Harris Chain of Lakes, FL Fishing Report

Fishing has been excelent the last couple of weeks. We caught 2 10lbs bass and a number of 6-8lbs bass on large shinners and plastic worms (june bug color). 

The crappie bite is hot. Fish in Lake Bueoclair, Lake Dora, and Lake Carlton. Try using jigs (org color, pink, and shartrus) with a small minnow. Also trolling with a beetle spin is working well.

Bass bite is slow due to the weather but there is a new moon on sunday so I expect the bass to start bedding again. Still the bass that we are catching are on medium to large shiners.

Catching bass up to 7lbs on the lake using Rat-L-Traps in chrome blue, purple, and green. Also using worms: Junebug- Flip the worm in the heavy cover.

Crappie are being caught with jig minnow combo. Caught 40 fish.

Crappie are starting to bite in the 6-8 ft of water range on jig with a small minnow.

Bass- Good with fish in the 2-5 lbs range. Use rat-l-trap, frogs, and swimming worms. Most of the fish are being found at the mouth of the canals. Also domestic shinners are working well at the edges of the lily pads and kissimmee grass.

Spots to fish at: Millionaires Row in Big Lake Harris

North Lake in Little Lake Harris by the docks and kissimmee grass.

Listen to my report on Fishhound.com!

Ray really enjoyed his trip this past week with Captain Lynda. He caught and released several nice bass on shiners. Karen & Eric from S. Florida did their annual guide trip and caught lots and lots of big ole bass. Eric caught the biggest this year even though usually it's Karen who gets that monster. Bass have started to build beds already on the Harris Chain. Be sure to practice catch and release. Use a Rat-L-Trap, top-water bait or a swimming type weightless worm to catch some nice bass. A lot of the local small lakes are hot. Fishing a shiner on a freeline (without a bobber or weight) is still producing some of the bigger fish. A slow falling sinking weightless worm (Producto’s Hot Rod works great) or a white and chartreuse spinner bait reeled in as slowly as possible, are both working quite well. Be sure to lift up on your rod tip occasionally then let it slowly fall to make the spinner bait look as natural as possible. If you think you are fishing too slow, slow down even more. These baits can produce some huge bass but they have to be worked very slowly.

  The rainy season is here so watch for schooling bass in the run-off coming from canals and feeder creeks. 
Also Sunshine Bass are chasing shad in the St John's river. Blue Gill and Shell Cracker are bedding around the new and full moon. Watch for them in the pads in canals and coves. Minnows feed on the eggs and actually turn a reddish color around the beds. Bass will feed on them so use a crank bait or worm with some red color in it. 
    Big catfish are spawning in the Wekiva river. Fish the deep holes in the bend of the river with Night Crawlers or shiners right on the bottom.  The old power plant channel in Lake Monroe is a good spot for summer specks. This channel runs from the Markers 7,8,9 triangle to the old power plant on the North West shore of Lake Monroe. It is still shown on some maps. A good depth finder is required to follow it as it is only about 1 to 2 feet deeper than the lake average and there are no channel markers. Orange Ron's Fish Bites and the Gold Flake W/Red Head Captain Joe's ice jig tipped with a minnow produced the most fish. The main river channel between the railroad bridge and the power line is still producing some good sized specks. Fish your jig and minnow about 4 to 6 feet down on a tight line. The Howey bridge is a good spot for night fishing in the summer. Use lights to attract baitfish and fish right up to the bridge pilings with minnow.

Ray really enjoyed his trip this past week with Captain Lynda. He caught and released several nice bass on shiners. Karen & Eric from S. Florida did their annual guide trip and caught lots and lots of big ole bass. Eric caught the biggest this year even though usually it's Karen who gets that monster. Bass have started to build beds already on the Harris Chain. Be sure to practice catch and release. Use a Rat-L-Trap, top-water bait or a swimming type weightless worm to catch some nice bass. A lot of the local small lakes are hot. Fishing a shiner on a freeline (without a bobber or weight) is still producing some of the bigger fish. A slow falling sinking weightless worm (Producto’s Hot Rod works great) or a white and chartreuse spinner bait reeled in as slowly as possible, are both working quite well. Be sure to lift up on your rod tip occasionally then let it slowly fall to make the spinner bait look as natural as possible. If you think you are fishing too slow, slow down even more. These baits can produce some huge bass but they have to be worked very slowly.

-       We caught 7 bass this morning up to 4 and a half pounds.

-       Catching them on watermelon red and hot rod cinco bait without a weight.

-       Also a red bug speed worm with a small weight.

-       Fish are off the bank about 10 yards.

-       Any fish you can find in pepper or eelgrass.

-       Saint Johns river is flowing backwards because the wind is blowing it so hard that it is flowing south right now.

-       Fishing has slowed down with the heat.

-       We did catch an 8lb on a producto hot rod in red.

-       Fish were not hitting shiners, were biting on cinco baits.

-       Water temp is 83.

-       Fish on Harris Chain are on the grass; you want to cast past the grass.

-       If you smell a strong fish odor on the water, it’s a good indication that there are fish around, so stop and fish.

The bass are schooling on the outside edge of the grass and are in the 2-4lb range. The fish are biting on a shad assassin. The bass are not schooling, but are popping up around the shad and are biting on a rattle trap in a chrome green, blue and black. Anytime is a good time to go out and fish and a lot factors on the moon phases.

