Beginning last week the bite around Deerfield Beach, FL has been awesome during the lunch time hour.  Typically I average a bass every 30 minutes but lately the catch rate has over doubled and the size is much better than I am used to seeing.  I am also hooking snake heads and myan cyclids.  Has pre-spawn begun in south florida or is there something else happening causing the mid-day bite to be turned on?

They should be just starting to bed, have you seen any?

There are beds on the west and south end of Okeechobee last weekend. 

 

Now the fun starts!!

 

 

 

Mike

I have not seen any beds yet, but the bass I am catching are REALLY fat.

  

Pre-Spawn in South Florida?

 

And I am freezing my fanny off in Richmond, Virginia.

 

Man, do you have it made or what???

There is a reason our highways are jammed every during my commute.  Everyone wants to be in South Florida this time of year.  Both the weather and fishing are outstanding.

At least someone is catching them! I haven't found any beds or fish for that matter here. 

I haven't literally seen bass on beds, but a fishing buddy caught a fish a few days ago with a fat belly that was dripping eggs out of her cloaca. And a friend and I caught 20 nice bass in the hour before sunset this evening, so I'd say the pre-spawn/early spawn season is here. 

Sounds like I should be heading down south... I won't be seeing a bed fish around here for another 5 months of cold  Winter is just starting up here.

13 hours ago, hawgenvy said:

I haven't literally seen bass on beds, but a fishing buddy caught a fish a few days ago with a fat belly that was dripping eggs out of her cloaca. And a friend and I caught 20 nice bass in the hour before sunset this evening, so I'd say the pre-spawn/early spawn season is here. 

Where did you go?  20 quality bass in an hour is spectacular!

13 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Sounds like I should be heading down south... I won't be seeing a bed fish around here for another 5 months of cold  Winter is just starting up here.

Right! It's hard for me to wrap my brain around the idea that in parts of the country bass are pre-spawn. At the rate we're going here in Michigan I'll be walking on water before Christmas! ?

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

Right! It's hard for me to wrap my brain around the idea that in parts of the country bass are pre-spawn. At the rate we're going here in Michigan I'll be walking on water before Christmas! ?

 

This is my first year fishing a Florida winter. I have been doing a lot of reading on bass lures for specific seasons. I moved my topwater lures into a storage box and got out the hard jerk baits. After the first front moved through, I had a opportunity to fish. In an Al Linder book, it was talked about Florida strain of bass getting tight lipped after a cold front moves through. I asked a friend who fishes tournaments locally about how he gets bites after a front. He told me wait a couple days and go check out a small creek off Lake Toho. He said the bass would be moving into that creek to spawn soon. I gave him a blank stare. Spawn -> winter, no that is a spring activity was what was running through my mind after all the reading. I told him that he had been in the sun too long, we were moving into winter, not spring. He reassured me and said go check the site. 4 days later, I stopped at the creek. Not only were there bass in the creek where I hadn't seen any during the summer, but there were also the start of shallow beds. After a good day of fishing, I ate not a slice of crow pie, but humbly ate the whole thing. Alligators in pools, pythons and cobras in the swamp, hanging chads on voter's cards, and bass spawning in winter, Florida is definitely unique.  

2 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

 At the rate we're going here in Michigan I'll be walking on water before Christmas! ?

 

Jesus....is that really you?  

29 minutes ago, Hez said:

 

Jesus....is that really you?  

Yes it is Hez. I command you to give all your fishing equipment to a poor guy name Jeremy in Michigan. If you do I'll give you a free pass at the Gates when your time comes. ?

There is no chance Jesus would live in Michigan.

28 minutes ago, BCline said:

There is no chance Jesus would live in Michigan.

I think there's a good chance. There's a ton of houses being built, so he could easily find work IF he wanted. ?

Given his previous carpentry experience.

Man...it's almost like I'm hearing voices...again...

Come on now, we all know Jesus is a Floridian. I mean, look at those sandals bruh! 

I don't know why you all are so surprised!

Its only winter if you look at a calendar. It was 81 deg at the house today. 

 

You guys need to get out more!

??

 

 

 

Mike 

 

44 minutes ago, Hez said:

Man...it's almost like I'm hearing voices...again...

No need to up the dosage....those voices are real.

9 hours ago, BCline said:

Where did you go?  20 quality bass in an hour is spectacular!

Residential pond in Boca Raton. 

13 hours ago, Mike L said:

I don't know why you all are so surprised!

Its only winter if you look at a calendar. It was 81 deg at the house today. 

 

You guys need to get out more!

??

 

The calendar says winter and since it only got to 77 degrees here today, I would say winter is in full swing at this location in Florida.  ?

 

 

10 hours ago, BCline said:

Where did you go?  20 quality bass in an hour is spectacular!

You would think you died and went to Heaven if you fished the glades when the conditions are just right....I have caught up to 4-8 bass a minute and +100 bass in less than 6 hours while fishing in the glades from land. Heard of reports of people catching +200 bass in a single day in a boat. These bass will hit almost anything, including a bare hook worked quickly. Yes, South Florida is a fisherman's paradise and the best place in the U.S.A for a multi species fisherman.

Hi all, I am new here, this is actually my fist post, I will head over to the introduction section soon and say an official hi but i wanted to comment here because I am seeing the same thing. I live in Wellington, FL (near Palm Beach) on Lake Wellington and am catching fish like crazy even in the middle of the afternoon. It's not uncommon for me to catch 10-15 bass in less than an hour in the evening right outside my house on my pontoon boat in open water with a worm. I was off this past week and caught over 50 bass. Given a lot of them were the smaller 1.5 pound size but a few nicer 2-3 pounders. I am also seeing nice Peacock Bass in my lake, twice now I have been in schools of them in the morning and had a ton of fun with top water, Peacock bass sure do put up a good fight :-). Definitely a fun time to fish for bass in South FL.

16 hours ago, LOTR88 said:

Hi all, I am new here, this is actually my fist post, I will head over to the introduction section soon and say an official hi but i wanted to comment here because I am seeing the same thing. I live in Wellington, FL (near Palm Beach) on Lake Wellington and and catching fish like crazy even in the middle of the afternoon. It's not uncommon for me to catch 10-15 bass in less than an hour in the evening right outside my house on my pontoon boat in open water with a worm. I was off this past week and caught over 50 bass. Given a lot of them were the smaller 1.5 pound size but a few nicer 2-3 pounders. I am also seeing nice Peacock Bass in my lake, twice now I have been in schools of them in the morning and had a ton of fun with top water, Peacock bass sure do put up a good fight :-). Definitely a fun time time fish for bass in South FL.

Greetings LOTR88,

 

We are practically neighbors, I live a few miles north of you in the Acreage in Loxahatchee.  Are you going to the free concert at the Wellington amphitheater tomorrow (Thursday) night?  I will be there with my family and would like to meet you.  Maybe we can chase those Wellington bass around one weekend.

I'm in Lake Placid Central FL and the fishing here is just starting to pick up. Got 35 last weekend in about 6 hrs. Found a couple huge fish in about a foot and a half of water. Not sure if they were bedding yet or not.