It’s the middle of the summer and we’re in what I believe is the secret best big bass time of year. While it is widely known that the best time to catch big bass in Florida is during the winter when things cool down. Nearly everyone I know who lives here has caught their BIGGEST during the summer, including myself. All between June-September. We catch a lot of 8-10 pound bass in the winter but it always seems like the heat of the summer is when the ones over 10 pounds are caught. All of the lakes 3 biggest bass that have been caught were caught at this time. The 17lb lake record, the 16lb that Ed Chancey caught, and the 15lb caught by Captain Jamie Jackson. I wanted to start with this because every year at this time, I get excited. Now lets get into whats happening. The fish have been doing exactly what you expect them to be doing at this time of year, which is much the same as last months fishing report. The best bite has been in the morning. They condense most of their feeding into the morning hours at this time of year. The fishing has been fast early and then slowing to a steady bite after the first two hours. After 11am the bite slows dramatically unless you have a cloudy day. Plus it starts getting hot by then so you’re done also. They’re in basically 4 different things. 1. Running water 2. Hydrilla 3. Shell beds 4. Brush piles. Running water: The locks on all of the lakes are full open right now with all of the rain we’ve been getting, which means fish are stacked up in the cooler water flowing in these areas. You can catch them fast and quick early in the morning for basically the first two hours using crankbaits, topwaters (if they’re busting the top), jerkbaits, and weigthless flukes. The problem with these areas is that their are a lot of smaller fish. Don’t get me wrong you can pop off a 7 or 8 pounder randomly but the majority will all be around 2 pounds. Hydrilla: Much of the fishing at this time of year is focused around the hydrilla. Any hydrilla outside of the Kissimmee grass lines will hold fish. It’s as simple as that. Whether it’s off-shore or near the grass lines their will be fish in it. It’s just a matter of how much and where they are in it. And the best way to find that out is by fishing. Speedworms, frogs(this is the best time of year to throw a frog), chatterbaits, and swimjigs have all been working. Shell beds: Now shell beds can be tricky. They can be tough to find and they usually only bite for the first 2 hours in the morning and then they’re done so you’ve got a short window to catch them. But if you can find one you can really catch them right now. July is without a doubt the best month for shell bed fishing. Both numbers of fish and big fish will be in these areas. They can be caught off of soft plastic worms(or any finesse worm), rattletraps, or topwater if they’re busting the top. Brush piles: Brush piles are like shell beds in the sense that they are hard to find. There are some that are marked with buoys but all of the best ones are unmarked. Once you find some though this is where your best late morning-mid day day bite is going to be. Worms, jigs, and crankbaits have all been working. To sum it all up this is the time of year where you may just catch some of the biggest bass in the lake, and the hydrilla, shell beds, and brush piles are where you’ve got your best chance to catch one. Bass wishes, Capt. AJ

Welcome back everyone! Hope you all are doing well. Thankfully most places have opened back up here or are set to open back up soon here in Florida. I’m just happy we were all able to fish throughout the whole thing. But anyway we are back to guiding here at AJ’s Bass Guides and if you’ve been following any of our social media then you know what kind of fish the lake has been producing here lately. Some real monsters. We’ve been getting 8 pound plus size fish almost everyday! It’s been truly incredible. And it’s all because of the unique way the lake is setting up and how the FWC has been managing it. The fish are all off-shore right now. It’s where you need to be. Or at least outside of the grass line. Because of the increase in temperatures and the lower water levels that they keep the lake at this time of year in anticipation of our rainy season; most of the fish have moved outside of the Kissimmee grass, reeds, and lily pads that surround the lake. So what are the fish on out there? 3 things. 1. hydrilla 2. shell beds 3. brush piles. Bass have begun to start schooling on the shell beds early morning and late in the afternoon. But only during these times. The hydrilla and brush pile bites can last all day depending on the weather. With rain beginning to start up in the afternoons now the feeder creeks and canals that lead into and out of the lake are going to start to become a factor once water begins to flow. The lake has seen some extreme pressure over the last few months. Mostly because no one had anything else to do except for fish! One day I counted 42 boats around me fishing the same area and the next weekend I counted 56! All fishing the same area within cast distance of each other! I’ve never seen anything like it and still the lake has been producing trophy sized fish even better now than then. I believe that’s just a testament to how many bass (and BIG bass) really are in this lake. As always large golden wild shiners have been what the best bite has been on and is what most of the giants we’ve been catching on our charters have come off of. But artificials have been working extremely well also. Rattletraps, jerkbaits, speedworms, chatterbaits, and swimjigs have all been producing good bass. All 5 have been producing in the hydrilla and it really just depends on the water color what color lure I’d use. As always if the water color is dirtier for the speedworms, chatterbait, and swimjig use a darker color like junebug and for the rattletrap and jerkbait use a gold shiner colored one. If the water is cleaner use more of a natural color like green pumpkin or watermelon for the speedworm, chatterbait, and swimjig and you can go either or shiner color or shad color for the jerkbait/rattletrap. Whichever kind of bait fish you can see around will help you make the decision. For shell beds and any creeks and canals/moving water; rattletraps, jerkbaits, worms on the bottom, and a spook style bait for topwater have been producing fish early in the morning and in the evening. For the brush piles it’s been simple. Just a worm or speedworm used slowly like a worm has been producing the fish off of those spots. The lake has been fishing incredibly well for big fish lately and let me tell you what, if you’re looking for a new PB, right now’s the time to be fishing Orlando’s lake Toho. Bass wishes, Capt. AJ

