Wisconsin Bass Fishing

This past week we had a few days out on Johns Lake for a few hours. It has been awhile since I had been out here as the fishing had really dropped off with the high water temperatures. Monday the waters were perfect, starting the day out right at 70 degrees and when I pulled off the lake 4 hours later, the temps had barely made a move. The day had started out in the cut to the Horseshoe, with no real signs of any schooling action, I had started chunking a spinner bait, and as I would retrieve it, I could feel the line drop off as it would get smacked but no hook ups, even with the trailer hook. I made a quick switch to the Mepps Mino and that was the ticket for the rest of the day.

Picking up 5 real quick bass in the first half hour I knew it was going to be a good day out there. I sat the Mepps down and tossed a 10 inch worm, Black with red flake for a few to try to get some deep water action in the cut, with only one serious bump which hooked up, a nice 4 pounder and that was it. Switching back to the Mepps and moving around the lake, working scattered grass beds and shallow waters, the Mepps Mino was the definite ticket as the total for the day was 16 bass to the boat, 3 more that shook off and of course the typical pickerel.
Weather patterns had held up for us pretty consistently which made the fishing action pretty good for the most part. Schooling bass activity has been on and off for the most part, with live bait and Mepps Minos getting the most action in the cuts and along scattered grass beds. Flipping action had picked up for us more towards the end of the week with Gitem Bugs and Gitem Shad in watermellonred shad color being the best option. Crappie fishermen report getting some good limits one day, and off the next day. Drifting with tube jigs and minnows being the ticket to get their catch has been the ticket.
Till my next report, Tight lines and great fishing!

Early part of the week we had a few runs out on Butler Chain and a scouting trip out on Lake Toho. Butler Chain we have been coming across more and more better sized pods of bait fish, as they are starting to school up fairly good. Bass fishing action out on Butler has been holding steady with some top water action yielding some quality bass, with Gitem Toad and buzz baits getting the action in the eel grasses and around cypress trees.

Bass we have been locating have been cruising bass, going back and forth from shallow water to deeper water, so finding a good drop off has been key to catching quality bass. Flipping action has been doing ok, but the big winner of the past week had been all white spinner baits and rattle traps. Shiner bite has been doing good and talks with people at the ramp has the crappie fishing doing very good with the occasional off day. Guys are catching good limits of crappie setting up on a slow drift pattern over deeper waters with live minnows and a few doing a slow troll with tube jigs and roadrunners.

Saturday we had a 4 hour run out on Lake Toho. Water temperature started out at a cool 72 degrees to start the day, and finished the day at 72. Finally cooler consistent water temps to help get the bass active and feeding up. This trip was part of a 10 boat deal and everyone had high hopes the winds would hold off till we were finished up. We started out with a quick run to the mid lake area working isolated hydrilla patches in deeper water and after 20 minutes and no activity we made the move back to the northern end of Lake Toho. This was the move that made the day.
Positioned in a cut with a good breeze coming thru, bait fish were being pushed down the cut and along the grass edges, and yes, this caused the bass to school up good. We had one small school move in on us and roughly an hour later another good sized school followed right behind in the same path. Although even with the schooling activity the numbers were not high like we had hoped, with 7 bass making it to the boat and a few others missed, but the action was steady. Bass were feeding, but they were mouthing the baits, so the bite was not very aggressive as we had grown used to.

Word at the ramp at the end of the day was everyone boated about the same amount of bass, numbers were 5 to 11 bass per boat which made for a great day on the water for the entire group, all of which said they had a great day on the water. Winds did hold off pretty much most of the time, and started to pick up as the trip ended. Big bass of the trip came in at just over 5 pounds, with our big one coming in at 4.2 pounds. All the bass caught were very healthy and of course released alive after pictures, for you, the next angler to enjoy catching them.
Till my next report, tight lines and great fishing!

Sunday the 22nd we were once again out on Butler Chain, with conditions a little tougher. Day started out sitting in line at the ramp for almost an hour, as without warning there was a tournament out here with a good amount of boats in it.The day once again started out in Lake Chase, this has been the hot lake as of late, especially for getting the better quality bass to bite first thing in the morning, and they played well this morning catching a few good ones early on. Baits of choice once again were the spinner baits with a mix of live bait. Bass were holding on the drop offs and hitting the baits as they were worked up the drop offs from the deeper waters. This is a pattern that has been holding true for the better part of a week now, and with the cold front coming in, should hold true for at least another week.

