Captain Phil

April is the prime time to bass fish here in Central Florida. The big cold fronts are done, the water is warming and the summer heat has not arrived. In my home Lake Eustis, you are can parallel the shoreline cover with a spinnerbait and catch bass all day. Hard to find a lure that won't catch bass in April.

Successful bass fishing from the back of the boat is done differently than when fishing from the front.

One of the Harris Chain public ramps is two blocks from my home. Except for during the spawning season, I often fish there during the week. To avoid the crowds, I have been doing most of my bass fishing in our smaller lakes. I traded my big bass boat for a Ranger RT178 aluminum boat that I can launch at these small ramps. After tons of work and millions of dollars, the Harris Chain has become a decent bass fishery again. Unfortunately, it's being degraded by too many tournaments. Tournaments are one thing. Carrying a load of spawning bass in a live well all day kills fish. After one of these tournaments, many bass are re-caught with sores and virus infections. Others are skinny with huge heads and slim bodies. Florida has enough bass fishing regulations, Unfortunately the State issues too many tournament exceptions. Getting one is so easy a cave man can do it! Bass are game fish just like Tarpon, Snook and Redfish. You could make a point that they are more valuable than those fish. The State of Florida should implement no exemption immediate release closed seasons on bass just like it does for other game fish. Unfortunately, I feel this will never happen.

I have lived on and fished the Harris Chain for over 40 years. My feeling is Bass Tournaments have worn out their welcome here. There are entirely too many on the Chain. Between local, club, regional and National tournaments you can't even get close to a boat ramp on weekends. Back twenty years ago, no one would think of pulling up on someone's fish. Today, if you catch a fish you have five boats heading your way. The place for a big national tournament is Okeechobee. Fishing back to back in someone's back yard is not what I call fun. It's getting ridiculous!

Mepps Comet. A great schooling bass lure.

Back in the 90s when I was still living in South Florida, my son and I decided to try our hand at bone fishing. We didn't know what to expect and we sure didn't know what we were doing. We took some plastic grubs and ran out to Biscayne Bay where there were some tidal channels running through sand bars. Not knowing any better, we fished them with an Ambassador 5500C round reel and 10 pound mono. We must have hit it right because it didn't take long before we hooked up. The first run of that fish was so strong and fast, it backlashed the reel running against the drag. It was like hooking a speeding semi truck while fishing off a highway overpass. Needless to say, we had to cut off the line and start over. Lesson learned! 😉

Skip the Clermont Chain and drive north to the Harris Chain. The Clermont Chain is tough due to all the development. All the Harris Chain lakes are good, but the hot lake right now is Griffin. Offshore Hydrilla is plentiful and the fish are easy to find. The best fishing month is April. By then most of the big tournaments are over and the cold fronts back off. Summers are hot and humid. Winters are a toss up depending on the number of cold fronts. All the small local lakes hold good fish if you can gain access.

You are not as young as you used to be. Happens to everyone. Just saying.. Mono stretches. On a long cast, the hook penetrating power is severely reduced. Like many, I resisted changing to braid. I switched last year and it makes a world of difference for me. The sensitivity is greatly improved and you won't lose as many fish. I use 30 pound braid with a fluorocarbon leader. I use a blood knot to connect the leader and it works great. I know you don't want to, but try it. I think you will be pleased with the result.

Corrosion is a big problem in boats. Many boats are stored outside where humidity gets to the wiring and connections. Your son will know this. If the boat has ever been used in salt water, there is a decent possibility this boat may need new wiring. This is not difficult in a small aluminum boat. If you are not willing or able to deal with issues like this, think twice before you buy a used boat. You may be better off with an OPB boat. OPB means "Other People's Boat" ☺️

If they are going to ban anything, they should ban live wells. Catch a bass, take a photo and immediately put it back in the lake where it was caught.

I would like to see bass tournaments where everyone uses 50 year old reels with linen line mounted on fiberglass rods fishing out of canoes with 9.9 hp motors. Then, we would find out who the real bass fishermen are. Just joking! 😂

Get your hands on a Shimano 6' 10" Zodias rod (ZDC610MHA). I absolutely love mine!

I doubt it. Once the genie is let out of the bottle, it's hard to put it back in. Today's big money TV bass tournaments are all about selling products. Fishing product manufacturers make money when they convince weekend anglers they absolutely "NEED" their stuff in order to be like the guys they see on TV. Boat ramp "CRED" is enhanced if you have a $100,000 wrapped boat towed by a $70,000 truck with $10,000 worth of electronics. You may not be able to catch bass in a barrel, but you look the part. This started back in the 60s when we painted our names on the sides of our boats or motors. Do anglers using FFS catch more bass? Yes, if they have the fishing skill and knowledge to go with it. Would it make a difference to the average weekend Joe angler? It's doubtful.