It’s my favorite time of year for bass fishing here on Lake Toho in Orlando Florida. The weathers nice but more importantly the bass are biting and they’re biting allllll day. That’s right, it doesn’t really seem to matter what time you go out you’re gonna catch them. I’ve been averaging 20 to 40 fish a day on my guide trips! Some days more than that. Even after cold fronts. It’s unbelievable. I’ve been slacking on writing fishing reports simply because I’ve been fishing everyday trying to experience every last minute of this! But I’m going to make up for it with this one. I’m going to give you the complete run down on what’s going on with the bass fishing here in Orlando’s Lake Toho. To begin with the fish are in all stages right now. There’s pre-spawn fish, spawning fish, and post-spawn fish. So the bass are kinda spread out but also grouped up if you understand what I’m saying. You may have to bounce around a little bit but once you get on a group of them you’re on them and you can just sit and milk the area. As always it doesn’t seem to matter what time of year it is the best concentration of big fish (and I’m talking real big fish 8 pounds and up) are off-shore on hydrilla. That’s just always where the big girls like to be and feel safest. These off-shore hydrilla area’s tend to be best during the morning and slow up after about 9:30am. So its best to start out there then begin to move in as the day moves on and things heat up which is when the shallow spawing areas tend to work best. Same type of hydrilla that I always talk about. Good, clean, growing hydrilla that tapers down underneath the water. Now on the outside edges of the Kissimmee grass and back inside the grass you have the pre-spawn/spawning areas. This is where the most consistent bite has been. Lots of males and some fatty females can be caught here. But you can’t just go up inside any grass line and catch them. Lake Toho is absolutely full of maidencane, kissimmee grass, lily pads and reeds. It ALL looks good and it looks like you can just go down any grass edge and catch them. But if you do that you’ll quickly find out that that’s not the case. What you have to look for is the best OF the best. What I mean by that is you have to find areas of mixed types of vegetation with cleaner water. Area’s with lily pads mixed with kissimmee grass and reeds maybe with a little bit of submerged vegetation on the bottom with good water clarity. This is the best OF the best and that’s where a majority of the fish will be grouped up. Additionally any area with a good group of lotus pads (those are the one’s that are flat and float on the surface) is a good sign of a spawning area because they will ONLY grow on hard sand bottom and there always seems to be groups of fish around them at this time of year. Once you find one of these area’s you have to slow way down and completely pick apart these area’s. The fish are there you just have to slow down and figure out exactly what they want and how they want it. I watch people fish around me everyday without seeing them catch much simply because they are moving too fast. Okay so now on to what everyone wants to know… what they have been biting. Well anyone who’s been following me knows that hydrilla and jerkbaits are a deadly combination and it still holds true. For the offshore hydrilla spots both a regular 1-3ft diving jerkbait for the thicker hydrilla and a deep diving jerkbait for the deeper stuff has been the best bite. A swimjig has been the next best bite and can produce some quality fish and a speedworm is another good choice. Also on day’s where there isn’t much wind a topwater walk the dog bait has been producing fish also. Now for up around and inside the Kissimmee grass a Big easy swimbait with a lightly weighted hook reeled slowly over the top of the grass and lily pads has been the best bite and has been producing some good quality fish. Additionally a weightless fluke pitched in holes and along the edge of the grass has been the best numbers producer. Just pitch it around like you would a weightless senko and let it sink to the bottom. For some reason it’s been getting bit better than a wacky rig! But a wacky rig is another good option. Finally a lightly weighted senko flipping into thicker reeds and lily pads around these area’s has also been productive and a lot of fun! Flipping is my favorite way to fish. Due to the way the state has been managing the lake it has been fishing fantastic and you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to fish it right now. No matter what the weathers been they’ve been biting so get out there and get you some! And if you can’t get out there yourself we here at AJ’s Bass Guides would be glad to give you the experience of a lifetime here on Orlando’s Lake Toho. Bass wishes, Capt. AJ

