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

Rain, rain, and more rain has pretty much described the weather we’ve had. But luckily the rain has been good. With all the rain tons of water has been flowing into the lake causing water levels to go back up to their normal levels. Which is good for your lower unit because running some parts of the lake as low as it was can be sketchy! Now that the lake is full the Core of Engineers has opened the locks on both East Lake Toho and on the south end of West Good one pulled out of moving water Lake Toho to let water out. And as always where you have flowing water you have bass stacked up in-front of those places. Both of the locks and the creeks running into the lake have been very productive. You don’t even have to move in most cases. Just anchor up and start throwing. Rattletraps, worms, and topwater (when the fish are busting the surface) have all been productive. Shell beds have also been productive for catching good numbers of bass as water flows down the lake. The outside edges of certain hydrilla patches have been more consistent for bigger fish. Frogs, speedworms, and flipping have all been productive in those areas. If I were fishing a tournament right now I’d just focus on the hydrilla patches for the bigger fish. As always at this time of the year due to the heat it has been a strict morning bite. The fish are condensing all of their feeding into this time. You’ve got about the first 4 hours in the morning until the bite all but shuts down. And to be honest I don’t want to be fishing much longer than that anyway with the heat! The fishing has been fast early morning so it’s important to get out as early as you can! If you’re in Orlando and looking to go bass fishing we’ve been averaging around 15 per day on our charters. Some days over 20 with one around 7 pounds being common. The 2 1/2 hour and 4 hour trips would be the recommended trips. Bass wishes, Capt. AJ

The heat of the summer is here on Orlando’s Lake Toho and the usual summer patterns are in full affect. Which means you can have some awesome days as long as you’re targeting the right areas… With the water temperatures rising the fish’s metabolism is at it’s highest which means that all the bass in the lake are more keyed in on their food source more than any other time of year. Matching exactly what the fish are feeding on is extremely important and can make the difference between having a disappointing day and an unforgettable one. Most day’s we’ve been catching good numbers on our guide trips and fish over 7 pounds have not been uncommon. As always with these fishing reports I like to keep things simple and get straight to the point. First let go over what area’s to target then what baits to use. The heat brings changes in water clarity. Which means finding clearer water can be crucial. The heat will also make the bass move out to deeper cooler water. But ONLY if there is sufficient cover out there for them. Because Florida lakes tend to not have any bottom structure in them at all (For example creek channels or ledges) bass will only move off-shore if there is cover present for them like hydrilla, shell beds, or brush piles. To break it down for you the area’s you want to be targeting at this time of year are… 1. Moving water: any creeks flowing into the lake or open locks with moving water will always hold fish. The water is usually 4-5 degrees cooler than the rest of the lake and the flowing water brings food to the bait fish which in turn brings the bass. Using topwater, rattletraps, and small spinnerbaits have been most productive in these area’s as the forage that these fish are eating are shad. These fish tend to only bite for the first few hours of the morning however and it is important to understand that most of the fish in the entire lake are going to condense there feeding into the morning hours. 2. Hydrilla/ Eel grass: bass can be found in hydrilla year round and with so much hydrilla in the lake right now it can be tough to find good groups of fish in it. That’s because they are stacked up in the best of the best looking hydrilla so I’m going to help break it down for you so you can find the best of the best hydrilla and eel grass. First things first if the vegetation you’re fishing does not look healthy LEAVE right away. You have to be fishing healthy growing hydrilla/eel grass. Ideally you want to find hydrilla that is actively growing out. Meaning you’re sitting off the thick hydrilla and underneath your boat on your fish finder you can see there is hydrilla or eel grass growing on the bottom under you. If you can find an area like that combined with cleaner water… you have just found a goldmine and I guarantee their is a giant group of fish living there. Speed worms, swimjigs, jerkbaits, soft plastic swimbaits, spinnerbaits, and lightly weighted worms have all been productive. Again matching the hatch is key. Keep an eye out for any sign of the bait fish they’re feeding on. If it’s bluegill use a bluegill colored swimjig or swimbait, if it’s shiners or shad use a shad colored jerkbait, swimjig, spinnerbait, or swimbait. 3. Shell beds/ brush piles: I put these two together because they fish very similar. Just like hydrilla bass live on shell beds/brush piles in Lake Toho year round. The difference between shell beds/brush piles and hydrilla though is there is a lot less of them and they can be harder to find. If you can find a shell bed though I promise there’s fish on it. Using a lightly weighted worm, senko, shaky head, or neko rig can all be good ways of catching them. To sum it up as long as you’re fishing the right stuff you can have some great day’s of fishing right now on Orlando’s Lake Toho. Bass wishes, Capt. AJ