I have fished for both bass and walleye. Generally, walleye fishermen are people who like to eat their fish. Cold water walleyes are great eating. In my opinion, walleye fight like a wet dish rag. Bass are much stronger fighters. Here in Florida, bass are the kings of fresh water fishing. Down south, they have Peacock bass and some exotics that are fun to catch. At lot of people like me grew up fishing for bass and it's in our blood.

Kidney stones are pure hell! I had my first one about six months ago and it wasn't fun. The pain was bad, but the nausea was worse than terrible. In my case, it probably saved my life. The night I spent in the emergency room they gave me a CT scan. The scan showed I had a kidney stone, but it also showed something else. It showed I had a cancerous tumor in my appendix. This is a one-in-a-million rare condition. If it had burst open, I would have been in a world of hurt. A week later they took out my appendix and I am back to my old self. Thank God for miracles!

At one time the Harris Chain was the poster child for muddy stained water. When we moved here in the late 90s, algae blooms were so rampant you couldn't see deeper than a few inches. Back then, Rattle Traps, spinnerbaits and flipping caught most of the big fish. You could stand right over the fish with only three feet of line out and catch 'em. The bass were so tight to cover, every lone stick up or pad had a fish on it. After a dozen casts or so, you could get one to bite. Things are different now with the fish mostly in offshore grass. I kind of miss those old days when you had to know something to catch bass. Now you know too! 😊

The best rod and reel combo I have ever found for throwing soft plastics is a Shimano 6' 10" Zodias Rod and a Chronarch 150 HG reel with 30 pound braid. It's so sensitive, I swear I can feel the fish before they bite. 😏

30 pound braid with a quality fluorocarbon leader.

This! ^^^^^

Shingles is nasty, especially when you are up in years. My wife got the vaccine a few years ago. Despite this, she got it anyway. We both have had it, but not as bad as some.

The fastest way to improve is to fish with someone who is better than you. If possible, join the best bass club you can find. Join as a non boater. Sit in the back of the boat and do a lot of observing. Be friendly and courteous. Don't talk about yourself, ask a lot of questions or offer advice. You can learn more in a day than in all the videos and articles combined. Reading and watching videos is good, but they're not as good as personal experience. Most weekend fishermen don't get to the next level because they try to do it alone. You won't live long enough to learn everything there is to know about bass fishing. Learn from someone who has.

There are two major things that make a spinnerbait work, vibration and flash. Without either, you may as well throw a swimming worm. The thinner the wire, the more vibration. The way the wire is formed is also significant. The better the hardware, the slower the blades will turn. If you are not fishing a spinnerbait slow, you are missing a lot of big fish. Blade thickness, material, plating quality and shape can also get you more fish. Can you catch bass on a $2.99 Walmart special spinnerbait? Sure! Will you catch more and bigger bass on a $10 spinnerbait? Possibly. That depends on where and how you fish it. If you don't do either right, you can throw a $50 bait spinnerbait and go fishless.

There was a time when I carried a plastic box spinnerbait kit in my boat with every color skirt and blade available. I don't believe there is any combination that doesn't work at some time or another. These days, I fish for fun and I only throw one bait. That bait is a 3/8 oz. Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special with gold blades and a white and chartreuse skirt. It matches the native gold shiners that our big bass prefer. I have seen days when the fish want silver blades and all white skirt. In my opinion, spinner bait fishing is more about where and how you throw the bait, not what bait you throw.

I have lived in Florida all my life. We rarely see freezing temperatures, but I do own a snow suit that I wore when I fished tournaments. I looked like the Michelin tire man in that thing! There is a whole new level of hot here in Florida. The humidity will sap your strength like nothing I have seen. All that said, I would much rather fish in the heat. First, the fish are much more active. Cold water turns off Florida bass like a light switch. If you fish Florida in the winter, you will be dodging cold fronts. One day the fish bite everything you throw at them, the next day it's like someone poisoned the lake. Mostly, it's the later. Fishing comfortably in hot weather is all about how you are dressed. If you wear long pants, you are asking for trouble. Your pants will trap the heat and you will roast like a Christmas turkey. I wear shorts and long sleeve shirts made for flats fishing. This material is light and it breathes. Sun screen and hats are mandatory. I have caught big Florida bass in three feet of 93 degree water. Despite what you may think, there are always bass in shallow water cover. Some of the best bass fishing I have ever experienced has been on a blazing hot summer Florida afternoon.

Spinnerbait in cover. Produces bigger bass.