Ah ok yup then forget the guide lol. I wish you luck and tight lines!

Glenn, holy **** I never took that into consideration. That's not really on my list of dangers when fishing up here.

 

Glenn's advice is spot-on.

When fishing out of a boat, alligators don't have to be feared, only respected.

But gators can be problematic when shore-fishing, especially if your slogging thru heavy brush

and inadvertently come upon a nesting gator. Gators and black bears are beginning to realize

that man is the weakling on planet Earth.  

 

 

"Lots of bugs & mosquitos?"  Nah, that's more about south Florida. 

 

Roger

So, i've been looking on Google Earth for lakes in the general area where i'm staying with good shore access. I've come up with a few. Do any of these stand out to anyone? Minus the lakes already mentioned.

 

Lake Adair

Lake Highland

Park Lake

Lake Eola

Rock Lake

Lake Lorna Doone

Clear Lake

Lawne Lake

 

*Lake Ivanhoe

*Lake Underhill

Clear Lake would be interesting....as it is stocked with "Sunshine" Bass. Click here to read about the fishing on the lake. You can also read about other lakes / ponds in Orlando...and then firm up a strategy.

http://m.myfwc.com/conservation/freshwater/fish-orlando/clear-lake/

Clear Lake would be interesting....as it is stocked with "Sunshine" Bass. Click here to read about the fishing on the lake. You can also read about other lakes / ponds in Orlando...and then firm up a strategy.

http://m.myfwc.com/conservation/freshwater/fish-orlando/clear-lake/

OH that's awesome! I was looking for something like that. We have all the lakes up here in Mass listed similar to that. And they've done fishing surveys "recently", they post their findings and what not. Thanks! 

So, i've been looking on Google Earth for lakes in the general area where i'm staying with good shore access. I've come up with a few. Do any of these stand out to anyone? Minus the lakes already mentioned.

 

Lake Adair

Lake Highland - Lots of gar. 

Park Lake

Lake Eola - Can't fish this.

Rock Lake

Lake Lorna Doone

Clear Lake

Lawne Lake

 

*Lake Ivanhoe

*Lake Underhill

Gar sound fun. Any special techniques besides using steel leaders with them?

Just a suggestion, but the lake front at West Toho, inside the Big Toho Marina basin is a good spot. I just helped out with the bank fishermen competition at the Paralyzed Veteran's Tournament this past weekend. These guys mostly fished from their wheel chairs and used shiners. However; we caught two  2 lbers, a 4.6 lber, and a couple 1 lb bass, and another veteran was fishing near the docks (he wasn't wheelchair bound) and caught a nearly 5lb bass and it was on a zoom fluke.

 

It is accessable to the public, and if you get hungry, the marina has great food at a good price.

Gar sound fun. Any special techniques besides using steel leaders with them?

 

NOT fun. They stink badly, have sharp teeth and they are a waste of time. I also suggest Lake Underhill as I used to fish it a lot when I lived in Orlando. South west shore by the cat tails, next to road.

Based on your short list, I'd have to go with Lake Underhill,

which accommodates bank-fishing along the southern shore

Roger

That was just a quick list. I'm open to suggestions if you know other good lakes or ponds

NOT fun. They stink badly, have sharp teeth and they are a waste of time. I also suggest Lake Underhill as I used to fish it a lot when I lived in Orlando. South west shore by the cat tails, next to road.

A lot of people up here say that about chain pickerel, but I love catching them.

I have to admit I started to enjoy catching them aswell. Same with aligator gars. I had what looked lile a 7ft agar chasing my rattle trap up from the deep. Swear Its like the closest you can get to jurrassic park in real life.

That was just a quick list. I'm open to suggestions if you know other good lakes or ponds

 

Hersey, I can only reiterate my original suggestion which was West Tohopekaliga (affectionately known as 'Lake Toho').

Read the post provided by Fishing Cowgirl, Toho is her stomping grounds and she offered a good suggestion.

Toho is world-class water, and you'll feel good just being in Big Toho Marina (I know I do).

BTW: eastern chain pickerel are there for the taking, and I'm with you, I welcome a bout with a pickerel anytime   

 

Roger

Hersey, I can only reiterate my original suggestion which was West Tohopekaliga (affectionately known as 'Lake Toho').

Read the post provided by Fishing Cowgirl, Toho is her stomping grounds and she offered a good suggestion.

Toho is world-class water, and you'll feel good just being in Big Toho Marina (I know I do).

BTW: eastern chain pickerel are there for the taking, and I'm with you, I welcome a bout with a pickerel anytime

Roger

Oh trust me, I will be hitting Toho in the future, but as I said before. This trip is literally costing me about $200 - $250 total. And I'm not renting a car, a cab would be insane there and back. But I'm definitely going to hit toho soon. This is going to be the first trip of many

Oh trust me, I will be hitting Toho in the future, but as I said before. This trip is literally costing me about $200 - $250 total. And I'm not renting a car, a cab would be insane there and back. But I'm definitely going to hit toho soon. This is going to be the first trip of many

 

Sounds good, and the best of luck  

So, I hit Underhill today. I saw a lot of pretty decent bass on beds, but they wouldn't bite. The largest maybe about 8 lbs. But I did catch a lot of smaller ones. Largest maybe 2 lbs. I'm going to hit ivanhoe and adair tomorrow.

Hersey, what airline? I work out of MHT and was thinking about doing the same thing real soon. I used to live down there in the Clermont area and tons of fishing but when I lived there I didn't fish. Now I have a boat and fish as often as I can.

 

David 

Hersey, what airline? I work out of MHT and was thinking about doing the same thing real soon. I used to live down there in the Clermont area and tons of fishing but when I lived there I didn't fish. Now I have a boat and fish as often as I can.

David

I work for us air. Yeah it's beautiful down there. My rods got there and back in one piece too, which knowing how some of us handle bags is surprising

I enjoy catching FISH.  This includes Bass, Pickerel, Gar, and Mudfish.  I would have to say that unhooking a gar is not easy and you better have pliers and a wet towel.  They are very strong, even the little ones.  Their mouth is nothing like a Bass or even a Pickerel.  It is very bony.  To save one of them I had to cut the barb and above off a treble hook cause I could not get it out of it's mouth.  Some people really hate catching them, one guy actually told me that he breaks their bill off when he throws them back in so they die.  Absolutely sickening.  Oh and their teeth are sharp.  

 

Not trying to deter you from catching them cause they fight but be prepared for the release.

You can catch bass in a drainage ditch in Orlando. Not kidding. Take your pick.

 

I saw these vids and your post reminded me of it.  Not sure if this was in Orlando but it was funny to watch.

 

 

It's most likely in Florida.  But also it's most likely a storm drain that leads to a retention pond that is probably right out of sight of the camera.  Not a sewer like you would think of.  The house looks "newer" and they newer subdivisions have extensive retention ponds with storm draining because of what happens here in Florida during the Summer, oh and hurricanes.

 

Funny stuff though lol

Another vote for Underhill. I went there today and caught a 2.5 pounder on a spinnerbait

Anything junebugg & frogs!!!