Lake Sheen and Lake Tibet, the bite had slowed some for us, but we have been spotting some bait fish pods on the screen as of late so the bass should really start feeding up very soon, as long as we can keep a good cooler weather pattern going. Waters on most of the lakes have really cleared up which has dictated longer casts, Fluorocarbon lines and lighter lines to get the good bites.

Monday the 23rd we spent the day on the Butler Chain with Larry and Terry. With picture perfect weather as the cold front passed thru. Pattern from the past week now has been holding true, hitting areas on the chain in 6-8 foot of water, with a good drop off close by, meaning a drop off to 16 to 20 foot of water. Bass seem to be cruising back and forth from deep waters to grass beds and being in these areas has been the big key to getting the bigger bass, as Larry and Terry found out. Small bass of the day came in at 3.9 pounds and big bass, with a few twin look- a-likes came in at 4.7 pounds. Hits were very light, as they were taking baits and swimming them back towards the boats and the deeper waters, and the flip side, taking the baits in deeper waters and swimming back to shallow waters. Being a line watcher was a must.
Baits the last few runs have remained very consistent from spinner baits, senko type baits and wild shiners. Jigs and swim baits were also tried with no luck to speak of. Crappie fishing as reported to me by a few locals has been off and on using a drift pattern over deeper waters using minnows but it is expected to pick up with some great action as the waters start to really cool down.

Thursday the 26th we were out on Butler Chain with David for what turned out to be some tough fishing. From bluebird skies to party cloudy, and little to no breeze at times, the bass definitely did not want to play as they had in days past. We had started out on Lake Chase, working a deep water drop off area for a few with no luck. Making the long move to Little Lake Down, we did manage to pick up two bass, one on a drop shot and the other on a shiner. Making the move out to Lake Down, David picked up 2 small ones on a rattle trap before we made the move to Lake Louise and trying some buzz baits and toads. I tried working a buzz bait across the top of the eel grass and turned to look behind the boat when the buzz bait got hosed by a descent 3 pounder.

Friday the 27th we were back out on the Butler Chain with Frank and Tom from the Villages. Again starting out in Lake Chase with no takers, we moved into Lake Blanche where Tom managed 3 quick keepers before the bite in there died off. The winds were starting to pick up, so I made a move into Lake Louise, where the guys were tossing spinner baits and working them thru the eel grasses, were again, Tom picked up 4 more good bass, leaving Frank scratching his head, Tom would simply cast in right behind Frank to catch the fish for the day. Water temps were a comfortable 74 degrees and the bass definitely played a lot better today. Cooler water temperatures have helped to turn these bass back on and things will only get better.
Till my next report, tight lines and great fishing!

Sunday the 15th we spent doing some scouting on Butler Chain. Started out working different areas up in Lake Chase, catching a few good bass on a mixture of lures. Spinner baits, rattle traps and senkos. Did manage one good bass on a toad early on, but that was the only top water action I was able to muster up. From there I moved into Lake Blanche, working flooded timber and grass beds, picking up 3 more descent bass, had one that would have been close to 5 pounds, but 5 feet from the boat, I noticed she had locked down on the blades of my spinner bait, giving her some slack in hopes she would turn into the hook did not work.

Made a move into Lake Isleworth to end the days action, picking up 2 more bass for a total of 11 for the day. Water temps were holding steady at 77 degrees and waters were looking very good. All bass today came in water from extremely shallow to 6 foot.
Talked with a few others at the ramp, and they had said they spent their time down by Lake Down area, working spinner baits and rattle trap to catch their fish. Sounds like a consistent pattern throughout the chain right now. Two other gentlemen hit up he specks, drifting Lakes Tibet and Chase catching 14 of what they called medium sized specks, but a good day. With the waters finally in the 70’s, the bite should really start to pick up, key to today was working the breezy side of the lakes, winds have been fairly consistent the last few days and bait fish were starting to stack up.

