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 

Reflecting on Fishing Tips from 2015

As you can see from the lack of posts, after I fished the final Bassmaster Southern Open tournament of 2015 on Lake Seminole, I didn't look back. The year marked one of my most challenging years on the tournament tour, one I needed to let go of.

As I take time to reflect back and write this blog, I realized it wasn't anything to do with the lakes: we fished some good lakes with beautiful scenery. It wasn't anything to do with people: every town we visited the people were friendly and anglers courteous. It was likely to do with my lure selection and fishing techniques not matching the fishing conditions.

There are certain lures that can be used to catch fish in high pressure situations.  As I review my 2015 season, I will share those lures that I found successful, and the ones that died under the pressure.

1) The first Bassmaster Southern Open was held in January on Lake Toho in Kimmissee, FL. That week we experienced a cold weather front, high winds, and ice on the boats in the morning.  Ice in Florida?..ugh..only during a tournament!  I found bass were extremely aggressive at the beginning of the week before the front. Bass would eat my lipless crankbaits, swimbaits, topwater, and soft plastic baits pitched and flipped to plants like torpedograss, cattails, and bulrush. Color didn't seem to matter, and I used the classics: black/silver hardbaits and junebug soft plastic baits.

My Triton/Mercury Marine rig in Lake Toho lock going to Lake Kissimmee

The high winds that came through on the last day of practice stirred up the lake bottom and ruined all my openwater areas. I found this out the next day at the start of the tournament .  This muddy water forced all the anglers to fish in the limited, wind-protected, clear water areas.  Of all my practice lures, I found that only my swimbait produced bites in the cramped fishing areas on tournament day. To entice the finicky bass to bite, I had to slow down my retrieve to half the lure speed that I used in practice.  In the afternoon, I found some bass spawning, and plastic baits worked good on catching the male, buck-bass around spawning beds.

Mix of cattail and bulrush often hold groups of bass

One patch of mixed cattail and bulrush produced a half-dozen bites from big female bass. Unfortunately, the bass were finicky and I failed to land any of them. It still amazes me how big bass can be so precise in biting only the punchers on my 3" crawfish bait, and never eating the full bait. It was a sure indication that these bass had already seen a few lures over the week. 

I ended the 2-day tournament in 122nd place, top 61%, only 9.5 pounds of the top 40 cut.


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2) Bassmater Southern Open event #2 was on Alabama River in Prattville, AL in April. This section of river is impounded by a dam, with three dams feeding water in: two dams on the Coosa River, and one on the Tallapoosa River. Water fluctuations were extreme, and while largemouth bass lived in the Alabama River, a species of Coosa River spotted bass was the prey we were hunting. This whole situation was new to this Florida angler.

Water levels changes: trees out of water overnight

My pre-tournament research allowed me to understand the water stages.  Yet, getting used to water movements of nearly four feet overnight was a challenge.  Fallen trees I would find holding bass during practice would be out of the water the next day.

Fishing for the aggressive Coosa River spotted bass reminded me of fishing for saltwater jack crevalle. When they hit your bait, they hit hard and pulled like our inshore saltwater fish. The setup of the Alabama river with its three inflowing streams produced a constant flow of water that positioned bass nicely. I really could get used to that!

Backwater areas off the Alabama River held good largemouth bass

My practice lures which caught both largemouth and spotted bass were spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, shakeyhead worms, and hard jerkbaits. The backwater areas mostly held largemouth bass and the swift current eddies supported more spotted bass.

Since I was not familiar with all the fish species and how each one hit, I was forced to catch a few fish in the practice to confirm the species and size. Drum, catfish, and other non-tournament fish will often mislead anglers to believing they found a large school of bass.

A muddy main river had me searching for clear water creeks

Changes in river flow and clarity, along with fishing pressure, unfortunately pushed the bass into deep water areas, 30-40 foot. Local angler knowledge dominated this tournament, and knowing which deep water holes held the best bass was the key I missed.  There just was not enough time in three days of practice to explore all the deep holes and fish as slow as needed. To compensate,

A large Coosa River spotted bass caught in the tournament on a chatterbait

I sought out the highest flowing, clear-water stream in search of feeding bass. My success was limited, but I left the Alabama River with a better undstanding of how the Coosa River spotted bass behave. The hard jerkbiat and shakeyhead finesse worm were the best lures during the event.  I finished in 123rd place, top 67%, just 8.9 pounds out of the top 40 cutoff.

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3) Last stop of the Bassmaster Southern Open was on Lake Seminole out of Bainbridge, GA in October. Lake Seminole was created by Army Corps as a reservoir for hydoelectric power generation, catching the Chattahoochee River, Flint River, Spring Creek, and Fish Pond tributaries.