  Ray really enjoyed his trip this past week with Captain Lynda. He caught and released several nice bass on shiners. Karen & Eric from S. Florida did their annual guide trip and caught lots and lots of big ole bass. Eric caught the biggest this year even though usually it's Karen who gets that monster. Bass have started to build beds already on the Harris Chain. Be sure to practice catch and release. Use a Rat-L-Trap, top-water bait or a swimming type weightless worm to catch some nice bass. A lot of the local small lakes are hot. Fishing a shiner on a freeline (without a bobber or weight) is still producing some of the bigger fish. A slow falling sinking weightless worm (Producto’s Hot Rod works great) or a white and chartreuse spinner bait reeled in as slowly as possible, are both working quite well. Be sure to lift up on your rod tip occasionally then let it slowly fall to make the spinner bait look as natural as possible. The main bait has been rattle cuts, the fish have really been biting well on those. If you think you are fishing too slow, slow down even more. These baits can produce some huge bass but they have to be worked very slowly.
    Lake Dora, Lake Harris, Lakes Cypress, Toho and Lake Hatchineha are still giving up some nice bass on extra large shiners and flipping the heavy Kissimmee Grass. Try a frog or Gamblers new Big Easy over lily pads, topped out hydrilla and along weed lines for largemouth bass. Gamblers Big Easy is a fun bait to throw and seems to produce larger bass. When all else fails use the drop shot method. This is very productive if you are a patient fisherman. If you would like to learn about the drop shot method give her a call or stop in at Sorrento Bait and Tackle to see how it’s done.

   Captain Lynda is now fishing some private lakes as well as Central Florida major lakes and rivers.

The crappie have been slow. They have been in deep water in slight drop off. Dry rigging in open water. Using pink, white, rid and jigs with minnows. The bass have been great, ranging from 2-8lbs and they have been biting artificals with rattle props in chrome, green, and blue. Also using plastics, blue shad worms. June bug bloomes and lilly pads. Captain Lynda enjoys teaching women and kids how to fish.

Been doing well on St. John's, caught a lot of bass using hot rod single type bait, along with rattle tap and shiners. The time of day has not mattered recently as it seems that it has been just the same throughout the day. The water temperature has been around 72 degrees but has been muddy because of the wind. One thing I go by when it is muddy, is that I look for a line in the water where the mud ends because that is usually right where the fish are sitting. Around the shell beds, I use crank baits. On Lake Monroe, the crappie has been in deeper waters, usually near ledges or a dropoff where the water is cooler. The crappies have slowed down a tad because the water has been wamring up, and I they have been biting orange, lemon mainly along with shark tooth and hot pink.

ay really enjoyed his trip this past week with Captain Lynda. He caught and released several nice bass on shiners. Karen & Eric from S. Florida did their annual guide trip and caught lots and lots of big ole bass. Eric caught the biggest this year even though usually it's Karen who gets that monster. Bass have started to build beds already on the Harris Chain. Be sure to practice catch and release. Use a Rat-L-Trap, top-water bait or a swimming type weightless worm to catch some nice bass. A lot of the local small lakes are hot. Fishing a shiner on a freeline (without a bobber or weight) is still producing some of the bigger fish. A slow falling sinking weightless worm (Producto’s Hot Rod works great) or a white and chartreuse spinner bait reeled in as slowly as possible, are both working quite well. Be sure to lift up on your rod tip occasionally then let it slowly fall to make the spinner bait look as natural as possible. If you think you are fishing too slow, slow down even more. These baits can produce some huge bass but they have to be worked very slowly.

Bass have started to build beds already on the Harris Chain. Be sure to practice catch and release. Use a Rat-L-Trap, top-water bait or a swimming type weightless worm to catch some nice bass. A lot of the local small lakes are hot. Fishing a shiner on a freeline (without a bobber or weight) is still producing some of the bigger fish. A slow falling sinking weightless worm (Producto’s Hot Rod works great) or a white and chartreuse spinner bait reeled in as slowly as possible, are both working quite well. Be sure to lift up on your rod tip occasionally then let it slowly fall to make the spinner bait look as natural as possible. If you think you are fishing too slow, slow down even more. These baits can produce some huge bass but they have to be worked very slowly.
    Lake Dora, Lake Harris, Lakes Cypress, Toho and Lake Hatchineha are still giving up some nice bass on extra large shiners and flipping the heavy Kissimmee Grass. Try a frog or Gamblers new Big Easy over lily pads, topped out hydrilla and along weed lines for largemouth bass. Gamblers Big Easy is a fun bait to throw and seems to produce larger bass. When all else fails use the drop shot method

We are still catching lots of crappie in 4-4 1/2 feet of water. The constant changes in temperature have the fish confused. Still bright pink, Shartruse, and orange are the colors that are working (jigs).

Bass are also being caught on shiners and drop shots.

I would like to congradulate Keith Poche one of my past customers on Competing in the  2012 Bassmaster Classic.

Catching lots of crappie in 4-4 1/2 feet of water. The constant changes in temperature have the fish confused. Still bright pink, Shartruse, and orange are the colors that are working (jigs).

Bass are also being caught on shiners and drop shots.

I would like to congradulate Keith Poche one of my past customers on Competing in the  2012 Bassmaster Classic.