I’m hoping that by the time this report is published that Central Florida will be back to the usual weather pattern of mid-80’s for our daily temps and low-60’s to start our mornings. So far this year Ma Nature has been totally off kilter with the constant mood swings of highs and lows, cold fronts, rain and/or high winds.
Starting out on the Kissimmee Chain fishing out of Camp Mack, a Guy Harvey Lodge, Marina & RV Resort in Lake Wales we should be having a solid topwater bite going to start off our early mornings. I usually like focusing on open water early on with either a Devil’s Horse, Spook, or the new ARK Rods Outlaw which is similar to the old Lucky Craft Sammy but it has a slightly bigger profile. After the sun gets up higher in the sky and this bite dwindles down is when we’ll head for the jungle and start throwing hollow body frogs, Gambler EZ Swimmers, and start flipping some black & blue senkos.
Heading back west to Winter Haven fishing on the South Chain lure selection is different because of the difference in the size of the baitfish and clarity of the waters (on the lakes I fish). When the wolf packs are out schooling and chasing shad I’ve found it very hard to beat a silver with blue (or black) back, or solid white Pop-R. It is a perfect match to the shad/shiners in these lakes. From there I have a handful of stand-by’s that I never leave the dock without: these are not in order necessarily but we have Zoom flukes in white or watermelon red, 6th Sense Divine or Whale swimbaits such as Live Minnow, and jerkbaits (pick your brand) that are silver, white, or any live minnow color combo you chose. By months end a sliver rattle trap should be coming into play quite nicely as well.
Capt. Scott Taylor
TMC Guide Services
855-FL-GUIDE (855-354-8433) or Scott@TMCGuideService.com
Capt. Scott is the Official Guide for Camp Mack on the Kissimmee chain and has been running the guide services there for 7 years. He also has been the Official Guide for VisitCentralFlorida.org, the Polk County Tourism & Sports Marketing Board for 9 years running.