Boating on the rocky Flint River was a thrill ride but catching shoal bass was fun  

The Flint River holds a unique species of bass known as the Shoal Bass. This fish prefers to feed on crawfish in rocky rapids, and this stream is ranked as one of the more dangerous rocky streams.  Navigating my Triton fiberglass boat and Mercury ProXS over the shallow rocks took some careful driving.

The river has to be one of the most pristine rivers I have ever fished. Shoal bass are much smaller than their largemouth bass cousins, and fishing for them was only a backup plan.

Aquatic plants are prime habitat for bass

The reservoir had been fishing extremely tough over the summer months and local tournament winners were reporting low historic weights. Hydrilla was dominating the lower end of the system, but nothing out of the ordinary could explain the low fish catch rates.

During my summertime practice on Lake Seminole, I was able to identify a lot of aquatic plants and catch some nice largemouth bass out of them.

Fishing pressure added to the difficult fishing conditions during the official practice week of the tournament, I had not ever witnessed so many local anglers on the water fishing during the work week as I did on Lake Seminole. The fishing pressure was over the top.

Aquatic plants found on Lake Seminole (videos click here)

Flipping is always a strong fishing technique in plant filled lakes and I knew this method would dominate this event. Anglers could spend days flipping soft plastic baits into the large variety of floating plants and abundant submersed plants like hydrilla, coontail, sago pondweed, and fanwort. Flipping for days is exactly what I did in practice!

Click here to visit the UF IFAS video webpage and learn more about aquatic plants

Unfortunately I was only able to entice a bass or two per day to bite, I was not alone as my fellow competitors were also reporting low numbers of bites in practice.

I took the chance of not knowing whether the bites were from bass or mudfish since I didn't use hooks in practice, Hitchhiker screwrigs are a great lure invention for holding baits on fishing line with actually hooking fish. I felt I couldn't afford to hook the limited number of bass willing to eat with all the angler fishing pressure,

Roomates Jimmy Keith, Darrel Pons Sr, Paul Elias, and Shaw Grigsby Jr.

Here I sit between Jimmy and Darrel, along with Shaw Grigsby Jr and Charlie Hartley

This last tournament of the year was special for me as I was able to house with my good friends Shaw Grigsby Jr, Paul Elias, Darrel Pons Sr, and Jimmy Keith. These Elite pros and seasoned anglers have traveled the country, and it is fun to hang out with them.  Not to mention I always gain from their insight and experiences!

The camaraderie and friends you make on the tournament trail is another benefit to the Bassmaster orginization, whether it be the Bass Nation or Open trails.

The BASS organization encourages us to post photos and video during practice.  My practice experience was out shadowed by a few guys posting photos of giant bass ten to twelve pounds caught during the week. I was obviously out of touch with the fishing conditions.

Anglers at Bainbridge GA ramp waiting for their launch numbers to be called

On the first day of the tournament I navigated my AERF-wrapped Triton Boat down the stump filled Flint River, to the lower end near the dam. I started off fishing a large hydrilla bed next to an open-water main lake channel where I had found bass in practice.

I noticed a small flurry of active bass first thing in the morning, and other than that it was a slow bite. I felt the trolling and outboard motor noises cutting through the grassbeds had probably kept the bass and baitfish on the move, and constantly alert them to angler presence.

First bass of tournament was a nice five pound largemouth 

After flipping the grass for nearly an hour I switched baits and caught my first, and biggest bass, of the tournament. I  caught it working a spinnerbait over a hole in deep hydrilla, I was surprised the fish hit a powerbait when the fishing was so slow.  It made me believe the fish were suspended in the grass and would indeed hit a reaction bait. I alternated between the spinnerbait and flipping a black and blue creature bait all day. It was not a fancy or exciting way to fish, just required making thousands of flips into miles of hydrilla and coontail beds growing along the main river. My fishes areas in the lower end failed to give up anymore bass. For the last hour of the tournament, I ran up the Flint river to try and fill out a five-bass limit. Cranks baits produced some small bass, and while I managed to catch both largemouth and shoal bass in the event, they never weighed enough.

Video clip of day one weigh-in on Lake Seminole, by AERF

I ended up finishing in 92nd place, top 55%, a mere 7.9 pounds out of the top 40 cutoff.

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Relaxing in the off season and reflecting on my tournament year

During my winter break from tournament competition, I relaxed in my home state of Florida while thinking back on my season.  My tournament record for 2015 was good, but not great.

I ended up 93rd in the Angler of the Year standings (out of 230 pros), equal to the top 45%.  I guess I am happy, given the high level of pro competition on the Bassmaster Open trail.

