2020 Bassmaster Eastern Open Lake Toho

For the last week leading up to the first tournament of the season, its officially been upside down day for 7 days. Outside of Florida the entire country is experiencing winter weather with reports from clients in Wisconsin that they have up to an inch and a half of ice. On everything. Meanwhile, in Central Florida where anglers will launch from downtown Kissimmee Lakefront Park with a full field expecting to fish in conditions that usually would be windy, cold, rainy, they will enjoy lows of 61 degrees to start and and blustery high of 82. Weather that fits more along with November or March.

South winds out of Miami will continue to impact the temperatures and ultimately destroy any anglers hopes of fishing shallower than 4 feet in search of bedding bass or doing what Florida is famous for, catching big bass in the grass. The conditions will make for a challenging event that will possibly highlight some of the competitors that have traveled from Northern lakes where open water is more of their comfort zone.

The upside of having a tournament on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes is that there are no shortage of big bass and there will be a good number of Pros who find them and make the event as exciting as it always is when Bassmaster comes to town.

So, what are the bass doing and how will they probably be caught?

For the last 2 months bass have been residing in 4-5 feet of water along with the forage they have been feeding on. During the last full moon they were gorging as they went into a full blown spawn with water temperatures dropping to 62 degrees. The coldest we have seen this winter. But it was a quick wave of spawners that only lasted a day which worked out great for my client pictured, Kent took advantage of by landing this massive 10 lb 2 oz Toho trophy.

That quick burst of spawning activity was followed by a rise in water temperatures that have the lakes running at 71 degrees at the time of this writing. Fog and cloud cover have helped to hold temperatures down but the fog may play into the tournament with a delayed launch. The good news is that if you can find the bass in an area they are feeding in, there will be a wad of them that can hold up for the entire three day tournament as the weather looks to be holding steady rather than turning drastically like it can in Florida.

This might be the most I've ever written about the weather but it will be a large factor for this tournament. But enough about that.

Lake conditions are great with water quality above average on all lakes. Hydrilla was sprayed again in October but only Cypress and Lake Kissimmee show the results from that. Lake Toho, which always factors into a win for this tournament has submerged vegetation all over the lake. Don't be surprised to see some big bags come from 6-8 feet of water. The bass are there but to be successful, more wind will be needed to trigger them to feed.

In a recent tournament on Lake Toho, it was won using a Carolina Rig in open water hydrilla for a 26lb bag. It was much colder during that tournament but I expect this technique to still play heavily in who is able to crack the top ten.

In another first, I'm going to predict a hard jerkbait could also be a key bait for a high finish on Toho based on where the bass are positioned and how they are feeding. Shiners are the key bait right now and few baits mimick them well. A hard jerkbait is on that tackles that job well. The variety of baits can range from a floating Rapala, a Bagley Bango Lure, Yo Zuri 3DB to include a personal favorite, A Bomber Long A.

Another bait that not many talk about outside of Kentucky and Florida is the 10 inch worm. With light winds expected throughout the tournament, a Zoom Old Monster could take us back to its glory days of dominating tournaments with the most fundamental lure ever made. This particular presentation will require a great deal of confidence from whomever throws it as it will provide quality bites but not a high number. Missed fish could be a factor talked about a lot during the weigh in.

Chatterbaits, Swim jigs and Spinnerbaits are usually good options this time of year in Florida but I don't expect them to factor in unless winds get above 10 mph this week.

Time for my usual weight predictions for this tournament. Honestly, I don't want to venture into throwing numbers out there because fishing based on the last week have been challenging unless using shiners. That's not unusual for this time of year but the temps and winds should mean lure fishing is on fire as well. That hasn't been the case.

But I've never been shy about sticking my neck out so no reason to stop now!

Average weights for the the top 10 should range from 27lbs as the high and 16lbs at the low. The field will be stacked tight in weights between 13 and 16lbs. The Pro that leads day one will struggle to repeat the same number over 3 days. Launch times will be huge with bass feeding early and becoming less active after 10 am. Pros making the run to Kissimmee or other lakes may end up back in Toho early to try and salvage a limit. Total winning weight should be around 56 lbs. To be in top ten, 36 lbs might get someone there.

