Orlando Fishing Guides – Lake Toho Bass Fishing
About Us
When you're fishing with AJ's bass guides you're not just fishing with any guide service, you're fishing with the guide service that holds the two biggest bass ever caught out of the lake with a 16 pound 10 ounce and 15 pound 8 ounce! For more on these records and the lakes other records check out our Lake Tohopekaliga page
At any moment that one you're looking for could be on the other end of the line, and with our professional Lake Toho bass fishing guides and equipment anyone can fight them in!
It is not surprising that Lake Toho has earned a nation-wide reputation as the best big bass fishing lake in the USA! Don't just take our word for it! Listen to what our customers have to say on our Testimonials and reviews page.
Come spend a day on the water fishing with Capt. AJ and the tournament tested, professional, Orlando fishing guides of AJ's Bass Guides and experience Orlando's bass fishing. Dates book up fast! So we recommend contacting us as early as possible to reserve your day.
Our Rates
For bookings less than 2 days in advance please call us at 407-288-9670 or email us on our Contacts page for availability.
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Catch Giant Florida Bass!
Want to catch a giant Florida bass on the fishing trip of a lifetime? Trophy bass fishing is our specialty! We know where the big girls hang out and how you can catch them! Captain James Jackson: "Our goal is a satisfied customer! Our Orlando fishing guides will do whatever it takes to see that you have a big grin on your face when you step out of the boat. Hope to see y'all soon!"
AJ's Freelancer Bass Guide Service (in business since 1970) is the oldest continuously operated guide service in the Orlando Central Florida / Disney area. When anglers ask, "Who would you recommend as the premier Florida bass fishing guides?" The staff at IN-FISHERMAN Magazine always responds, "AJ's Freelancer Bass Guide Service." Want to be sure your guide is a Coast Guard licensed captain, a requirement for Central Florida fishing guides on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes? Capt. Jackson and all our Lake Toho bass guides are full time licensed professionals.
Want to learn the pros' most effective techniques for catching Lake Toho's true lunkers? All of our fishing guides have years of experience guiding on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. They know the latest techniques for catching big bass in Florida's grassy waters.
Need a change-of-pace activity after visiting some of Orlando's theme parks? Lake Toho is just minutes from the Orlando Convention Center and area theme parks - Disney, Universal Studios, and Sea World.
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The Lake Toho Fishing Guide Service Founders
Captain A. James Jackson
Owner of AJ's Freelancer Bass Guide Service
Captain A. James Jackson is a full-time professional Orlando fishing guide with more than 35 years experience on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. He has the second biggest bass ever caught out of the lake at 15lb 8oz, and has been a fishing guide on Orlando's Lake Toho for longer than anyone else. Top fishing magazines, frequently feature Captain Jackson in articles about trophy Lake Toho bass fishing in Central Florida's grassy waters. Captain Jackson also appears on IN-FISHERMAN, BASSMASTER, and ESPN fishing shows on television.
Ed Chancey
Founder of the Guide Service
Ed Chancey started as a fishing guide on Lake Toho in 1960 and was one of the first bass fishing guides in Florida, he founded Freelancer Bass Guide Service, and is known as The Legend of the Lakes. Ed learned his fishing Techniques from the Miccosuki Indians who raised him. He passed his knowledge and skills on to Jackson, his protégé, friend, and partner. Ed died in 1998, but his legend lives on... Ed continues to hold the Florida certified Lake Toho record for the largest largemouth bass caught, which is 16 lb 10 oz.
We hold the Lake Toho record
Ed Chancey, Orlando fishing guide and founder of AJ's Freelancer bass Guide Service holds the certified lake record bass with a massive weight of 16 lbs, 10 oz! The taxidermist that mounted this record fish noted the fish was spawned out and would have weighed close to 2 lbs. heavier if caught during the winter months.
The heaviest 5 bass limit in B.A.S.S history was also caught on Orlando's Lake Toho by Bassmaster pro Dean Rojas. His record of 45 pounds 2 ounces still holds today! During that four day tournament he finished with 20 bass weighing 108lbs-12oz also a new record for a four day event. With 21 bass 10lbs or over being caught total! No one bothered to count all the 8- and 9- pound bass.
The woman's world record was also caught at West Lake Toho and weighed an impressive 14 lbs. 5 oz. The largest two-man limit catch of large mouth bass totaled 151.23 lbs. with a 10 fish per licensed fisherman limit. [The current limit is 5 fish per licensed fisherman.]
The Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commissions biologists have indicated that there is one bass over ten pounds for every five acres of lake. (The lake is 22,700 acres)
This lake is well known among serious fishing enthusiasts as the best Florida bass fishing destination for catching trophy sized bass.
