What would you recommend to anglers fishing in St. Cloud, Florida for the first time?

Very nice lakes in the area. Fishing was great, 70 degrees at the end of January... beats ice fishing!! The lake seemed clean and there wasn't a ton of competition for fishing spots. Good area to fish.

I’d recommend the afternoon trips this time of year. It gives sometime for the heat to turn on outside lol. Its still kinda chilly in the morning in Florida in October.

It was a bit cold, but the sun came out a few times and it was fine. As long as you dress accordingly, you will be fine.

Get live bait, unless they are schooling they are hard to get to bite with the tournaments currently running

Crappie were not hitting yet but the LM Bass are plentiful. Don’t be surprised if you reel in a few catfish or gar too.

yes but I would like to be able to keep the larger bass caught and release the small and average ones

Make sure you dress for the weather. Started out cool, but warmed up quickly for us.

Do your homework get an experienced captain that’s been around they know where the fish are.