Captain Phil

Not all bass bed at the same time. Here in Central Florida, I have fished bass on beds from late December until June. In the summer, our surface water temps can reach into the nineties. Most anglers don't catch bass under those conditions because they don't fish close enough to trigger a strike. Personally, I would never eat a bass. I killed enough of them back in the day. Our bass club would bring limits of them in for a fish fry. Today, a bass is worth a lot more to me alive than dead. If you want to eat them, go for it.

It's a mistake to believe small lakes and ponds don't hold big fish. All you need to grow a large fish is genes, food and longevity. Here in Central Florida, it's not uncommon to catch a nine pound plus bass from a golf course pond. In my own neighborhood, East Lake is a small residential lake. It's crystal clear. No one fishes it. My friend John, who lives on this lake feeds fish off his dock every morning. The blue gills under his dock average more than a pound each and there are swarms of them. When he feeds the fish, the bass under the school look like logs. Every so often, a giant bass will eat one of those blue gills and splash water all over the dock. No one will ever catch those bass.

Interesting comments. I have always wondered what it is like to fish the San Diego lakes? I first learned about these lakes when David Zimmerlee caught his 20 pound 15 oz. bass. It's sad to learn these fish no longer exist. Why aren't these lakes restocked with Florida fish? Florida has a large fish hatchery not too far from my home. They have stocked millions of bass all over the world. https://myfwc.com/fishing/freshwater/stocking/

World record smallmouth are an interesting subject. I didn't know much about smallmouth bass fishing until the last ten years or so. I rented a home on Pelee Island in Lake Erie. I always thought the great lakes were polluted. Boy was I wrong. The water is clear and crawling with fat 3-6 pound smallmouths. I was told this was due to the zebra mussel and goby invasion. With all the human re engineering stuff these days, I wouldn't be surprised at anything.

True. It takes a very special fish to reach world record size. It's like an eight foot tall human. Since 1932, bass anglers have been chasing that fish. It took Florida transplants to make it happen.

If you are talking about public waters, I agree. Florida has too much fishing pressure. There are private lakes in Florida that could hold such a fish. Some time ago, I was among a small group of anglers who paid to fish a private rock pit. There were only six of us. The pit was dug for rock to build Disney World. It was 100 feet deep and full of gigantic bass. I took seven dozen 12" shiners with me one morning and ran out of bait by 11 AM. All the fish were released.

Yes, I have fished all over Florida. Except for the Keys, most of my inshore salt water fishing has been on the West Coast from Everglades City to Flamingo. Freshwater fishing is different. I have friends who are die hard salt water anglers. They can't understand how I can get excited about a fish the size of their bait. Bass fishing with artificial lures is as challenging as it gets. I consider each one I catch as a small miracle.

I don't believe I have ever hooked a 20 pound bass. However, I do believe a bass of that size exists in Florida. I spent years fishing the Everglades and Okeechobee. I never saw a bass over 11 pounds. When I moved to Central Florida in 1996, I saw lots of them. The biggest bass I have ever seen weighed in a local tournament was just shy of 14 pounds. I have hooked bass that straighten out a 4/0 flipping hook. I have been brought to me knees by fish when flipping with 50 pound braid. That bass tore a path through a patch of maidencane. A bass like that doesn't make many mistakes.

Brings back memories. When I was a kid, I was fishing on a bridge over a canal in South Florida. There was a big school of shade under the bridge. Bass where attacking the shad. I was fishing with a L&S Mirrolure. I would drop the lure straight down and the bass would grab it when it hit the water. A three pound bass ate my lure and ran out into the middle of the canal. A six pounder tried to take the lure away and got hooked. I caught nine pounds of fish on one cast. This happens all the time in salt water fishing.

Twenty pound plus largemouths are a rare occurrence wherever they come from. The Florida record of 20.13 pounds has been documented by a photo. The largest bass I have ever seen myself was reported to be 17 pounds. That fish was caught in an orange grove pond back in the seventies. Lake Toho produced a 17 pound fish. That fish is currently mounted and hanging on the wall at the East Lake Fish Camp. As I remember, there was a documented 19 pound bass caught in Lake Tarpon near Tampa. Tales of huge bass are common in Florida. Most of the ten pound bass I see are 8 pounders at best.

