Welcome back everyone! Hope you all are doing well. Thankfully most places have opened back up here or are set to open back up soon here in Florida. I’m just happy we were all able to fish throughout the whole thing. But anyway we are back to guiding here at AJ’s Bass Guides and if you’ve been following any of our social media then you know what kind of fish the lake has been producing here lately. Some real monsters. We’ve been getting trophy size fish almost everyday! I’m not kidding check out our Instagram @orlandobass1 or Facebook @freelancerbass. It’s been truly incredible. And it’s all because of the unique way the lake is setting up and how the FWC has been managing it.
The fish are all off-shore right now. It’s where you need to be. Or at least outside of the grass line. Because of the increase in temperatures and the lower water levels that they keep the lake at this time of year in anticipation of our rainy season; most of the fish have moved outside of the Kissimmee grass, reeds, and lily pads that surround the lake. So what are the fish on out there? 3 things. 1. hydrilla 2. shell beds 3. brush piles. Bass have begun to start schooling on the shell beds early morning and late in the afternoon. But only during these times. The hydrilla and brush pile bites can last all day depending on the weather. With rain beginning to start up in the afternoons now the feeder creeks and canals that lead into and out of the lake are going to start to become a factor once water begins to flow.
The lake has seen some extreme pressure over the last few months. Mostly because no one had anything else to do except for fish! One day I counted 42 boats around me fishing the same area and the next weekend I counted 56! All fishing the same area within cast distance of each other! I’ve never seen anything like it and still the lake has been producing trophy sized fish even better now than then. I believe that’s just a testament to how many bass (and BIG bass) really are in this lake.
As always large golden wild shiners have been what the best bite has been on and is what most of the giants we’ve been catching on our charters have come off of. But artificials have been working extremely well also. Rattletraps, jerkbaits, speedworms, chatterbaits, and swimjigs have all been producing good bass. All 5 have been producing in the hydrilla and it really just depends on the water color what color lure I’d use. As always if the water color is dirtier for the speedworms, chatterbait, and swimjig use a darker color like junebug and for the rattletrap and jerkbait use a gold shiner colored one. If the water is cleaner use more of a natural color like green pumpkin or watermelon for the speedworm, chatterbait, and swimjig and you can go either or shiner color or shad color for the jerkbait/rattletrap. Whichever kind of bait fish you can see around will help you make the decision.
For shell beds and any creeks and canals/moving water; rattletraps, jerkbaits, worms on the bottom, and a spook style bait for topwater have been producing fish early in the morning and in the evening. For the brush piles it’s been simple. Just a worm or speedworm used slowly like a worm has been producing the fish off of those spots.
The lake has been fishing incredibly well for big fish lately and let me tell you what, if you’re looking for a new PB, right now’s the time to be fishing Orlando’s lake Toho.
Bass wishes,
Capt. AJ
Any questions? Or want to book your trip? Feel free to call us anytime at 407-288-9670 or email us on our contacts page.