla beds were lighter colored than my shallow water bass, so I know that they were ready to come in shallow but had not done so yet.  

Dark, mottled coloring of bass caught around cattails indicated resident fish that had been up shallow for some time

While hard to see in this photo, the lighter, less mottled color of this bass shows it has stayed offshore

Friends

The Bassmaster Opens is also about seeing friends from all over the country.  It was great to hang out with friends like #ShawGrigsby, #PaulElias #GuyEaker, #PatrickPierce, #KenDuke, and #RolandMartin, to name a few. It was also about meeting new friends like #T-RoyBroussard and #DylanFulk.  

 

Discussing fishing techniques with Matt, Shaw Grigsby, Rich Howes, and Patrick Pierce. 

Teen Sportfishing Assocation organizer Neal Lazarus talks #TrophyCatch with Marty Mann and Jim Sweatman.

The folks at #FWC who oversee the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes continue to manage the fisheries along with the thankless task of managing the chain's aquatic plant population. This year's challenge has been controlling a new nuisance from a species of Primrose plant.  This plant is now growing over native plants and smothering out the valuable habitat.  Weed harvesting has removed much of the plant material. while selective EPA-labeled and approved herbicides are slowing the plant's regrowth. This invasive species threatens most native plants and I hope #FWC and #AERF find a solution soon. 

Neal Lazarus with Teen Sportfishing Association helps volunteer to launch 200 boats and organize trailer parking #BigToho

Volunteers
The Teen Sportfishing Association did a fantastic work in organizing the boat launching at Big Toho Marina, trailer parking, and shuttling fish to the live release boats.  They had to wake up early and endure the rain and cold winds.  I was proud to see my nephew Troy being a part of this great teen club. I look to see him on the trail in the near future. Thanks to all the adult and teen volunteers!

Weather

Weather is always a factor, and tournaments continue regardless of inclement weather. Except for the extreme life-threatening weather conditions, most fishing events go on in all weather conditions. This week started with water temperatures in the 70s and bass making beds to spawn.  Some spawning had occurred before this event, but most female bass appeared to be offshore and waiting for the right conditions to spawn. 

Heavy rains persisted during practice of the first Bassmaster event for 2015

A cold front brought a large amount of rain and cloudy conditions. This dropped the water temperatures into the high 50s. The water warmed up throughout the event and eventually settled into the mid 60s during competition. In practice, the winds blew light, but increased to a steady 10 mph during the competition. With sustained winds overnight, Florida's shallow Kissimmee Chain of Lakes muddied up and turned off many bass from feeding. 

Cold, windy weather moved in after the rains and challenged anglers to relocate the bass

I found that reaction bites were the only way to keep catching bass in my areas under these conditions.  I caught most of my smaller limit-bass on swimbaits and jerkbaits worked in openings of grass and along cattails edges. 

Open water edges that held many of the bigger bass

Swimbaits I used to catch limit fish each day

Cattail stands where I caught smaller buck-bass and an occasional female bass

I caught a few bigger bass flipping a Sweetbeaver on 5/16 ounce weight into shallow water cattails and bulrush.  All the bass hit on the initial flip as it fell through the light cover. Because of this I also considered this a reaction bite rather than a feeding bite.

The final day weigh-in was held at #BassProShops Orlando in front of several hundred spectators. Congratulations to all the Florida anglers who made the top 12 #TrevorFitzgerald #DannyLanier
 

My #Toyota4Runner enabled me to fish for #Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks

Bassmaster Open Proangler #PatrickPierce talks #StarBright products with the spectators at #BassProShops weigh-in

#JeffHollandFishing is proud to be on the #MercuryMarine prostaff, the official engine sponsor of Bassmaster

Power-pole was an important part of my ability to anchor quietly in shallow water grass and fish for spawning bass

The Odds

Statistics extraordinaire Ken Duke will often tell anglers the facts: the odds of winning are stacked against every angler. So many factors have to fall into place in order for everything to go right for a win.  Besides the fish cooperating, anglers have to be nearly flawless landing bass without a net (new 2015 rule).  Then, there are the uncontrollable elements such as: fishing pressure, wind, clouds, boat draw number, locking times between lakes, lock capacity and operation, duck hunters, local anglers, guides, equipment performance, rain, opening of water discharge structures, lack of adequate motel parking, kicked extension cords that fail to charge boat batteries, how a well a fish gets hooked, random chaos, and much, much more.  

My own statistics after three years of fishing the Southern Opens show that I averaged in the top 25% AOY each year.  Yet, I've come to the conclusion that unless the trophy is in my hands, I will never be happy with my results!! The win is my goal. 

I was not pleased with my start in 2015, but in hindsight, I consider this event an investment in my fishing education. Now I  have to look forward and take up where I left off in my pre-tournament research on fishing the Alabama River in Prattville, AL.  This second stop on the Bassmaster Southern Open tour will take place April 16-18, 2015. 

I have never been to this section of the Alabama River. In only four days of practice, I will be challenged with assessing how to navigate around the rocky river system and quickly find both spotted and largemouth bass species.  Oh yes, I have to figure out how to catch these bass better than the other 200 Pros. These are but a few elements in this game that must be mastered....

Lake Toho Bass Fishing in the 2014 Bassmaster Southern Open

Lake Tohopekaliga is the northern most lake on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and was the focus of my 2014 Bassmaster Southern Open tournament experience. The more than 22,000 acres pose a challenge to anglers having to break down the lake in three days of practice.