Back in the fifties, Lake Apopka was known as one of the best bass lakes in America. The 17 pound bass on the early Heddon lure boxes came from Lake Apopka. I have written extensively on this lake, so I won't rehash all that has been said. Google the lake and you will find all you need to know. In my opinion, Lake Apopka is not currently a lake anyone would want to fish for fun. You can fish the lake for days without a hit. When you get one, it is a large fish. The shad in this lake are gigantic. The lake has very little fishing pressure. Many local Harris Chain tournaments have been won by making the long run to Apopka. It wouldn't surprise me if a 20 pound plus fish is swimming in this lake. I only know of three 17 pound plus Florida fish caught in recent years. One was caught in Rodman, one in Lake Rousseau and one in the St. John's River. I am sure there have been others that were not reported, most likely from private waters. Here's my buddy Mark with a nice fish from Rousseau.

California bass are transplanted Florida bass. If you take a Florida bass, move it to California and stuff it with baby trout, you will get an enormous bass. There are places in Florida where world record fish may still exist. Those places are not or are rarely fished. What is required to produce a world record bass in Florida is a fish capable of reaching record size, light or no fishing pressure, large plentiful food and some luck. The only public lake in Florida that I know of that may still have a record bass is Lake Apopka. It checks all the boxes. If I was to guess what lure would catch that bass, it would be a large shad swim bait.

No one boat does everything. Unless you want to own more than one boat, you must compromise. I decided to buy a pontoon boat after fishing with a friend in his 14' pontoon. His boat is docked on a small lake of about 300-500 acres. The Harris Chain where I fish is big water, so I decided on an 18' pontoon. I considered anything bigger than that as too big for bass fishing the way I want to do it. My boat is docked in a marina with a lift. Trailering and launching a pontoon boat is a PITA. Keep this in mind. The more expensive the boat the greater depreciation you will have. The slowest depreciating boats are older pontoon boats. This is understandable as they can be rebuilt as good as new by anyone with a screwdriver. Any boat you buy will be only be new for a short period of time. For that reason, I bought a ten year old Tracker Bass Buggy with a good motor. If I recover my cushions, you couldn't tell how old it is. Most people buy a boat not thinking about the day they will sell it. I've been down that road many times myself. Lesson learned.

Hula Popper! How many of those have I owned over the years? Seriously, top water plugs catch big bass. The Hula Popper is one of the oldest. The problem with hard top water plugs is throwing them back into thick weeds where the biggest fish live. Today's soft plastic frogs are a better option.

There is a significant difference in the effectiveness of a quality spinnerbait and a cheap one. Wire diameter and blade plating are critical. The best all around spinner bait in Florida is a Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special. The gold plating is far superior adding more flash at a slower speed. The wire is thin, which makes the bait vibrate. Whatever it is that makes it work, this bait does it all. Our bass don't chase, so you must trigger a strike. Cadence is critical with spinnerbaits. Get it right and it's hard to beat. I throw mine with a 5/1 casting reel, a Zoom plastic split tail and a trailer hook. A trailer hook in our water is essential as bass often short strike. I have fished with many anglers who use cheap spinnerbaits. Their blades are dull, the wire is too thick and the hooks aren't sharp. My Hidebrandt spinner baits out fish them three fish to one. Unfortunately or fortunately, however you look at it, quality spinnerbaits are expensive and they don't last long because fish tear them up. I think that's an advantage. If they were cheap everyone would throw them and I would lose my advantage. :>)

My pontoon boat is exactly as you described. After this photo was taken, I mounted the trolling motor between the seats.

I was around when the bass boat craze started. I've owned a bunch of them. Before that, you never knew who the "experts" were. Most people believe a person with a wrapped $60,000 bass boat with two power poles and a wall of electronics must know how to catch fish? Some do, some don't. A fishing boat is a tool made for a purpose. A kayak has a different purpose than a Ranger with all the bells and whistles. A pontoon boat is the Swiss army knife of boats. Most of it's limitations have been solved with these new trolling motors. They're as much of an innovation as the first trolling motors were fifty years ago. I am just coming to grips with what a pontoon boat is capable of. I was concerned that flipping and pitching would be out of the question in a pontoon. Now that I own one, I think it may work better as you are higher and can flip sitting down. I'll be testing that out soon. So far, my pontoon has done everything I have asked of it. It could be faster. These days, I'm in no hurry to get anywhere.