While things are cooling down up north the fishing in Florida is heating up! Thanksgiving is the beginning of our peak season for catching trophy sized bass here in Orlando Florida on West Lake Toho. This is the time of year where we catch more bass in the 10-pound plus range than any other time of year. Why are the winter months so much better than any other time for catching giant bass in Florida? It’s because these are the spawning months. It begins in late November and goes all the way through till late April. We don’t get a winter like most other parts of the country so our bass essentially spawn in between cold fronts. As it starts to warm up they head up to spawn and as another cold front comes through they head back out to the pre-spawn areas again where the big egg filled females stack up into groups. Which make the numbers of trophy sized bass that are caught at this time of year increase dramatically. Fishing for spawning bass can be much more difficult to produce consistent numbers of big bass. The best way of catching these giant Florida bass is in the pre-spawn staging areas. These areas make for great fishing with good numbers of fish being caught along with good chances at a trophy. Numbers of big bass have already started being caught. We have caught several big bass that look like they’re loaded with eggs and only weeks away from moving up to spawn. What are the best methods for fishing Lake Toho during the winter months? Well it really doesn’t make any difference what time of year you are here. Large Golden Shiners are always the best way to produce good numbers and big bass. Especially during the winter months when these giant females are looking for a big meal before and after they go in to spawn. The Golden Shiners produce over 90% of the trophy sized bass caught out of the lake. Artificial lures can be productive if you’ve had a warm stretch of weather and you’re just before the next cold front. Although catching these big female bass with artificials can be very random. But either way whether it be large wild shiners or artificial lures this winter season looks to be one of the best we’ve seen in quite some time. The winter months are also our busiest months. Reservations should be made as far in advance as possible to be assured that we availability for you on the date that you want to go on your trophy Florida bass fishing charter on Lake Toho. Bass wishes, Captain A. James Jackson

With the cooling temperatures of fall the bass fishing has really picked up on Lake Toho. We’ve gone from catching an average of 10-15 per day to 20-30 on our guide trips! And of course the big fish bite has increased also. We’re getting chances at fish 7 pounds and bigger nearly everyday. If you live near the lake or are able to make a trip now is the time to be fishing Toho! Since they halted all chemical killing of the hydrilla in the lake the water is cleaner then I’ve ever seen it. There are literally so many spots you can catch them in right now it’s crazy… whether you’re fishing the north, middle, or south end of the lake you can catch them good. As long as they keep from spraying any of the hydrilla and continue to harvest it instead, I foresee this great fishing to continue all the way through the winter. And I’ll tell ya, I’m excited. Now the lake as a whole is fishing pretty great right now but there are some things you’re going to want to key in on in order to produce some of these great days. Now I always say this and I’m going to keep repeating it because it’s the truth. Whenever you have a good population of hydrilla in a lake that is where those fish are going to be. Whether it’s offshore shallow or anywhere between. Right now the lake has the biggest population of hydrilla that it ever has had. So that is almost solely what you want to be targeting. Now there is an exception on the south end of the lake right now and I’ll get to that in a minute. But for the mid to north end of the lake you’re going to want to target the same stuff I’ve been telling you in the last two fishing reports. Clean healthy hydrilla. The one difference is that I’ve been able to pull some nice fish off of older hydrilla edges that have essentially stopped growing and are coming off of grass lines. So don’t be afraid to target some of these areas especially in the early morning with a speed worm or frog and flipping later in the day. They’re less pressured then some of the other freshly growing hydrilla patch bass. Now the south end of the lake has a ton of hydrilla and because of this a lot of the fish down there have been forced up into the Kissimmee grass and reeds. That’s where you’ll find them down there. You want to target boat cuts and open areas back inside the grass. Big EZ’s are what the best bite has been on. Just reel them through the Kissimmee grass and the fish won’t be able to resist. As always shiners have been out producing everything. If you’re in the right area you can easily put 20 fish in the boat in a couple hours along with some big ones. The shiner bite has been pretty fast for the first few hours in the morning. Hopefully some of you can take advantage of the special fishing that we have going on right now. Bass wishes, Capt. AJ

Ahhh the good old consistency of Florida summer bass fishing. For the most part not much has changed from last months fishing report to this months. Except for one key factor. The big fish bite. For whatever reason the big fish bite has picked up from last month and I’m not complaining. It’s been fun! While the average total amount of bass we’ve been catching remains the same, the amount of fish 7 pounds and up has increased and become much more consistent. Now getting them to the boat has been a different story… unfortunately we’ve had a lot of these fish either jump off or pull off in the hydrilla! But that’s just part of fishing this thick hydrilla. Now the patterns have all been the same from last months with one exception. The running water. The lack of rain that we’ve had the last few weeks has made the running water bite not a very viable option. All of our fish recently have come from the outside edges of hydrilla and shell beds. The lanes in the open water hydrilla left from the hydrilla harvesters have sometimes been productive also. But I’ve found that they are really inconsistent! One day you can catch them good in the lanes and the next you’re wasting your time… I’ve found that these fish in the lanes don’t like really any wind. When you have a nearly windless day you can catch them and if their is any type of decent breeze putting a nice ripple on the water they are no where to be found. Shiners have been the best for the big fish bite. We’re getting chances at fish 7+ pounds nearly everyday on them! But for artificials the same as last month has been whats been productive. Speedworms in the hydrilla, frogs, worms on shellbeds, and jerkbaits have been the ticket. All in all the fishing has been pretty fun on Lake Toho lately! If you’re looking to book a trip and be a part of the action feel free to book us here on Fishingbooker! Bass wishes, Capt. AJ