Central Florida Bass Fishing Report May 2022 Winter Haven Lake Kissimmee Camp Mack
One of the things I love about fishing in Central Florida in May is that the lakes are not too hot yet, and the bass are out schooling chasing bait all over the place whether it’s on grass flats, deep water, or up in the jungle fishing in “the junk.” On most lakes from the Kissimmee Chain to the Winter Haven South Chain we can catch a lot of fish each trip along with quality big fish each time out. This is where all the fun starts because the fishing will be hot, hot, hot.
That being said, let’s start out of Camp Mack on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. As of right now the lakes are almost up to where they should be for May which means the fishing is still very good. The shad and shiners are spawning so that means plenty of extra bait fish for the bass to school up on. To you and I that translates to an awesome opportunity for catching a lot of bass on topwater baits. This year the bass have been more “selective” during the different bait fish spawns and stages from wanting bigger gold colored baits for chasing shiners to a silver or white smaller profile for the shad. It’s truly an occupational hazard to try to over analyze what a bass is doing but hey, that’s what I do. If you see bass chasing smaller bait, throw a smaller white/silver bait. If you see them running shiners, throw a bigger gold/black bait. Simple.
Heading back closer to the heart of Polk County and the Winter Haven South Chain it is still a big time summer pattern in the mornings, it’s just a slightly differ-ent pattern with different bait being the main forage. Here, white bait, shad, smaller glass minnows, whatever you want to call them are the main forage on a lot of the smaller spring-fed lakes. There are still some wild shiners in these wa-ters, along with tons of bluegill and specks but the bass mostly chase the min-nows and shad in the mornings.
I love having the original Pop-R, flukes, and smaller swimbaits tied-on for this time of year. You’ll see “wolf packs” just roaming around chasing bait to the sur-face and you can catch a ton of fish if you are patient and select your casts well. I’m normally fishing deeper in 8’ out to 20+ feet of water over grass this time of year and we catch a lot of good fish. Here on these lakes, keep your colors more natural if fishing the spring fed lakes and keep it bright or dark in the off colored waters.
Capt. Scotty Taylor
855-FL-GUIDE (855-354-8433) TMCGuideService.com or scott@TMCGuideService.com Capt. Scott is the Official Guide for and a Partner with VisitCentralFlorida.org, and he is the Senior Pro Guide for Camp Mack, a Guy Harvey Lodge, Marina, and RV Resort on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Lake Wales, FL
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