I was out of my comfort zone the entire time: fishing out-of-state lakes, practicing only two and a half days each event, angling for species of bass I rarely get a chance to catch, and competing against the best local anglers and Bassmaster Elite pros.

Yes, I got beat by a lot of anglers, but I equally beat some of the best local anglers and biggest names in the business. I experienced the core of tournament bass fishing, a sport that offers a roller coaster ride of emotions from highest of highs to lowest of lows. 

With 2015 behind me, I push forward into a new year with high hopes and renewed energy. My blog, website, and social media reached an all time peak in viewers and set the bar. Sharing information about fishing tips, bass and lake biology, and aquatic plant identification has become a second passion along with my tournament angling.  Each tournament situation is different, and I really enjoyed sharing the sights and stories through social media such as my Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest,

Bassmaster Open photo by JO

Knowing aquatic plants allowed me to fish them better, and research on plants was supported by the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation (AERF). I proudly wear their logo on my tournament jersey to help anglers learn about aquatic plants.

Additional support from Insight Genesis and GoFree Social Maps  really helped me maximize my Lowrance mapping features. Visit my website for links and upcoming how-to videos.

None of our recreational activities would be possible without our troops fighting to keep America free and safe. Please visit Kids In Support of Soldiers to learn how you can help them send monthly care packages to actively deployed soldiers defending our country.

Please check back with my blog monthly as I share new adventures and new fishing tips to make your fishing better and more enjoyable.

I hope you learned something new along with way! 

Thanks for following along,  Jeff Holland  
www.jeffhollandfishing.com

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

The Lull in Between Events

What does a die hard angler do between tournaments to keep busy and focused?

I am finding myself with that delima and in an area of lull that is foreign to me. Basically, no planned tournament fishing. A storm is brewing in my head. 

The 2015 schedule for the Bassmaster Southern Open tour has a five month break over the summer.  I have enjoyed more family time than I can remember. Trip to California, to Hawaii, and a nice dinner at the German pub in Sanford, Fl. 

So far this year on the tournament trail I have struggled to make a check in the Bassmaster Opens. I didn't even place high enough to qualify for the BassFest extravaganza on Kentucky Lake. 

As I sit at home I happily support my roommate Shaw Grigsby, friend Paul Elias, and fellow angler Troy Boussard of Swamp People on their quest to win BassFest. 

When life takes us away from our goals we all need to embark on a "grounding", the process of going back to our roots, stoking up the flames of desire, and getting motivated to burn through the challenges life throws at you. 

I just celebrated my 28th year marriage anniversary with my wife Trish. We developed juvenile diabetes with our first child 28 years ago. I say "we" because we are a team and have to rely on each other for strength. 

Today, we enjoy three beautiful children, one angel, and a great son in law. My wife's diabetes and our fight to enjoy life has been a very inspirational and motivating experience. Her ability to push through the tough times and reap the rewards of hard work without complain makes me proud!!

The strength my wife shows as she endures against all odds makes me mad at today's lazy society that wants something from nothing. 

I love tournament bass fishing and I love to take on challenges, but is there more??  I believe there is. 

I want to recuperate and gain my mental strength that I seems to have withered. I know I can catch fish, I have proven it over four years in the Bassmaster Southern Open trail. Yet, I feel I need to take a moment to regroup. My famy and my career limit me to 2.5days of practice in my Open events. With such limited time against full-time pros and local experts, I fight an uphill battle to be the best. 

So, I am thinking about expanding my promotional ability to more anglers for my sponsor #AERF.  Surveys show for every high level tournament angler there are nine anglers fishing mid-level and club tournaments.  

I stand to gain a nine-fold increase in brand impressions by fishing the Florida Bass Nation trail and ABA Weekend Series as I regroup and fish in Florida for a while with my friends. That's a win-win deal!! 

During my mission to share aquatic plant education, my goal will be to qualify for the BASS National Championship through the Bass Nation schedule and earn a berth in the Bassmaster Classic.

During my sabbatical from the Opens, I intend to accrue the vacation time needed to balance family vacations with a full-time career as a  Pro Angler. 

Juggling family time against a full-time biology career and a parttime BasspPro associate career has been a hand full. 

If it works out that 2016 limits me to home waters, I look forward to being a local expert for awhile, then everyone else will have to compete against me! 

Soon, I will recharge and challenge my Elite tournament friends again! If I retire from my career anytime soon, I will look to be a threat against the Bassmaster pros full time!! 

Look out Shaw Grigsby, Gary Klein, and Paul Elias. I'm coming! 

....This is the rant of a die-hard bass angler....I hope you feel my struggle and share my enjoyment of competitive bass fishing. Don't forget to balance fishing with family. 

Jeff