We met up for a day on the water on East Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee, Florida (known as East Toho Lake to the locals). Big Florida largemouth bass would be our target species and to get at them we rented a 15 foot fiberglass jon boat with 9.9hp merc to push us around. We opted out of hiring a guide and looked forward to the self exploration as part of the adventure.
We arrived at East Lake Fish Camp at 5:30 am to insure ourselves a boat. Traveling 2320km to visit their business wasn’t enough reason to reserve one for us!
East Lake Fish Camp has all the promise of being an awesome fishing resource to anglers, but it could also provide Jeff Foxworthy a lifetime of material. After signing all the boat rental paper work, purchasing FL licenses , admiring the countless 10lb+ lm mounts on the walls and waiting for day light, we were finally on the water. As we launched, we quickly discovered we were the only ones leaving the marina without live bait. All the local anglers had a pail of giant 4-5 inch shiners. We decided to go against the norm and not use live bait…after all we had 2 giant bags of Bobber Slop tackle!Where do we start fishing!? The 450lbs of men, a small motor and brisk wind would limit any long runs. But we didn’t think we’d have to travel far. The whole area looked like a bass fishermen’s paradise. Reeds, lilies, slop, stumps, everything!
Not having a trolling motor or electronics, we knew we’d be at the mercy of the wind, so we set up on the outside of the reeds and let the wind push us through them towards shore. In true MT style, I went with the white spinner bait. Third cast – Fish On! He made a few typical bass flips and about halfway to the boat, this little 1-2 pounder threw the spinner bait. Not longer after though, I was setting my hook into my next fish. This one made it in the boat….only a little guy.
The drift actually pushed us into a small channel and it was lined with tons of slop. Bobber, armed with snag resistant slop gear, started probing the the inside edge. With a giant giant hook set he soon had his first fish hooked. He had it pinned in the slop beside the boat and before he could bend over, it released itself.
. It was a decent fish.We started exploring the shoreline and found every type of LM bass cover you could imagine. Bobber was literally drooling.
Here’s a pic of Bobber probing a tick surface weed area with a rat…I was chucking the scum frog here. No hits.
We eventually found a creek that took us out of the wind. Again…more beautiful cover.
I found some deep water and switched to a storm swim bait. Bobber stuck with the inside shore weeds and plunked his worms along the edge. I soon had a heavy hit and set the hook. This fish had weight! I short battle pursed and once I had it pinned in the slop…the worst would happen. Line break! Crap. He’s gone.
We motor deeper into the creek. We like what we see.
We weren’t having much luck in the shallow cover, so we decided to cast the deep water. Bobber throws out a Yozuri slashbait and after a couple cranks there’s a boil behind his crank…it returns a second time and hits it again! Bobber sets the hook and has him for a sec…then he’s gone. After reeling in it’s painfully obvious why the fish got away…the rear hook snapped off.
Bobber switched over to the spinner bait and soon had his first fish in the boat! It wasn’t a bass, but it was a fish! A small chain pickeral.
The day was quickly coming to an end, so we made our way back towards the marina. Fishing the reeds, I went back to the spinner bait. I made a cast to the reed edge and my line immediately took off out to open water! I couldn’t stop this freight train! I circled way out around and then came straight for the boat and the thick reeds. Bobber shouts “don’t let him go in there!â€, but I didn’t have a choice and as soon as the fish entered the reeds, he returned my spinner bait. Grrrrr. We didn’t even get a glimpse at this fish and I’m pretty sure by the way it fought that it wasn’t a bass.
This would be the last of our action for the day. We didn’t boat many fish, but we sure left them with numb lips! Haha. Upon returning to the dock, we learned that it had been a bad day for everyone with the catching part. But regardless of hooking a giant FL bass, bobber and I had a great time on the lake. Our first fish together was definitely an awesome adventure!
[/img]
Great report 
!
