Florida Bass Fishing Report & Forecast Winter Haven, LEGOLAND, Lake Wales, Kissimmee, Camp Mack, Lakeland, Orlando
Well this has been one wild and crazy winter so far from early November up until now. And looking at the Farmer’s Almanac along with multiple weather sites they are calling for cooler temps (low to mid 70’s) this month instead of the back-and-forth 80’s to 60’s. If it means less drastic swings in temperatures and just a steady ride I’m actually happy with that. The fish can stabilize and they will be less traumatized by harsh fronts. That being said we have to be prepared for anything “funny” Ma Nature wants to throw our way just for giggles, so let’s go fishing.
Let’s start with the Winter Haven South Chain and smaller stand alone lakes. These are ideal bodies of water to fish when Ole’ Girl has gone off the deep end and forgotten that we live down here in Florida for a reason, especially in the winter. There are many deep spring fed lakes with deeper vegetation which have thermoclines that the fish and baitfish can use as protection when the air temps drop 10-20 degrees in a short period with the wind howling at 15-30mph out of the N/ NE.
This is when patience and persistence pay-off. It’s called slow yourself down, then go even slower. As for artificial baits, speed worms excel, along with belly weighted flukes, smaller swim baits, and sometimes it calls for a dead-sticked senko. When fishing shiners, I’m partial to dragging them slowly along the grass but always look around to see what the lake it telling you.
Fishing out of Camp Mack on the Kissimmee Chain, it’s going to be a methodical approach taking wind and lake temps into consideration. There are going to be a lot of confused fish wanting to move up to spawn and if the fronts keep coming through a lot of these fish may stay out in the staging areas. I can’t give you a magic bullet on this one as the weather is one huge unknown and these lakes have a ton of shallow acreage to them. Look for birds and baitfish around grass points, pads, and bulrush heads that have a drop or deeper water access nearby. Slowly worked speed worms, flukes, and vibe worms are always hard to beat. And take a swim jig or two along for luck and don't’ be afraid to crawl them over “deeper” grass and hydrilla. If we get a couple of steady weather days out here, grab the Gambler EZ Swimmers and head for the outside hydrilla and pads and slow-roll that puppy along the surface and let it drop into any holes you see, then hang on for the ride!
Capt. Scotty Taylor
855-FL-GUIDE (855-354-8433) or TMCGuideService.com
Senior Pro Guide at Camp Mack, a Guy Harvey Lodge, Marina & RV Resort - GuyHarveyCampMack.com
Official Partner & Guide for VisitCentralFlorida.org
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