Monthly Fishing Forecast

Here you go. Straight from Monte Goodman of Central Florida Bucketmouths. Now go out there and catch some fish….

Kissimmee Chain

The Kissimmee chain continues to amaze with 5-6 lb per fish averages winning tournaments, however these bigger Bass are not easy to find. There’s high, clean water and healthy green grass throughout the chain. It’s been a long time since the lakes have looked this good. Looks like you could catch a fish anywhere but this is definitely not the case.  Smaller size fish 1-2 lbs are plentiful and schooling around mouths and intersections of boat trails in lake Kissimmee. Prop-baits, poppers, and other topwaters along with spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits should do the trick early and late in these areas. As the water cools the topwater bite should continue to improve. For bigger fish try flipping outside grasslines or lily pads with 1/2-3/4 oz Texas rigged craws or other soft plastics during mid-day hours. Black/blue, junebug, and watermelon are always good colors to try. Black and blue 3/8-1/2 oz jigs have also been catching their share of big fish. Lots of hyacinths and other floating vegetation mats to fish around. Look for areas where the mats are blown up against other types of vegetation such as pads, reeds, or kissimmee grass. You need stout tackle to remove a big fish from these mats: 50+ lb braided line, heavy action flippin’ sticks, strong hooks, and at least 1 oz weights to penetrate the cover. There’s a few fish biting along the reedlines in lake hatchineah. Most are undersized but there are a few bigger fish mixed in.
 Lakes Cypress and Toho have good offshore hydrilla beds growing which are filtering the water as it flows south to Kissimmee. These hydrilla beds are also holding some big Bass. Try ripping a lipless crankbait or slow rolling a spinnerbait through the submerged vegetation. Also try Texas or Carolina rigged junebug, blueberry, or watermelon colored soft plastics fished slowly along the bottom to pick off less aggressive fish. Topwaters will take a few fish early and late around edges of matted hydrilla along with frogs fished over and through the mats. Try flippin’ a 1/2-1 oz Texas rigged craw or worm into the hydrilla mats during mid-day hours. This can be a painstakingly slow bite but there are some real big needles in the haystack for those that are patient. Keep an eye out and a rod ready for schoolers that can appear out of nowhere. Also try flipping outside grasslines on the southern half of lake Toho.
Winter Haven Chain and surrounding lakes

 Low water remains as the chief topic of discussion on the Winter Haven Chains. Without some heavy rains, the South Chain will soon be completely impassable. Right now most canals are still navigable except to lake Mirror from lake Cannon. Be careful as there are many pipes and other obstructions in the canals that will damage or destroy a prop in a hurry. Canals in the North Chain look like dirt roads. Fishing has remained good however. Weights in local tournaments have fallen off slightly although it’s still taking a 3 1/2-4 lb average to win. The majority of fish are still in 8 ft of water or deeper and are keying in on huge schools of shad. We’ve caught fish as deep as 22 ft recently. As the water begins to cool more and more fish will begin to move shallower. The predominant pattern remains fishing 10-15 ft deep around brushpiles, hydrilla beds, and ledges with shad colored deep-diving crankbaits and junebug or watermelon colored Texas/Carolina rigged worms and other soft plastics in the clear water lakes. Look for schooling Bass that could pop-up anywhere and get to them fast with a shad colored lipless crankbait or soft jerkbait. In the dirtier water lakes fish a little shallower 7-10 ft around brushpiles, submerged grass, and shell beds. Use firetiger or shad colored crankbaits and junebug or redbug colored Texas/Carolina rigged worms and other soft plastics. Also there’s some nice fish in emergent shoreline cover. Try flippin’ 3/8-1/2 oz Texas rigged junebug or black and blue craws or worms around cattails, reeds, pads, and kissimmee grass. Boat docks worth a try as well. A few cool snaps should spark a good rat-l-trap and topwater bite.

Central Florida, where you’ll find beautiful lakes, great bass fishing and Monte Goodman. Monte has made a career of doing what he enjoys and does best as a professional bass guide and successful tournament angler. Guiding and fishing competitively for the past 15 years has given him the experience, skill and knowledge it takes to be a great fisherman. Monte is also a vocal advocate of Florida’s habitat and conservation efforts, supports and practices “catch and release” himself and encourages others to do the same. A member of tournament trails such as FLW, FOMNTT, BFL, and B.A.S.S just to name a few. Credited with well over a hundred local tournament wins, was back to back Angler of the Year in the largest B.A.S.S. affiliated club in the world, and has won numerous Big Bass honors. Monte’s ability to adapt, his versatility and lengthy resume has earned him a reputation anyone would be proud of.