Bass on the Butler Chain
October 15, 2008
The Butler Chain of Lakes in Windermere offers some of the most pristine waters in Central Florida, yet it’s far less renowned than nearby Harris Chain and Kissimmee Chain. It’s the clearest and deepest water you’ll find around here with fantastic bass action.
I like fishing here because it’s totally different from most of the lakes around this area. The clear water and depths lend itself to structure fishing which is not a commonplace in Central Florida. I can break out my deep cranks, swimbaits, and finesse baits. I can fish for bedding fish in 8 feet of water. I can throw topwater in 15 feet of water. You just can’t do this anywhere else around here. Besides, there’s something about being out in really clear water that’s just nice.
Don’t get me wrong there’s shallow fish here as well, but most of the big fish will come out of deeper depths because of the clear water. There’s plenty of timber, reeds, and pads in shallow water if you decide to take that route. I just enjoy structure fishing here, because you just don’t get to do it anywhere in Central Florida. Besides, I heard some saying about 90% of the being behind you when you’re throwing at the bank. I’d say it holds true here.
My favorite lakes are Butler and Down. There’s lots of humps and ledges to fish and the key is to find the vegetation or shell beds on these structures. It’s a constant battle locating them because Fish and Wildlife kills them off from time to time.
The only public access is located at 10900 Chase Rd at the RD Keene Park in Windermere. I suggest fishing during the week because there’s a lot less boat traffic and the parking lot fills up quite rapidly on weekends.
As far as tackle, my favorite on these lakes are worms, flukes, crankbaits, swimbaits, and spinnerbaits. Stick with watermelon or green pumpkin for worms. I prefer the finesse type plastics such as the senko, trick worm, giggy snake, and shaky head worm. There’s a lot of shad here so white flukes also produce quite well on a weightless texas rig or carolina rig. The best colors for crankbaits and swimbaits are white, chartreuse shad, ghost color, or anything that looks more natural and realistic. Anytime the bass are feeding on shad, a spinnerbait is deadly. If I’m trying to locate some fish, a white or translucent spinnerbait is my go to bait. The best color is white with double willow leaf blades, but sometimes the bluegill color finds the bigger fish. Often times, jigging it off the bottom will catch the biggest fish out of the school.
Here’s a map from back in the day from Tim’s Tackle Box on Michigan Avenue. It used to be the biggest tackle shop around Central Florida before the days of Bass Pro Shops. I used to love going in there and hearing all the aerators running with a hint of something in the air… probably reel grease.
click to enlarge
The Butler Chain is a fantastic fishery that doesn’t get a whole lot of pressure. It’s the nicest lake near the attractions so I’d check out fishing here if you’re in town on vacation.
virtual tour: Butler Chain
John’s Lake Tacklebox Essentials
October 12, 2008
Fishing John’s Lake in Winter Garden offers lots of different areas and cover to fish including kissimmee grass, lilly pads, pepper grass, eel grass, timber, reeds, and hydrilla. There’s lots of different ways to catch’em here, but the most effective baits are senkos and trick worms. 
My favorite way to fish the senko on John’s Lake is weightless on a texas rig, wacky rig, or carolina rig. This bait just flat out works all day every day as long it’s plum with green flakes (junebug) or watermelon red. You can’t say that about any other bait, but the trick worm is almost as good. My favorite way to fish the trick worm is on a carolina rig, but the texas rig and wacky rig works as well and perhaps better around docks. The best colors for trick worms are junebug, watermelon red, and red bug.
Rattletraps and shallow crankbaits are also really effective here, but you need to find active fish for these baits to work. Rattletraps work best when ripped out of hydrilla, yo yo ing it off the bottom, and cranked between and over grass beds. The best colors are gold with black back and orange belly, chrome with green, blue, or black back, and chartreuse with black back. I tend to stick with Bill Lewis Rat L Traps and Xcalibur Xr50, but the Xcalibur seems to hold up a little better and run a little truer with a better shimmy.
Paralleling weed lines and banging timber with a shallow crankbait is also effective here especially in the Fall. My favorites are the Bandit 200 series and Lucky Craft 1.5. My favorite color for the Bandit is Rootbeer and Copper Perch for the Lucky Craft. You tend to lose a few of these baits on timber so I’ll use the Bandit for this situation since they’re 3x’s cheaper and run just a true.
