All
lakes and
bodies of water have observable characteristics that indicate which bass
fishing tactics will be successful. Of these characteristics,
recognizing and correctly utilizing water color to dictate your choice of
technique is key to success.
Best Stained
Water Tactics
For example, the water
color in the Harris Chain is very stained. This is a
blessing as most bass in these lakes are shallow and hold close to cover. Noisy
lures are effective and multiple presentations to the same spot are
required to get the fish's attention.
The biggest
problem most fisherman encounter when fishing in the Harris Chain for the
first time is purely mental. Coming from other areas of the state or
country, they look at the pea-soup water color and get the
impression that these lakes are fishless. This is a shame
as they are missing out on some great action if they only knew more about
fishing under these conditions.
Here are
three tactics you can use to catch bass in stained water.
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 Crankbaits
Nothing works better at finding dark water bass than a noisy crankbait.
You need three basic colors; a chrome pattern, a shad pattern and a
chartreuse pattern. Remember to keep
the lure as close to cover as you can and make multiple casts to the same spot. Run them through or along
the side of grass beds, lily pads, stickups and boat
docks. Deflecting your lure off cover is very effective as it can
trigger an inactive bass to strike. If you're worried about getting
hung up, just use 20 pound test. Dark water bass don't mind at all.
In recent years, the lakes has cleared considerably making offshore
cranking a viable option. |
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Spinnerbaits
In the spring, a slow-rolled spinnerbait
can be deadly in Florida. Fish around
pads, grass points, boat docks and along canal ledges, keeping your lure
as close to the cover as possible.
Many of these bass will be over 5 pounds and very annoyed at your spinnerbait, so use heavy tackle. The
most important thing to remember when fishing these lakes is to
slow down and fish everything at least twice. The standard
colors of white and chartreuse work just fine. On overcast days, try
black. Both
gold and silver blades catch bass in Florida, but you need to experiment
to find out what they want on a given day. |
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 Flipping & Pitching
When bass are relating to heavy cover, the flipping and pitching technique
is very effective. This is also your best way to
target larger bass.
Any soft
plastic can be used to flip cover. The most popular Florida colors
are; purple with green flake (junebug), black with a blue tail and red
shad. Some days the fish want big lures and heavy weights and other
days they want a 4" worm and a light weight. It is best to peg your weight to the worm or use a
screw-in Florida weight for this type of fishing. Use 20-30 pound
test and heavy tackle.
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Best Clear
Water Tactics
Many of the forest
lakes and residential canals in Lake County contain very clear water.
Clear water requires a different approach than does fishing in a heavily
stained lake like the Harris Chain. Bass in clear water rely more on their
eyes to find food, and this means great top water action. Here are
my favorite techniques for bass fishing in clear water Florida lakes.
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 Top
Water Plugs
Top water tactics
work great in Florida's clearer lakes and backwater areas such as
residential canals. The most popular Florida top water baits are the
Devil's Horse, the Rapala Minnow, the Pop-R and the many variations on
these great baits. Because of the relatively warm water in
Florida, it is best to work them slightly faster than you might in the
north part of the country. Generally, bass caught on a top water
lure will be larger than those caught using other techniques. The key is to
get the bait as close to the cover as possible which means that accurate
casting is essential. The best top water action is generally in the
warmer months early and late in the day. Just before or following a
summer thunderstorm can also trigger a top water bite. Color doesn't
seem to matter that much in a top water lure, so use any color you have
confidence in.
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 Wacky
Worm
The wacky worm is a
clear water technique so deadly that many Florida tournament anglers are
reluctant to talk about it. The wacky rig is a straight tailed worm
fished on a 6-8 pound spinning outfit with only a swivel above the bait
for weight. The best time for this technique is spring but you
can catch bass on it year round in Florida. Cast the light
worm along the sides of lily pads or next to steep canal banks and let it
fall slowly under it's own weight. Hits will generally be light or
your worm will just start to move off slowly. Sometimes this
technique will catch bass when nothing else works. Give it a try,
you'll like it! |
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Best All Around Tactic |
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 Carolina Rig
The Carolina rig is
an old tactic, but it works so well in Florida, I included it in it's own
section. The rig is made with an egg sinker, a swivel, a 18" leader
and a worm hook. The lure can be any soft plastic but generally
it's a finesse worm, a lizard or a small craw. The rig hugs the
bottom and telegraphs the bottom composition and contour to the angler
perfectly. This rig works especially well in finding offshore rock
piles and shell beds. If you cast out this rig and on the
retrieve you feel the bump bump of the sinker against rocks or any hard
cover, you are about to get bit. This is also a great technique to
use in fishing deep grass beds, just adjust the sinker weight to
compensate for the weeds.
This is a technique that will
work anywhere in Florida where the bottom is hard enough to fish it.
Many times you can locate bass with a Carolina rig that the majority of
the fisherman don't even know exist.
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