Its all going to be a huge gamble with one angler hitting the jackpot for the 1st place prize that they all are chasing. I'll be on the water hoping for lots of big bags and great results.

By Steve Boyd
Owner - Florida Bass Adventures

BASSMaster Eastern Open on Lake Toho

BASSMASTER Eastern Open Season Opener On Lake Toho

For weeks now anglers have been preparing for the season opener of the Bassmaster Open Trail on Lake Toho. Even though January tournaments held on Lake Okeechobee are traditionally the first of the year, Lake Toho is what Competitors and fans look forward to.

And they all have good reason to look forward to it. Lake Toho has a proven ability to break records and be a game changer for competitors as well as fishing industry product manufacturers. While the overall tournament weight has been broken, the one day 5 bass limit is still owned by Dean Rojas and Lake Toho.

It's amazing how much that tournament dictates what the Pros competing in this tournament do during practice time. I can tell you that every day for the last week the same areas Dean Rojas caught his winning limit from are getting checked by at least 15 boats each morning. Sadly, they all leave disappointed as the once in a lifetime conditions that helped Dean win are still "once in a lifetime".

But it's not just a record breaking history that anglers are looking forward to with this tournament. There's one thing that Winter brings to Florida that everyone else gets hot under the collar about, Fat Bottom Girls! While Winter in other parts of the country mean regular reorganization of lures in the boat because of ice on the lakes or making long runs to power plant lakes just to cast a lure, we look for big girls in Florida.

In tournaments like this one it's not enough to find a quality limit with a solid kicker because that might not even make the cut. They will need to look for big fat females with lots of junk in the trunk! And the great thing about fishing on the Kissimmee Chain is this can happen on any cast.

But that doesn't mean it will be easy. The obvious question is, will competitors be able to adjust to the changing conditions and movements these bass are making to bring big bags to the scales? On shallow water lakes such as Lake Toho many elements play a role in bass behavior that can create havoc for anglers trying to figure out their movements. And this week will be a perfect example of changing conditions that will feel very similar to Dean Rojas's record breaking win.

A cold front just came through Florida that brought water temperatures down into the high 50's that will heavily impact the first day of the tournament. But the front will play more of a mind game on anglers than anything else. The past two days have seen high winds that might make many anglers question the areas they have been fishing. But tomorrow will be a competitors dream day for spawning bass.

The forecast is calling for a launch temp of 49 degrees with very little wind throughout the day. So, while the morning bite might be initially slow, the mid day bite could be on fire with bass making a massive move into spawning areas benefitting later flights. Either way, many competitors might have to leave fish that they have found on beds because they are out of time.

Does that mean the tournament will be a sight fishing slug fest? My prediction is no because water temps aren't cold enough to push the bass shallow and the water color is too stained to sight fish the deeper bedding fish.

While I have some ideas on what to expect from winning weights and what will be needed for a top 10 finish the unkown will be with winning lake. It's easy to go with Toho right now because the lake looks great. Lake Toho is probably the easiest to fish of all 4 lakes right now but the advantage will go to Pros who have a long history fishing there as the fish are not in the typical areas anglers expect. A one day tournament last weekend took 23 lbs to win that came out of Lake Toho. Expect the top 3 finisher to come out of this lake with a potential average of 25lbs per day.

Lake Kissimmee is fishing small but the areas that are producing holding some big bass. Having an early flight and making the run to Kissimmee could pay off for the first two days of the tournament but it's doubtfull to get three days out of those areas to win. Expect a top five finisher to come out of Lake Kissimmee.

Lake Cypress. Cypress is always a sleeper in these tournaments and I can personally attribute a top 3 finish in a BFL to this lake. Winds for the last few days could make the bite here tough but with light winds predicted for the tournament expect some kicker fish to come from this lake that could be the difference in a win or 6th place.

Lake Hatchineha looks the best I have seen it look in 10 years. It's doubtful the tournament will be won from this lake. The last time it happened was around 1998. My expectation is that Hatchineha will be part of a milk run that will help finish out some daily limits that contribute to a top 10 finish.
So, how many Fat Bottom Girls will we see come across the scales? There is a good chance we will see one Big Bass in the 11lb range be caught and be the big fish of the tournament.

