I have not seen these things discussed on here, maybe I missed it.

I know there is this Tamanac Springs, the public phosphorous pits.  Are they as good as they are made out to be?  Are they easy to fish?  Which ones are the best?

Are there private phosphorous pits you can pay to fish on?  I see a ton of them on google earth.

What about that perfectly rectangular private one with the canal around it?  I read an article saying it was private but can be gotten onto?

I'm curious, thank you.

Bienville Plantation (in White Springs) is the most popular one that I know of. Bassmaster Mag did an article on it a while back. The average fish caught at that time was 5lbs.

Im interested in what you find out. Ive been wanting to go to one of these but the price seems a little steep. Was unware there are public pits though.

teneroc, saddle creek, peterson park, and carter road are all public access phosphate pits in lakeland.  used to be that you could join fin and feather club and fish all the private ones they had access too, but there was some hullabaloo about mosaic or somebody discontinuing the agreement, so i dont know the status of that.  

other than that, you just have to find somebody who lives on one and get access through them... e.g. eagle brooke subdivision, grasslands, oakbridge, a new one out by the airport, and on and on.... they all hold big fish, but some are better than others.

Warmer nailed it.

Tenoroc FMA in Lakeland comprises perhaps the best phosphate pits in the country that offer "public access" (Mosaic has been a disappointment).

The best deal of all is to marry the owner's daughter of the biggest phosphate company in Bartow ;D

Roger

Gotta love Tenoroc!

i believe that the bienville plantation is for members only. i was told it casts a pretty good coin to get in. not sure though.

As far as Tenoroc goes...which lake is the best for big bass?

Is it hard to get in there?  I have been calling to make a reservation all day, nobody has picked up the phone.  I read its first come, first serve...does that mean I need to be there at 4AM or can I strole in at 7:30 or 8 and be okay?

As far as Tenoroc goes...which lake is the best for big bass?

Is it hard to get in there?  I have been calling to make a reservation all day, nobody has picked up the phone.  I read its first come, first serve...does that mean I need to be there at 4AM or can I strole in at 7:30 or 8 and be okay?

They're only open Friday through Monday. Lots of good pits... hard to say which is best... I have my personal favorites though ... You won't have a problem getting in... just be there at around 6 am and you'll have your pick of what pits to fish. I've been fishing those pits for a loooong time! I know em' all!  8-)

As far as Tenoroc goes...which lake is the best for big bass?

I believe there are 14 pits in Tenoroc, and the two largest pits are also among the best:

Lake-5 - 227 acres - 2 ramps

Lake-B - 206 acres - 2 ramps

Honorable mentions include Lake-2 (25 acres), Lake-3 (76 acres), Lake-4 (43 acres) and Shop Lake (26 acres).

Roger

Eagle lake is a public fishing reclaimed phosphate pit that is literally within a mile of Bienville.Also there is Lang lake about 10 miles from Bienville all are pretty good fishing.Lang has big bass regulations in effect as well.

You might want to check with Bill Dance.  He seems to only fish phosphate pits.  

I'm gonna get a shovel and start diggin my own pit for phosphorus

Pits rock.

oh foshizzle

I dont mind that is all Bill Dance fishes, what I dont like about his or any other bass show (his is actually one of the better ones) is the lack of information!  I want to see the knot he is tying, want to see the bait in detail, etc, etc.

Holly crap.  I just looked at some of those pits in Tenoroc on Google Earth.  They look like mazes.  I would feel like a lab rat trying to find cheese.

Then again that could be kinda fun getting lost back in there and catching bass.

The first time I went to Lk 5 I got lost! That was back in the mid-early 90's.

Well I wanted to let you all know how I did.  I went this past friday, unfortunatly there was a cold front the night before.  I think it was 48 if I remeber right when I got out there on my trucks rear view mirror deal.  Anyway I fished Lake 5 from 7ish to 2:30ish.  I only got 4 bites, caught 2 sunshine bass one 12" one 14".  I got turned around once but they have arrows to guide you to whichever ramp you put in at (Lake 5 has two, one north and one south).  Then at 2:30 I got hungry and got out, left for lunch and came back and tried lake 3 and didnt get a bite, got back out at 7:30.  Thus all in all it was a bad day of fishing EXCEPT I took something away from it which is the reason I went...

I caught both fish on a Carolina Rig in about 12 and 14 feet of water.  Those are the first fish I caught on a Carolina Rig or in deep water...so Im proud of that.  Also I felt my way up and over a ton of underwater structure and learned how to locate it, mark it, fish it.  So in that sense it was a huge success.  I will be using a carolina rig a lot more in the future and I feel like I added a tool in my belt.  Also I saw one partially submerged hump that had grass growing down it and into the water, I casted onto the side of it and felt the rocks and the grass all along the side...so I thought this HAS to have a fish on it.  Kept fishing it and caught my second fish...pretty proud of finding and focusing on that.

One thing that made me feel good, they were doing creel sheets and the lady at the office said the most that anyone caught was 12 and that those guys are regulars and usually catch a lot more.  Otherwise she said it was a lot of zeros and a few 5's and 6's.  So at least I know it was more the weather and less my fishing.

It was a neat trip.  I love the pits.  One question I still have though is with so much deep structure is there any way to pick and choose or do you just fish them all?