Last year was a banner year for catching trophy bass in Florida, and this year is expected to be even better, according to officials at the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. As a result, Toho and a few other well-managed Orlando bass fishing lakes are once again producing the really BIG bass that anglers dream about…. fish like the ones that lured fishing enthusiasts from all over the world.
LAKE TOHOPEKALIGA, FL
Enjoy a day of bass fishing on this world renown lake while listening to the sounds of nature on one of the Central Florida / Disney area's most beautiful bass fishing lakes. West Lake Tohopekaliga (Toho) in Kissimmee / St. Cloud is just minutes from Disney and many of Orlando's other world-famous attractions. Still Lake Toho remains one of Central Florida's most beautiful, unspoiled treasures. West Lake Toho is a 22,700 acre shallow lake with a length of 13 miles and a maximum width of over 4 miles.
West Lake Tohopekaliga and the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes are located just south of the city of Kissimmee and are the headwaters to the Everglades ecosystem. Approximately 1/3 of the lake is made up of maidencane grass and bullrush reeds.
This lake is well known among serious fishing enthusiasts as the top bass fishing lake in Florida for catching trophy sized bass. In the 2016 issue of Bassmasters top 100 lakes they called Toho "The most consistent lake in the country for catching both trophy sized bass and numbers". For more information on Lake Toho visit our Lake Toho page.
GET REWARDED FOR CATCHING GIANT FLORIDA BASS ON OUR FISHING CHARTERS!
That's right! Florida is the only state that pays YOU to catch trophy bass. We participate in Florida's Trophy Catch program which means if you catch a fish on one of our Orlando fishing trips that is 8 pounds or over you will receive a $25-$100 Bass Pro shops gift card and be automatically entered in a drawing to win a brand new Phoenix Bass boat, along with other rewards! All you have to do is send the pictures of the fish on a scale into the Trophy Catch website at www.trophycatchflorida.com
Rewards for a 8-9.99lb bass:
- Gift Cards worth $25 (Bass Pro Shops and/or Rapala)
- SpiderWire Stealth 30# Moss Green line 125 yds
- New Wave Taxidermy 25% replica mount discount
- Phoenix Bass Boat drawing 10 extra chances
- TrophyCatch certificate & Lunker Club decal
Rewards for 10-12.99lb bass:
- Same as above with a $50 gift card instead of $25.
Rewards for 13lb or greater:
- Gift Cards worth $100 (Bass Pro Shops and/or Rapala)
- Free fiberglass replica mount ($500 value)
- SpiderWire sweatshirt and sunglasses*
- Free Fitzgerald Rod*
- Phoenix Bass Boat random drawing 10 extra chances
- TrophyCatch certificate & Hall of Fame Club decal
THE LAKE TOHO BASS FISHING GUIDE BOATS
Most of our Orlando fishing guide trips will take place on Captain A. James Jackson's 18' 3", Skeeter NFL Limited Edition ZX180.
This boat is equipped with a Mercury 150 horsepower fuel-injected engine and will travel at exhilarating speeds up to 70 mph!
Smooth dry and stable... The perfect way to relax and enjoy a day of bass fishing on Lake Tohopekaliga.
LEARN OUR FLORIDA FISHING GUIDES TECHNIQUES
Learn how we fish on our Orlando fishing trips with Captain Jackson's chapter on shiner fishing in the In-fisherman Critical Concepts Largemouth Bass book. Which is one of the most sold books in bass fishing! In it Captain Jackson explains the special techniques that him and his Orlando bass fishing guides use and how shiner fishing is THE #1 best technique for catching trophy bass and how 90% of all the bass caught in Florida that are 10lbs or more are caught on shiners. www.in-fisherman.com
AJ’s Freelance Guide Service, run by Captain James Jackson on Lake Toho and the Kissimmee Chain near Orlando, Florida, is the longest-running Going Places advertiser in InFisherman history, so far as we can calculate. Jackson consistently puts clients on big bass— late December through March is prime time.
Bassmaster's Pro GuideToho's Classic Waters by Ronell Smith
The lake's longest-standing guide gives his perspective on the keys to success for the Classic..
"One major rush for someone like me, who rarely gets to fish for bass over 6 lbs., is that every hook said in Toho might be something twice as large if you've ever caught before. The underlying theme, though, isn't just big bass from Florida Lakes, it's that these tactics can be applied to fishing for bigger large mouth and small mouth bass and many situations."
Presently, Toho’s large mouth population has reached boom phase in terms of numbers and also production of double-digit giants that originally made Florida famous. From January through March, lunkers crowd into canal sand backwaters to feed and then to spawn. Float fishing with wild shiners takes many giant bass...
Tackle and tactics used by the pros to successfully fish Lake Toho.