Captain Gene Holbrook
Professional Bass Fishing Guide
Lake Wales, FL
863-638-2393
E-mail:
bassfishing@verizonmail.com
Website:
www.capt-gene.com
Central Florida Fishing
Report
Fishing Report for Central Florida
For more than one reason I
am sure glad to see that the summer has come to an end. The
weather this summer was not at all fisherman friendly, high heat
and humidity, and, all the damn rain. Personally, this summer
brought about storms that would have sunk the S.S. Minnow. In
early August I was on the way to the lake for a guide trip when a
young man that had been out partying all night fell asleep,
crossed the yellow line, sideswiped my truck, and totally
destroyed my boat. I sustained neck and shoulder injuries,
however, I was lucky enough to get out of the truck and see my
prize possession scattered up and down highway 630. That
experience has lead to a new meaning of the word stress. Dealing
with the doctors, insurance companies, and the boat company said
twelve weeks for the new boat. All this newfound stress lead to
the discovery that my old heart was not as strong as I had hoped.
A little pain in the chest, has to be a pulled muscle from the
accident. Then a little more pain and shortness of breath, it
can’t be. Then the immense pain and a hard time breathing, three
hospital stays and two heart surgeries later I am on the road to
recovery. The doctors tell me that by the time the new boat
arrives I should be ready to fight some fish. By the time of this
article hits print I will be breaking in the new boat.
There is an old saying,
you will know who your friends are when you are down. Well I am
sure glad that a few of the area guides call me friend, because it
was these friendships that kept my guide business going. I was
still able to book trips and serve my clients with the
professionalism that they have grown to enjoy. It will be about
the first of November before the doctors will clear me to resume
guiding. Even though I have not been fishing I still keep on top
of the latest through conversation with the other guides.
The bass fishing
throughout Central Florida has been on the increase and will
continue to improve as we see the nights getting longer and
cooler. The water temps are starting to drop and the fish are
becoming more and more active every day. The guides that I work
with have been fishing a variety of lakes throughout Central
Florida, and they are seeing an increase in the quantity and
quality of the fish caught.
The Kissimmee Chain
is going through a draw down, and the level has dropped about two
feet over the last month. Use care in motoring the lake, there is
a lot of debris floating in the lake and the canals. However, I
can report good catches of fish by fishing the mouth of the
creeks, and also good results from flipping the grass lines around
the islands. Start with topwater plugs early, work your topwater
baits in and around the hydrilla and peppergrass. Throw the bait
into the thick stuff, you may only get one or two twitches before
the bait tangles, but that should be all you will need. As the
sun gets overhead dig out your flipping stick and a blue/black
craw, work the inside edges of the grass lines, also look for any
floating masses working them thoroughly.
Lake Istokpoga is
going through a spraying stage, the State has been spraying the
hydrilla for about two weeks. This spraying will have some effect
on the fishing, but the lake has been producing some fair numbers
of fish but they are mostly small. Although, over the past
weekend a local tournament resulted in a five fish thirty-five
pound stringer. The predominate pattern for numbers of fish at
this lake is to flip the grass lines and docks. Try Redshad worms
and a variety of different colored lizards. Two baits that have
been working great for me at Istokpoga are the Zoom Magnum
Lizards, color; Watermelon, Candy, and the Zoom Speed Worm, color;
Junebug. The Lake has produced some good fish although they are
few and far between. The best bid for the bigger fish is to drag
a big worm behind your Carolina Rig, try the Zoom Old Monster in
the colors, redshad and watermelonseed. A few places on the lake
to take a look at are Grassy Island, the East side of Big Island,
and the numerous docks in the canals.
Lake Walk-in-the-Water
is about 70 to 80 percent covered with hydrilla, and there has
been rumors that the State is not going to spray the lake this
year. At the rate the hydrilla is spreading the lake will be
completely covered before Spring. The talk from the guides is
that the State will have to step up and do something, and the
Homeowners Associations around the lake has been in contact with
the State. I would assume that there would be some spraying
before long. The lake has been producing good numbers of fish
with a few good fish being caught. The fishing pressure here is
still down, but will continue to pickup as the fishing continues
to improve. As is normal for this time of year you can actually
find a parking place. The local guides continue to guide this
lake and enjoy good catches of fish. As always the best bait on
Lake Walk-in-the-Water is the wild shiner. Fish your shiners on a
cork about a foot or so over the tops of the hydrilla. The bass
are becoming more active and chasing the shiners to the surface,
making for some great surface strikes. Good baits here are
topwater plugs, I like to use the Devil’s Horse, and the Chug Bug,
both baits in Black/Chrome. The guides are reporting that they
are also catching fish on spinnerbaits, rat-l-traps, and the Zoom
Super Fluke.
As always, it is my option
that every fisherman should take the time to take a kid fishing.
Share the experience of enjoying the greatest sport and past time
the Good Lord blest us with. I know that in today’s world time is
short and precious, however, the true sportsman in everyone will
come out when you introduce a kid to their first fish. The old
saying is that a smile is worth a thousand words; I tell you that
the smile of a kid who is a first time fisherman is worth a
million. I have been taking kids fishing for over twenty years
and still enjoy seeing them catch their first fish more than
catching fish myself. I have taken my kids, friends kids, kids
out of my neighborhoods, and, have also worked with the volunteers
at Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Take a kid fishing, go ahead and
give it a try, you will be hooked on introducing kids to fishing
real soon.
Capt. Gene
If you are
planning a trip to Florida consider scheduling a day or two with
Capt. Gene to enjoy the best bass fishing that America has to
offer. Capt. Gene can be reached at
www.capt-gene.com , or by
calling 863-638-2393.