Since the early sixties, I have fished for bass out of everything from an 8 foot plywood boat I built myself to an 80 mph Gambler. After all this time, father time caught up with me. I find it difficult to sit in a bass boat all day. Hauling and launching a big boat is difficult and expensive for someone my age. I quit fishing for a time, but I missed it. Living on the Harris Chain didn't help. From my living room window I could watch boats cross the lake while I sat on my couch watching Fox News. Recently, I bought a ten year old Pontoon Boat. In the past, I considered pontoon boats only as family or party boats. They were difficult to launch and maneuver. The wind blows them around and I thought they were too big, slow and cumbersome for any serious bass fishing. I have only had my pontoon boat for a month so far. I thought it might be helpful to post some of my observations. My pontoon boat is 18' in length with a 40 hp Mercury four stroke motor. It's slow, but stable. My son has a flats boat with a Minn Kota Terrova trolling motor. He kept telling me how great it is, so I bought one for my pontoon boat. This trolling motor changes everything. It makes fishing out of a pontoon boat a pleasure. I actually like it better than a bass boat. I don't use a foot control. I use the hand held controller. With 80 pounds of thrust, I can put it anywhere I want. It's quiet and cuts through hydrilla like butter. It's like fishing off a stationary dock that moves. The anchor lock feature is fantastic. You slide down a weed line with ease. Any time you wish to hold in position, you hit the anchor button and the boat stays there no matter what the wind is doing. My boat is docked on Little Lake Harris, one of Florida's best bass lakes. It's in a covered marina with a lift. I drive ten minutes to the marina to go fishing. Some of the best bass water in my area is 200 yards from this marina. Instead of running all over the lake, I stay in one area and fish. My wife has had problems with skin cancer, so she can't sit in an open boat. She loves the pontoon boat with it's canvas cover. She reads her books while I catch bass. I can't say enough good things about my pontoon boat. If you are bass fishing out of a pontoon, Tell us how it works for you.

Years ago, Florida had a ten fish per angler daily limit with no size limits. Today, it's five fish and you can only keep one over 16". Our bass fishing is better now than it was thirty years ago. Most serious bass anglers don't keep bass to eat. I have no problem with those who do as long as they observe the rules. More bass are killed today beating around in a live well than are fried in a pan, especially in the heat of summer. What I would like to see is all Florida bass tournaments go to three fish per angler. Technique would revolve around catching bigger bass, not more bass. Some anglers would whine about this. Those are the guys standing at the weigh-in with a bag of 12 inchers.

The clarity of the water has a significant affect on lure color selection. In clear water, watermelon and natural colors work better. In turbid water, black and dark colors work better. The Harris Chain has all kinds of water clarity from crystal clear to coffee with cream. In the darkest water, paddle tail worms attract more strikes. In clear water, watermelon colored wacky worms are my choice. For years, the best all around worm color in our waters has been June bug. As the lakes have cleared, lighter colored worms have come into their own. In Florida, you can't do better than a chartreuse and white spinnerbait with gold blades. Color doesn't seem to matter much in crankbaits. As long as the vibrations are right, fish will hit them.

Bass have a way of making even the best anglers feel stupid. If you want proof, check the score board at a national tournament and see how many pros zero.

This is a photo from before the casinos shut down. I was dealt this royal at the Tampa Hard Rock.

Here's another one.

I have a first edition copy of his book "Lucas on Bass Fishing". It's dog eared and worn with many underlined sections. Jason was the editor of Sports Afield magazine. He was the authority on bass fishing back in the fifties. As a kid, I read this book so many times, I wore it out. This was before bass tournaments, plastic worms, trolling motors or bass boats. Jason introduced many of us to bass fishing. You won't find many modern topics in this book. You will read what bass fishing was like when your great grandfather fished. Jason was a competitive guy. It comes across in his book. Bass tournaments changed bass fishing forever. I fished some of the first in Florida. The history of these tournaments is fascinating in itself. Buy a copy of Ray Scott's "Bass Boss". Ray signed my book in 2006 when the Classic was in Kissimmee. There were many things that happened back then that aren't in his book. It all turned out great.

Bass are cold blooded animals with small brains and simple nervous systems. They eat, mate and protect territory. If a bass hits your lure, it's out of one or all of those reasons. They don't have friends. They aren't happy, sad or anything else that you may feel. Don't make this harder than it is.