Big Toho Marina at City boat ramp

Fishing on Lake Toho offered an amazing diversity of habitat that challenged even the seasoned angler. From dense shallow water cover to offshore shellbeds and submersed grass beds, the various required different fishing techniques.

I used weights up to two ounces to flip and pitch weedless baits into the dense vegetation.

Some of the open areas between lily pads could be fished pitching lighter weights, and I was able to cast worms in the larger open-water areas on the fringe.

I tried all three methods in order to determine where the bass were located on a given day.  I feel bass will change their habitat preferences throughout the day, so I change up fishing techniques every few hours to keep up with the fish.  This is especially true during radical weather changes like we experienced in the Open tournament this week.

 

With winter cold fronts coming through Florida in full force, the offshore habitat was a great option for finding the winning groups of largemouth bass.  Deeper water tends to stay warmer and is less affected by cold air.

The habitat offshore is managed by FWC and consisted of hydrilla beds, shrimpgrass beds (Nitella), peppergrass beds (Pondweed), and eelgrass beds (Valisneria). It was easy in the calm-weather days of practice to locate bass using lipless crankbaits.  Just find the grassbeds and crank the lures over the submersed vegetation.  It was that easy.

Hydrilla stem picked up on a cast offshore



Shrimpgrass (Nitella) held good schools of bass 4-7ft deep

Late on our first official practice day the weather really took a turn for the worst.  Central Florida air temperatures dipped down to freezing levels.  

With light to moderate winds the fishing conditions were tolerable for anglers. Bass being cold blooded, did not seem to care about the air temperatures that we humans were enduring.  Bass continued to feed on shad and bluegill as normal. I caught fish most everywhere I practiced, and Bassmaster even posted some of my practice photos (pages 7-10) on the web site.

It was the gail force winds associated with a major front on the second day of practice that I noticed made a change in the fishing (Bassmaster blog post).  The front proved to be the beginning of several high-wind days that ultimately muddied the water and dropped the water temperature enough to change the bass I had located.  Even the flipping bite changed for me, producing fewer and smaller bass.   

Tournament Day
The first day of the tournament the weather was cold with moderate Northwest winds 10-15 mph.  Ice crystals covered my boat as freezing temperatures continued to plaque Florida.  I launched out at boat #39 and was able to fish my offshore grassbeds that were now measuring 57-58F. I caught a few nice bass on lipless crankbaits fished in a slow fluttering technique.  My coangler showed me that I was still fishing too fast for the colder conditions when he caught several nice bass behind me using a slower, worming technique.  I ended day one with only three bass.

All night long a North wind blew 15-20 mph.  While the air temperature the morning of day two was warmer, only 42F, the wind drove the water temperature down another 4 degrees.
  

High winds the morning of day two was evident by the postion of this American flag at the BASS weigh-in trailer.

 

When I arrived at my primary fishing area on the second tournament day it was muddy and 54F.  I made one short pass through the area and never got a bite. My other offshore spots were all trashed by the winds and unfishable. At this point I started fishing back up areas where I caught a few bass in water only 4 feet deep. I was only able to land a small 10" bass on this backup pattern.  As the day progressed the winds howled and continued to lower the water temperature down to 53F. 



My Mercury ProXS sure runs good in the cold weather! Gained 3 mph. 

I felt the offshore bass were going to go dormant and hold up on sandy shellbeds, but I did not know of any places that remained clear and not muddied by the winds.  I figured if anyone could locate calm areas they would find schools  of bass feeding on dying shad. My mistake in this event was my lack of weather planning during practice.

The last hours of my second tournament day I changed my fishing technique and went flipping shallow water areas outside spawning flats. The bass were not there in practice, but I thought conditions might make the bass move to these areas. I keyed on dying water hyacinth mats that had been frozen during the previous few days.

Natural bacteria that breakdown decaying plant material like water hyacinth actually produce some heat in their metobolic process, and I knew it would be the only warm water around.  The move produced limits of small bass for both me and my coangler.  I even flipped up a two pound bass that culled out one of my 12" fish. I ended the day with a small five-bass limit.

My final outcome was poor, but I salvaged what was heading to be horrible tournament for me.  I ended up in the first 2014 Bassmaster Southern Open with 12 pounds, 11ounces, which was good for 99th place out of 200 pros.  The points I earned could be valuable at the end of the year.

 

At the final weighin in the Bass Pro Shops Orlando parking lot I visited sponsor booths and learned about products such as Starbright boat cleaners. I have already been using their ethanol enzyme fuel additive Startron in my boat for several years.  Now I will have a chance to try some good boat cleaners.



Starbright pro Patrick Pierce displaying two cleaning products that make boat maintenance easier.

I was glad to see the new sponsor Allstate join the event.

I found it ironic that they are the company with the branded "mayhem" guy.  I wish they would have left the "mayhem" guy at home, he really through a wrench into this tournament for me. LOL.

The coanglers in this event beat many of the pros, so if any of you are thinking of fishing one of these events, give it a try.  You just have to remain versatile to catch bass from the back of the boat.  The best part is the pro does all the practice work and research so you get to concentrate on catching bass.  A neat game with a lot of fun and rewards. Give it a try.

Next event will be on Lewis Smith Lake in Jasper AL