warmer

its public access

hey mike, eagle is a good choice... re: spawn @ kissimmee and toho: @ tournaments this weekend, a lot of guys were pulling bucks off of beds in toho, the females where not really there yet... i saw a couple of females relating to beds in kissimmee... several females loaded w/ roe weighed in, but as has been said, the spawn is definately not "ON" yet.

whatup mike, try eagle lake, it is loaded with fish... and big ones, you just have to find them... and here is a tip... unless you see them on the bed, dont beat the bank they arent there. also lake mcleod has some big fish. they are both right near winter haven.

i fish: * e x t r e m e series out of camp mac. *the occasional bfl, maybe the gator division this year. *a few one man tournies and/or opens *and... the best of all!: ron's tackle box thursday night tournaments. 6-9:30 on small polk county lakes with anywhere from 20-70 boats. 100% payout. pays only top 3 places so you can turn your $11 entry fee into $600 on the right night and pay for the year. last year was my first year on the kissimmee chain for tournaments and it was not an impressive showing (i did get to see a lot of new water - toho and harris chain). in the money only 2 out of 13 tournies. highlight was probably finishing just 10 ounces out of the money after the first 2 days @ the pro-am, but im not sure they wanted me driving my rusted trailer into the convention center on the final day weigh in anyway! ;D my goal AS ALWAYS is to vinish in black on tourny winnings vs. entry fees.

describe the "jump" that you saw... \ im guessing that if you threw everything at them and they didnt eat, they werent bass... after all - they have a brain the size of a pea, and when they are feeding their brain capacity doesnt even rival a 13 yr olds when a pretty girl walks by. there are several fish species that make noise on the surface that are not going to eat anything you throw... when i first saw gizzard shad, i spent 2 hrs trying to make them eat... also pleco (sailfin/suckermouth catfish) roll up on the surface...

as of late, its been kind of dead out everywhere. i was over the hill on arianna today and caught 7 keepers in a couple hours.

arianna has some pigs!

careful what you say mr kvd, you wouldnt want to alienate future sponsors.

rolo, you like clear, stained, or dirty water? i saw a "cow" on a well formed bed before the front, complete w/ buck, certainly not enough to move out of prespawn mode, but im expecting some spawning this full moon.

im gonna go with deep structure, or tight to heavy cover flipping.

i saw this post about tarpon right at christmas (on a different forum)... i would imagine if they have a solid pre-spawn as they describe the spawn will also be very good: "Hi All, The shiner bite for bass right now is incredible. The warmer than normal weather has them in 4-6ft in over the hydrilla feeding. If you fish the south cove slow trolling live shiners catching 25 or more bass will be easy. Most fish are under 4lbs, however 1 or 2 will be 6lbs or more. My dad lives in the first house to the south of anderson park and we have been routinely catching 8 bass a night throwing shiners off the dock. Most of them are under 18inches, but occasionally we will get a 20"-24" bass (once a week or so). The crappie are all over the south canal by the bridges and the mouth of the canal. The crappie should move into the bulrush soon, but right now if you fish a bunch of different depths and just drift in the south canal you will eventually find them. Once you do switch to the depth they were eating at and limit out. Also, recently I have been targeting blue catfish in lake tarpon. They are all about 3-7lbs, but they are delicious and easy to catch. Actually, I think you could throw a chickin liver in at night anywhere on the lake and catch one right now. Fillet it quick and pan fry it for an incredible meal. Well, good luck all lake tarpon fisherman (P.S. the pipeline, clam bar, and mid-lake hump are worth a visit for the crappie)"

dec 31st same day as lee... a little better luck but not much... small keepers that hit like they were eating, just fewer bites than i would have expected the day before a cold front. most success on topwater in pads 3ft of water w/ mix of hydrilla or peppergrass... best bite 3.5 lbs

where are you fishing?

dont know if this will correlate for ya, but polk county phospate pond shad are active... bass schooling up... caught my first double of prespawn, decent fish too, a 2.5 on the front treble and a 1.25 on the back treble... the fishing should be lights out before this big front... im headed to toho/kissimmee early in the week...