Early mornings provide the best opportunity for exciting topwater action. The best topwater baits are Zara Spooks, buzzbaits, and frogs. Black really works well for all these baits, but my favorite for my Ribbit frog is junebug.
One of the most effective baits that’s overlooked on these lakes for pre spawn and post spawn bass is the suspending jerkbait. My favorite is a olive green X Rap Rapala and I like to work them everywhere I use a rattletrap. I’ve even used them to get bass off of beds. You can just drag it into the bed and let it dangle in front of their face for a long time. The firetiger color is the best for bedding bass since it resembles those pesky bluegills they’re constantly chasing away from their eggs. Pre and post areas will be just outside of spawning coves and shallow water flats in the middle of the lake with deep water close by. Just make sure the water is on the clearer side during winter and spring. Slow down the retrieve as the water gets colder in Winter and speed it up during Spring.
The summers are probably the slowest time for fishing here, and I’d target deep water docks and the handful of places with deep water and cover with senkos and trick worms. Sometimes you can find running water after some of the tropical storms and hurricanes we get during the summer and it can be just phenomenal fishing. The water runs into John’s Lake from Black Lake so it’s the only place to find running water here.
You don’t have to spend a fortune at Bass Pro Shops to catch fish here. Just get some senkos, trick worms, rattletraps, ribbits, and jerkbaits and you’ll catch’em as good as anybody. Now the only thing you gotta do is locate the fish which is the hard part. You’ll catch a lot of small fish here, but there’s also some monsters out there.
Directions to Boat Ramps in Florida
October 5, 2008
I found this handy comprehensive list of the boat ramps in Florida. So the next time you’re checking out a new lake, you can get directions here:
Alligator Chain (Alligator Lake)
Clermont Chain (Lake Minneola)
East Lake Toho (Chisholm Park)
East Lake Toho (East Lake Fish Camp)
Harris Chain (Lake Eustis: Buzzard Beach)
Harris Chain (Lake Griffin: Railroad Ramp)
Harris Chain (Lake Harris: Hickory Point)
Harris Chain (Lake Harris: Venetian Gardens)
Harris Chain (Ocklawaha River Bridge)
Lake George (Salt Springs Run)
Lake Istokpoga (Henderson’s Fish Camp)
Lake Istokpoga (Istokpoga Park)
Lake IvanhoeLake Kennedy (Cape Coral, FL.)
Lake Orange/Lochloosa (Cross Creek: Marjorie Kinnan State Park)
Lake Orange/Lochloosa (Lochloosa: SE 162nd Ave)
Lake Orange/Lochloosa (Orange: Heagy-Burry Park)
Lake Panasoffkee (Tracy’s Point F.C.)
Lake Sampson/Rowell (Starke, Fl.)
Lake Seminole (Wingates Lodge)
Lake Talquin (Ben Stoutamire Landing)
Lake Talquin (High Bluff Landing)
Lake Talquin (Williams Landing)
Lake Triplet (Casselberry, Fl.)
Lake Woodruff (Highland Park Fishcamp)
Little Sante Fe Lake (Melrose, FL.)
Rodman Reservoir (Kenwood Landing)
St. Johns River (River Front Park, Palatka)
St. Johns River (Ed Stone Park, Deland)
St. Johns River (Highbanks Rd., Debary)
St. Johns River (Rt.46 Bridge, Sanford)
Suwannee River (Hinton Landing)
Tenoroc Phosphate Pits (reservations: (863) 499-2422)
Tsala Apopka Chain (Hernando Pool)
West Lake Toho (Richardson’s Fishcamp)
West Lake Toho (Big Toho Marina)
West Lake Toho (Whaleys Landing)
Interactive Fishing Report Map of Central Florida Lakes
September 26, 2008
The ledger.com out of Lakeland, FL has a neat interactive Google Map wish fishing reports around Central Florida. I think it’s a pretty neat resource to figure out where the fish are. You may have to zoom in once to see which lake you’re looking at or just click view larger map on the bottom left. In any case there’s lots of fishing reports on the map.
You can also check the “Around Polk County” article for a compilation of written fishing reports around town.
Kissimmee River Restoration Project
August 22, 2008
