If Florida fishing didn’t excite you in the summer, it will definitely get you in the winter.
Instead of putting our boats away and waiting for spring, those of us here in Central Florida are gearing up for the best fishing of the entire year. We don’t need ice augers and rarely worry about “layering.” In short, it’s just about perfect here right now and all the way through the spawn.
Go shallow with swimbaits
This is one of my favorite times of the year to use swimbaits. The Strike King Shad-A-Licious, Yum Money Minnow, Basstrix Paddle Tail and Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper are some of my favorites. Depending on prevailing conditions, I will change between swimbaits and their respective action.
And, believe it or not, the shallower the fish get at this time of the year, the better the fishing gets. This is not a time when you need to count down your swimbaits to a productive depth and slowly reel them along. You want to get in the thickest cover you can find, make a mile-long cast and steer the bait through the cover, knowing that with any turn of your reel handle your bait could be annihilated by the biggest largemouth you’ll ever put a hook in.
That’s what makes Florida bass fishing so special. Any cast could bring you the bass of a lifetime. There aren’t many places that can make that claim, just ask Paolo Coletti (that's him in all the pictures). Paolo traveled to Florida from Italy this week and landed the biggest fish of his life, a 10.8 lb. monster.
Braid up
For this swimbait pattern, you’ll want to spool up with some stout braided line — nothing less than 50-pound-test — and just enough weight to make the long cast, but not get the bait mired in the cover. I wouldn’t use anything heavier than 1/4-ounce, and I like conventional slip sinkers for this pattern — they protect the soft nose of the bait as it’s coming through cover.
Belly weights or weighted hooks also work, but you will go through a lot more baits and spend more time re-rigging and straightening out your lure.
Fall back on frogs
Now is also a great time to catch big bass on top. Buzz frogs like the Zoom Horny Toad, Yum Money Frog, Stanley Ribbit Frog (a great value) or Strike King’s Rage Tail Toad can generate some vicious strikes from big fish. Floating frogs like the SPRO Bronzeye Popper are great when I want to slow down and keep the bait in a specific zone. Floating frogs are also terrific “comeback” baits for the times when you miss a good strike (it happens to the best of us) and want to give the fish another chance. Paolo’s fish came on a white Stanley Ribbit Frog.
Speaking of strikes on baits like that, one question I get all the time is how do you set the hook when a bass grabs your topwater frog? It’s a tough one to answer, but my best advice is count to two after the boil, or wait for pressure after the hit and then set the hook — hard! You won’t catch every fish that way, but I find my hook-up percentages are best when I follow my own advice.
Of course, sometimes a big fish will short strike you right at the boat, hit the lure the moment it touches the water, or do something else that’s totally unpredictable and unexpected. When that happens, you’re on your own! Reflexes are going to take over, and I wish you the best. If you fish enough, those situations will certainly get the better of all of us. There’s just no way to wait two seconds when the strike splashes water in your face!
Go lipless
If the bass simply aren’t shallow enough for swimbaits or topwaters, now is a great time to fish lipless crankbaits and really cover some water. The Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap is the standard in this category, but I like to mix things up with Cotton Cordell Spots or a Yo-Zuri Rattl’n Vibe. I think bass can get conditioned to the look or sound of our baits, and trying something they haven’t seen before can make a big difference.
Frontal attack
One area where Florida bass fishing seems to be a lot tougher than it is in other places is when a weather front passes through. Everyone has their theories, but post-frontal Florida largemouth fishing can be t-o-u-g-h!
That doesn’t mean you can’t catch ‘em, though. It just means you have to change gears — sometimes literally!
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Stacy Twiggs has earned one of the best professional reputations in the fishing industry. A lifelong passion for fishing inspired his career, including a decade with B.A.S.S. as Federation Nation Youth Senior Manager. He has long worked with sponsors, manufacturers, top professional anglers, state leaders, and teachers and students from coast to coast for the betterment of the sportfishing industry. Today, he runs and guides for Toho Life Charters and blogs about Florida bass tactics at www.tohobassguide.com.