Year after year, Florida’s Kissimmee lakes produce some of the finest fishing in the nation, and some of the hottest largemouth action occurs during the coolest months of the year.
As winter’s chill digs its grip into much of the nation, bass fishing in Kissimmee, Fla. is just heating up. Whether an angler likes to flip a YUM CrawBug in pads, twitch a Cotton Cordell Boy Howdy in open pockets or crank a Bomber 7A through ditches, now is great time to hit the Kissimmee chain of lakes, according to Florida bass pro and fishing guide Lee Cepero.
The Kissimmee chain includes five lakes, which range in size from 4,097 acres to 34,948 acres. The lakes are highly fertile, and due to intensive management over the past couple decades, they remain among the best public waters in Florida year in and year out.
Lake Toho (Tohopekaliga, officially) got the nation’s attention four years ago when the B.A.S.S. record books got re-written on the lake. The five heaviest five-fish limits ever weighed in during a B.A.S.S event all came from that tournament, and anglers brought an astounding 21 10-pound bass to the scales. The Toho lake record is a whopping 17 pounds.
Toho is famous as a schooling lake, and the bass schools can come up at any time and any place during the winter. When schools come up, most anglers start with a Super Spook, Pop’n Image, Devil’s Horse or other topwater lure.
However, a Cordell Super Spot often will produce more bass and bigger bass than a surface plug. A Super Spot also is great bait to continue throwing in an area after a school of bass goes down.
Lake Kissimmee, the biggest lake in the chain and the third largest in Florida, is Cepero’s favorite within the Kissimmee chain, primarily due to the variety it offers. Numerous island, ridges and structural features allow anglers to try a lot of different approaches any given day on Lake Kissimmee, Cepero explained.
Flippin’ and worm fishing along the edges of the cover are the most popular techniques on these waters, and Cepero certainly spends a lot of time with a Texas-rigged YUM Big Claw or CrawBug at the end of his line. However, his favorite way to fish Lake Kissimmee is with a crankbait, which he believes is largely overlooked for Florida bass.
Cepero will crank a Bomber 6A or Bomber 7A or a Fat Free Shad, Jr., making a long cast to get the bait down and keep it there for as long as possible. Once he is bumping bottom, Cepero will either use a stop-and-go motion or crank the handle slowly so the plug wobbles right along the bottom. Occasionally, the bait will get stopped dead in its tracks or it will just stop wobbling. Any time that happens on Florida’s Kissimmee chain of lakes, an angler had better be prepared for some BIG excitement.
For guided fishing, call Lee Cepero at (813) 598-1234. For more on the area, call 1 (800) 831-1844 or log onto www.floridakiss.com.