I'm predicting a tight start to the event with a few 20lb plus bags being caught on day one but the real competition will start on day 2 as conditions get ripe for more big fish being caught. Heading into the final day look for someone to make a big leap in the standings to challenge for the overall win.

I won't make any angler predictions this year. The last time I did I picked Shaw Grigsby and he bombed and now he acts like he doesn't know me!!!!

Winning weights should hit 75lbs and top 10 finishers will need to be in the 50lb range.

Should be a fun tournament to keep up with and hopefully the Kissimmee Chain will represent as it always does!

Steve Boyd
Florida Bass Adventures

Well, it didn't take long to get the 2014 Orlando trophy bass fishing season started with a bang! While most of America was still sleeping after the late night New Years eve party I was out on Lake Toho with Chris and his son Sam. The morning started off great with 8 bass in the first hour but nothing over 4 lbs so we moved to some other areas and actually had a very uneventful 3 hours until the last spot of the day. It's not unusual to see fish behave differently from one day to the next in Orlando because our weather and wind directions can vary greatly even in the same day.

On this day the winds had changed from the West to a strong North wind and made it possible to fish some areas that previously had been difficult to fish. We have also had areas sprayed for hydrilla opening up more fishing areas. One that I had been to the day earlier and caught a 4 lb bass while using artificials told me to come back on a day when we had live bait to see what else might be there.

The decision paid off for Chris and Sam with 12 bass in about an hour and a half with the biggest coming in at 10lbs 6 oz and another that Chris missed in the same range. It was a great way to start the New Year and a great way to finish their Orlando Bass Fishing trip.

If you are thinking of coming to Orlando for a trophy bass fishing trip I hope you will consider Florida Bass Adventures for your next outing. I guide on Lake Toho, the Kissimmee Chain and the St Johns River putting clients on trophy bass like the one pictured to the left.

www.floridabassadventures.com

Summertime Bass Fishing in Orlando, Florida

It's late August and typically a time when anglers in other areas of the country are having trouble locating bigger bass. Fortunately, here in Orlando the summer season can be very exciting especially during the first few hours of the morning. Florida Bass Adventures clients Bee and his 10 year old son Kevin Xiong found out just how good Orlando summer bass fishing can be during their day which was spent fishing Lake Toho.

Bee and his son Kevin from Minnesota chose to spend a day bass fishing with us during their Orlando vacation and hopefully catch some big bass. Bee had mentioned during our initial conversation how much his son would be looking for to the trip to Lake Toho. As Bee put it, Kevin often can be found fishing from sunup to sundown trying to catch bass back home. These trips are my favorite to do as a guide because kids are the future of our sport so being able to help mold their desire to continue fishing is an awesome opportunity for me.

We started out the morning meeting at the ramp to Lake Toho and then heading out to our first spot of the day. Not long after anchoring the boat and putting our bait into the water Kevin hooked up with his first bass of the day. Shortly after taking photos and releasing the first bass Bee set the hook on a nice 4 1/2 lb bass that put up an excellent fight before coming into the boat for more pictures. For the next 40 minutes Bee and Kevin continued to catch bass that were all above 4 lbs with the largest being a healthy 7lb bass that Kevin caught. This was his biggest bass ever leading Kevin to say that Lake Toho was definitely his favorite place to fish.

It is very rewarding to hear the excitement kids get when they are out for a day with us and Kevin definitely was enjoying the success of his day. Trips to Costa Rica catching Mahi Mahi didn't come close to how good this day was and before the trip was over Kevin was asking his Dad when they would be coming back to Orlando.

If you are unsure of what to expect when coming to Orlando for a day of bass fishing take a look at the awesome memories Bee and Kevin will go home with from their day. Bass fishing in Orlando is a year round opportunity with great weather and big bass that our lakes produce. Lake Toho is minutes from Orlando area theme parks and definitely should be at the top of anyones list when considering a bass fishing trip.

Florida Bass Adventures has been guiding clients to trophy bass in Orlando since 2003 specializing in trophy bass fishing on Lake Toho. For more information or to book a trip visit our site. Trophy bass fishing is all we do so feel free to take a look around and see what we have been up to!

http://www.floridabassadventures.com/

Sincerly,

Steve Boyd