i googled tribble mill hydrilla... fishing hydrilla can be frustrating at first, but i hate it when i see them spraying it on any of the local lakes now, because hydrilla is a fish factory... if you can find pockets in the middle where it opens up a little and fish a rattle trap or senko around scattered hydrilla thats probably the easiest place to start... you can flip into the matted stuff w/ a 1 1/2 ounce weight, or throw a frog over it, pausing it in the pockets... i dont know when the bass school in your lake, but schooling bass on hydrilla is about as good as it gets...

sounds like hydrilla to me.. saw a post on it from 9/22/07 that would indicate that it was hydrilla, they said they left at noon tired of catching them... i like hydrilla

i was signed up prior to 21st... i think im still looking for a co-angler, i could be wrong.

lake toho 12/24: 8:00am: 1 3lber on devil horse on scattered hydrilla edges on south end - 6ft of water. snapped off on another. 10:00am: carolina rigging 18ft of water, north end, for a 2.5 lber 11:00am: shallow, shallow, shallow on island hyd/grass. pop R 2 lber. 11:30am: hard hydrilla edges on north end rapala dt6. 1.5lber and carolina rig black trick for another 1.5lber. 4 different patterns and 5 fish... im thinking if i were fishing tomorrow id get a big weight and a flipping stick on that hydrilla that had the bigger fish and grind grind grind.

anybody planning to fish the bfl as a co-angler and not have an angler to sign up w/ im fishing the jan. 11th as an angler and to guarentee a spot need somebody to sign up as co-angler... let me know

lee etc, i went to toho today, and tooled around... didnt fish as much as look... saw a guy spraying just north of goblets cove. lots of other spraying going on - all the flat pads everywhere are gone/dead... i loved those pads. the water is up. saw a large female on the bed in gin clear water, saw other early signs of beds, had a BIG toad roll on a toad... caught dinks shallow, and caught a few chunks cranking outside hyd. lines... no schooling as far as i could tell...

why does everyone hate the guys w/ 225's? -proud new owner of a used 225, gimme some love.

im with you on that fivebasslimit... if i fold my hand in poker, i dont show anybody what i had, then when that fish story rolls out about how i had a "decent limit, but nothing big" hey... who knows

im with you five bass limit... in fact, if i dont have good fish i often am late for the weigh in, angling for that one last big bite.

pros: as a co-angler you learn a lot from people you wouldnt otherwise ever fish with... you get to watch techniques that will surprise and educate... you can fish with anglers at the highest levels of competition on your favorite lakes. you dont have to own and maintain a tournament level boat. cons: your experience is entirely dependent on your partner. i purposely avoid angler/co-angler tournaments if i can... dont get me wrong i root for my co-angler to do well, but if 1) the bite is tough, 2) my fish are in a limited area, and 2) it is the first day of a 2 day tournament, i am going to protect the area as much as i can... ill be more generous on secondary spots after i have a limit... can any of you tournament boaters say that you would be generous w/ an isolated structure bedding bite? its just a tough deal with the way the fishing has been lately because you have limited SUPPLY and high DEMAND, so the competition is fierce even on the same boat... this problem disappears in a partner tournament, ill show them all the water they want to see. if you are interested in this for the purpose of competition id look to find a partner for local partner opens and club tournaments, but if you are looking at it from the standpoint of a learning experience id do the co-angler thing... i know around here (central florida), there are lots of tournaments (smaller lakes or hp restricted) where a 14ft/25hp would be more than adequate... just my twenty-two point five cents.

everyone seems pro-tournament fishing... i like having a "golden rule" in another sense... you can compare your day to others who are serious about fishing... i like because it pushes me into hyper-problem solving mode... i like it for what it teaches me about myself psychologically (e.g. - 5 in the well by 9:15 and im singing vs. 1 in the well by 11:30 and im selling the boat) i like measuring my progression as a fisherman.