The bass fishing is much different now than is was last year at this time on Lake Toho. That’s because the way the lake is being managed is far different from last year. Because of the issues down on the big O (Okeechobee) the FWC halted all spray operations for the state in late October. They conducted public meetings with the intention of finding out how the public wanted the lakes to be managed. What they found out was that the people wanted the hydrilla to be mostly left in the lakes. Instead of spraying it with chemicals and constantly killing it off. These fish love the hydrilla which is an invasive species and whenever it is present they immediately hop in it. Which can make for some great fishing. Now the state still understands that the vegetation must still be managed otherwise it will take over an entire lake. So they are going to attempt other methods of controlling it such as harvesting. Now what does this have to do with Lake Toho? Because all of the hydrilla in the lake has been untouched the lake is full of it. Which has made for some great fishing. When given the option these Florida fish will always live offshore. Especially the big ones. And with all this offshore hydrilla present all the fish are stacked up in it. Catching over 20 bass a day with the biggest 5 weighing 20 pounds is a common day to day occurrence on our guide trips. Focusing on this offshore hydrilla has been the key. You want to find areas of hydrilla that is still growing. What I mean by this is if you’re fishing a hydrilla patch and underneath your boat on your graph there is clean bottom and no hydrilla growing out from the patch on the bottom you’re most likely fishing dead water. Now if you’re throwing at a patch of hydrilla and you see that the hydrilla is growing out on the bottom 40ft or more than you’re in a key area. Now of course there are exceptions to this rule and there will still be fish in the patches that have stopped growing. But I can guarantee you that the much bigger groups of fish and more consistently biting fish will be in that hydrilla that is still growing. Now whats the best bite been on? If you would’ve asked me that a month ago I’d of told you throw a jerkbait and nothing else. But now that the bass are completely done spawning and for the first time the mighty jerkbait is being out produced by probably the best all around Florida bait out there. Speedworms. These stupid things catch bass in Florida year round. On just a regular worm hook with a 3/16 ounce weight, reeled nice and steadily through the hydrilla you can hammer bass. And big bass too. Just a few day’s ago I was out on my day off and we caught 17 with the biggest 5 weighing 21 pounds. But we were eclipsed by my buddy who was fishing not too far from us on the same stretch. He caught two 9 pounders! 18 pounds of bass in just two fish! All on speedworms. The great thing about these lures is there versatility. Not only can you just steadily reel it through the hydrilla, you can also kill it and work it slowing like a worm, or even rig it weightless and reel it across the top. Although the steady reel has been the best producer. So as you can see Lake Toho is fishing extremely well and with the lake being managed much differently now, it’s exciting to see what the future holds for this amazing fishery. Bass wishes, Capt. AJ

More like big bass report. Because that is what is happening on Lake Toho right now. The big girls are filling up with eggs and are out eating as much as they can before they move up to spawn. And we’ve been catching them on our guide trips. In record numbers too! Well I don’t exactly know if it’s an official record or not because we haven’t really kept track in years past. But we have more pictures of big fish from this year than from years past. So… I’m calling it a record! The collage shows just some of the fish that we’ve caught this month on our Lake Toho bass guide trips. We have been catching these fish more consistently than in years past also. The major cold fronts haven’t been hurting the fishing as much as they usually do. Now why is this happening? Well I believe that it is because of something that I originally thought was going to hurt the fishing this year. And that is the large amounts of hydrilla that the FWC has left alive in the lake. You see usually the FWC begins spraying the lake in October and killing off portions of the hydrilla in areas that are over run and areas that the bass use to spawn. This year they started spraying in October and then stopped. Only killing a small amount of the hydrilla. And because there is so much hydrilla left in the lake, these bass are hiding in this thick stuff after cold fronts and are still feeding. Which is why we are still having good day’s after these fronts. Also the bass seem to be spawning just fine with all the hydrilla they are making holes in and around the hydrilla to spawn in. So as you can tell. The pattern has been a hydrilla one. Finding good healthy and green hydrilla is the key to finding these fish. Because we have fish in all three stages right now, pre-spawn, spawning, and post-spawn, these fish are in all levels of the lake. We’ve been able to find good groups of fish out deep, on the out side edges of the grass waiting to go up shallow, and up shallow spawning. Finding what group is biting best just depends on the day. But we’ve found that the deeper bite has been the most consistent. Once you find a group of fish a weighted worm, spinnerbait, swimjig, jerkbait, or speedworm all have been working good for catching them. Look at the area and try to determine which would be best to use. So all in all the lake is fishing fantastic right now and we’ve been having some amazing day’s out there catching a lot of big fish on our Lake Toho bass guide trips. It’s been a blast. So if you want to be a part of the action contact us here. Day’s book up fast at this time of year so it’s important to get your day locked down as soon as possible. Bass wishes, Capt. AJ from Freelancer Bass Guide Service