Saturday the 21st we had the great pleasure with helping out in the Edgewood Boys Ranch day on the water. These kids were ready for a great time on the water and the weather, even though it got hot before noon time did not let us down. The kids were allowed to keep one fish each over 14 inches to bring back and weigh in, and at the end of the day, word was fish were being caught on just about ever lake on Butler Chain.

With an estimated 30 to 35 boats and 2 kids per boat that ment a lot of fishing and a ton of smiles. Bass were being caught on everything from wild shiners to slow trolled crank baits. The end of the day saw a great cookout and the kids all getting prizes from rods and reels to basketballs. These kids did a great job out on the water and it was a great pleasure being able to help out, the saying “take a kid fishing” means nothing unless you actually do it. Pictured is the two youngsters I had the great pleasure of having on my boat, pictured with a very nice 5.59 pound large mouth, which also was the winning fish for the day, as they took home the hardware and some darn big smiles. Sorry that my camera person didn’t zoom in on this one, she was a very healthy one and jumped great.
Till my next report, tight lines and great fishing!

The last few days we have had runs out on Butler Chain, although we have had cooler nights and the waters have cooled down nicely, starting the day out with a surface temperature in the upper 70’s, the bass have not turned on just yet. We have come across a lot of good sized schools running in 12 to 18 foot of water, but very little if any schooling action has been seen on the lakes we have been hitting. Little Lake Down and Lake Down have seen the deeper water schooling with us picking up a few here and there. Today we started the day on Lake Pocket, working shoreline and lily pads we had several serious blowups on a Gitem Toad but hook up were missed. From there Lake Blanche, which has been producing as of late yielded a few descent sized bass this week.

Lake Chase was the lake to be fishing, working spinner baits and toads, this lake has woken up with some good action. Fishing wind blown side of the lake is the key. Working grass beds and the edges and working slowly, areas close to drop offs, even a slight drop off has held some bait.
Lake Louise has been doing good with Carolina rigged lizards, working slowly thru the eel grass in 6 to 9 foot of water. Bait fish pods have been getting pounded a lot as of late with the diving birds so keep your eyes open.

We did have a few runs out on St Johns River and Lake Monroe to check things out and had James out there on a trip. Morning had started out with great promise, although the lake was flat, there was a bunch of schooling activity going on but no takers, they were chasing shad and wanted nothing to do with the artificial baits. Made the move up the river some to a cut and worked Gitem KO’s with several light taps before finally getting a taker. Fishing was very tough as the front was moving in, which was very evident as when made out way back to the lake, and she was churned up in a big way. Water levels are still low out there so be careful when navigating around.Till next week, tight lines and great fishing!

This past week we had a few runs out on Johns Lake and the Butler Chain. We had great weather all week long and perfect water temps, with most days starting off with water temperatures right around 78 degrees. Johns Lake had been spotty at best on the runs we had out there, bass were being very testy. Tossing a lot of spinner baits, trick worms and senko type baits, they were barely taking the baits. Bites were very light, and at times they were just giving the baits little ticks and moving on. At one point, we had one bass, take the bait, and we watched the line swim off to the side for 10 seconds, and still didn’t get her hooked up.

Butler Chain this week, several of the lakes showed signs of turning over and the water temperatures hovering right at 78 degrees first thing in the morning. Hitting several of the lakes on the chain, we noticed very little if any schooling activity, but we did notice several good bait pods, and shad running all over the place. Bite was on the slow side, with most bass being caught on a drop shot in waters ranging from 12 to 22 feet deep. We finally have a good cooling trend upon us, with morning air temperatures in the mid 60’s and with the consistent temperatures this will help cool the waters to where we like them, which means some great top water action is just around the corner. Something we hardly ever touch base on, Crappie fishing is here, we did manage a few this week, although by accident on the drop shot rig in Lakes Down and Little Lake Down, and this great chain has some awesome crappie action.Till my next report, tight lines and great fishing!

This past week we decided to mix things up a little bit and spent some time back out on the St Johns River and Lake Monroe. We had great weather all week long which made for great fishing conditions, water temps starting the day out in the upper 70’s an ending the days in the very low 80’s, what a nice change of pace that has been. Thursday we saw some schooling action, but other than that the waters had been pretty much calm.

