February 2020 Harris Chain Fishing Report
Fishing in the Orlando, Clermont and Mount Dora area is producing giant largemouth bass! The first stop for all the major pro tours are coming to Florida right now! The Harris Chain of lakes is the destination for the F.L.W pro tour, Bass Pro shops Big Bass, the F.L.W. collegiate national championship and the F.L.W. High school national championship. The Harris Chain is a no brainer for big bass this time of year. All of the Orlando Fishing guides come to Lake Harris to catch the elusive 10 pound largemouth bass we all seek. The Bassmasters are scheduled to fish the St.Johns River this month as well.
I am here to share with you the knowledge I have on the local chain of lakes including Lake Harris, Lake Eustis, Lake Griffin and Lake Dora. Each of these lakes hold giant Largemouth Bass and techniques only differ slightly from lake to lake. The Bass are spawning! Well some of them anyways! The big female largemouth bass can be found spawning in lily pad fields, spring fed canals, arrow head vegetation and cattails. Not every area spawns The same time it all depends on temperature preferably 65 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer with hard sand bottom. These spawning largemouth bass can be caught sight fishing with white colors in creature bait style worms. Flipping the vegetation up shallow with zoom speed worms or Zoom trick worms in dark colors and a 1/4 ounce weight produces the best success for catching trophy size largemouth bass. Now with spawning bass comes pre and post spawn! I choose to target these patterns more often because the fish will be more heavily concentrated in certain areas! My weapon of choice is a bill Lewis RATL-TRAP in gold colors. I look for vegetation near or at the mouths of canals or deep drop offs. Eelgrass and Hydrilla are your friend. Find these grasses in 6 to 8ft of water and fish it slow and thoroughly and I guarantee you see results! We boated almost 20lbs in the Lake County Sheriff’s Office 7th annual bass tournament for 6th place with these patterns! Our big fish was an 8 pound female largemouth bass caught on a rattle trap. Wild shiners are my catch all for fishing charters! I get the shiners from local bait stores in the mount dora area! Fished under a bobber or with just a hook letting them swim deeper. The Lake county area is heating up for giant fish and I suggest you get a line in the water ASAP! Call me today and we here at centralfloridabasscharters.com will put you on that trophy catch largemouth here on the Harris Chain of lakes! Thank you for tuning into my spring time fishing report for the Harris Chain of Lakes!
Captain -Grady Maynard of Central Florida Bass Charters