Wide range of baits were used, from Sweat Beavers to rattle trap, only thing the traps got, were a few mullet that got snagged. Most action and fish caught were on the Beavers, Senko type baits and Fluke type baits. Lake Monroe itself fished pretty good, working grasses, hydrilla, and reed yielded some descent bass, but no aggressive hit, all the hits we got were very light taps, almost as if it were dinks hitting the bait, these bass were just picking up the bait and holding onto it, only reacting once you set the hook.

St Johns River itself looked pretty good, with a good flow, we were able to set a shoreline drift without having to tap the trolling motor, allowing us to be very stealthy closer to the shoreline, and flipping very tight to cover, again the bass were just very lightly tapping the baits, so you didn’t know if you were setting the hook on fish or weeds, so every tap you felt, you set the hook, although several bass were missed, with most coming unbuttoned close to the boat, they were showing good size, and very scrappy fighters. The big key to fishing the river, was finding submerged trees with scattered grasses around or very close by.
Till my next report, tight lines and great fishing!

West Lake TohoWe had a few scouting runs out on Lake Toho, waters on the north end are where you want to be if your looking for the cleaner waters. Slow worming or flipping seems to be the best way to catching out here still. Flipping North Steer Beach has yielded a few limits of descent bass, 10 inch worms in black/red flake worked very slow has picked off a few bass in the 5 pound range. Big key to this has seemed to be using a screw in rattle weight, and if you get hung up, twitching the rod tip until the bait works loose has seemed to draw some good strikes. Some bass are being caught early in the morning up in the shallow waters, using either big worms, toads, or even spinnerbaits. Mixed vegetation has been something to key in on and work them very slowly.

Cooler temperatures are starting to show up finally, with that, the waters are cooling down nicely and should have the bass turning on once again. That means its fast approaching the time of year for a lot of top water action and heavy feeding for the upcoming spawning season. November and December are shaping up to be great months and are starting to book up, as well as January thru March of 2007. So if your looking to book some days, we suggest you book as soon as you can.

Today I hit East Lake Toho for a few hours, My old tournament partner wanted, for some reason to tackle East Lake and get away for a few hours. Normally East Lake is pretty much a last resort fishing spot, as it has not really been producing that great as of late.We started the day out searching the deep water brush piles in hopes of finding a good bite, managing 3 nice crappie on a drop shot, now this is an awesome lake for crappie.

Making the move to shallow water and working Gitem KO’s in baby bass color, and Shads in watermelon red we did manage to pick up a few here and there in and around the reeds and scattered grasses. Bit was very soft, so you really had to pay close attention to your line. We had one very solid, hard hitting bite, and I mumbled it was a mudfish, and after a few minutes of a good fight, it was a 5 pound mudfish!From there we made a move to check out Boggy Cove, a few weeks back it was tough going to get in there, if at all, but with the rains, the lake is up atleast a foot, so we ventured back there and tried our luck.

Using the same baits, we slammed a bunch of bass, a total of 28, but the sad thing is, of the 28, only 3 were of keeper size and just barely at that, as you can tell in the pictures. Lake levels are looking good, and the waters are very clean, have not seen the waters this clean in a long time. Water temps started out at 82.4 first thing this morning and when we pulled off they were right around 83.9, cooler temps have made the bite a little better, with more schooling activity going on around the offshore hydrilla beds.

We did manage to spot several good bass, in the 4 to 6 pound class cruising in and around the scattered reed, but as you know, generally if you see them, they have also spotted you. Other than the small size, it turned out to be a fairly good day. If we get the waters to cool down maybe another 10 degrees this lake should really turn on good.

Till my next report, tight lines and great fishing!

Hello Friends and Fishermen and woman. As you can see we have decided to start a blog. The information that will be posted in here will be everything from Fishing reports to pictures. We will also try to post a few articles as well as Lake information for Central Florida. Please be patient with us, as not only am I your guide, I am also the one that posts all the information contained in this site.

Please feel free to send me an e-mail at any time and request any content you would like added to this blog. Part of my job, other than guiding great people on the great Lakes of Central Florida, is to do my best at giving you as much information as possible.

Thank you and please check back often
Capt Tim Fey