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Lake Wales, FL – The second event of the 2008 Elite Series season, the Citrus Slam, is running out of Central Florida’s Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. Last week, 109 of the finest bassers the world has ever seen made a tough bite amid brutal frontal conditions look easy. While the jury will be out until the tournament begins Thursday (with regards to the truth behind the bite), the weather conditions on the ponds will likely be roller-coaster again – it is Florida, and we are there in the early spring after all.
In what basically comprises the headwaters for the entire ecological wonderland that is the Florida Everglades, the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes consists of well over 10 lakes and spans from Orange County on the upper end, down to St. Cloud – and even further south still. While Tohopekaliga (Toho) and Kissimmee making up the bulk of truly fishable waters on the south end, as history shows, anglers this week may well venture into lakes Cypress and Hatchineha as well.
Toho – the most storied of virtually all the lakes in the chain – is where much of the action will take place over the course of the next four days. Like most any other lake in Florida, the lakes in the southern end of the Chain are shallow and extremely sensitive to weather fronts in the spring. And, just like last week, daily weights and movers up the leader board will be contingent on a quality kicker.
From all indications at this point, the bite at Kissimmee appears to be “off,” though no one has said specifically what that means. Obviously tournament fishermen are known sand-baggers, so the truth is purely speculative as to what “off” might actually entail. To a man, however, each pro would agree that finding the ever-elusive double-digit female will be a savior to a bad day’s fishing.
To get as close to the “truth” as possible, we tracked down a handful of Elite pros to get their take on how the lakes will shape up this week.
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John Crews
Crews, like each of the pros we spoke with, stated flatly that the week will be a grind. “It’s going to be an interesting week,” he said. “There’s very little spawning activity going on. The fish are doing a lot of different things, but the one thing they’re not doing right now is biting.”
The grind, he explained, is typical for this time of the year in this neck of the woods. “It’s just like any other Florida event,” he explained, “it comes down to one or two big bites every day. There will be a lot of seven-, eight-, and nine-pound stringers. Every day, it will come down to the guys who put together an eight-pound limit and culled up with a couple of bruisers.” |
Crews doesn’t have an idea of why the bite appears to be “off,” just that it is…and it shouldn’t be. “I think most all of the fish are done spawning which puts most of them in transition,” he said. “To be honest though, they should be biting better as a result of that. They just aren’t doing that right now, and I don’t know why.”
At Harris, Crews kept one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. At Kissimmee, he explained that that won’t be an option – a commitment will be required. “Last week, I alternated between fast and slow,” he said. “This week, it’s going to have to be one or the other – either extremely slow, or very fast. You won’t have the ability to do both.”
Kelly Jordon
Kelly Jordon differs from Crews in his estimation of practice and the tournament that kicks of Thursday. “I think it’s going to be pretty good,” he said. “We’ve got some pretty good weather coming in, and I have three or four things working right now.”
KJ threw out the wild-card variable for the week…current. “The X-Factor right now is the current,” he explained. “There’s a lot of water running right now, which is odd because I thought Florida was in a drought. This is the first time that I’ve been here for BASS tournament when we’ve had noticeable current. That’s going to be a huge factor this week.”
Florida is known for its unstable weather and fishing in a crowd. This week, Jordon doesn’t see the paradigm changing any at all. “There are a couple of key spots where everyone will stack up,” he said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how the crowds and the current play into everyone’s game plan.”
Fishing 108 out of 109 last week at Harris, Jordon explained his motivation this week. “I may roll around and see how many miles I can fish in a day,” he jokingly said. “I have some ground to make up. Actually though, my goal is to beat Greg Hackney. If I can do that, I’m happy.
“ I accomplished that last week, so we’ll see how we can do here.”
G-Man
Gerald Swindle pulled no punches when commenting on his desire to say farewell to the Sunshine State for the season. “It’s tough on me right now,” he said. “It’s typical Florida fishing – it’s just going to come down to who can catch a giant.
“If you can consistently catch five-pound fish or better, to kick out all the 12- and 13-inch fish that you’re bound to catch, you’ll be a hero. I don’t fall into that category right now.”
More to the point, Swindle explained that for a junk fisherman, it will just come down to getting lucky at the right time. “It’s going to be a real grind,” he said. “You’re going to have to peck around and scratch out a limit and then just hope to get lucky with a big bite or two.
“You’re going to catch eight or ten fish a day that won’t be bigger than 11 inches. In fact, a pro (who will remain nameless) had two bites Monday – and 11-pounder and an 11-incher. That’s pretty much how it’s going.”
As for the predominant pattern, well, Swindle didn’t stray from his previous estimation of the week – TOUGH. “There are still some bucks on the bed, but all of the big females have moved out into the grass,” he explained. “That makes them very tough to find and catch.
“They transitioned, but they haven’t traveled far. They may have moved two yards from their nest and just buried up in grass and won’t come out for anything.”
Matt Reed
Texas pro Matt Reed is ready to get rid of the Toho monkey that’s been on his back throughout his career. “It would be wonderful to do well here this week,” he said. “This chain has just been a nemesis to me for my entire career, but I’ve actually had a pretty good practice. So, everyday that I spend on the water, I get a little closer to getting rid of the monkey.”
Like many of the other pros we spoke to, Reed explained that the fish are scattered and difficult due to the quirkiness of their transitional phase. “There’s some shallow fish up in the pads and grass,” he said. “I also have an offshore deal working. That’s really my biggest hope right now – the offshore pattern. I just hope that it holds up, but it all depends on the weather.”
Matt explained that given his choices, he’d just as soon be handed a $10,000 for gas money back to Texas right now. “I’m just ready to get to Texas right now where there’s a little structure,” he lamented. “All this green stuff is driving me nuts. I would take 12 pounds a day and just be tickled to death. I don’t know if I can do it or not, but I’m sure going to try.”
Mark Davis
Veteran pro Mark Davis, unlike most everyone else we spoke to, actually has seemingly solved the mystery and it upbeat about the tournament ahead. “It’s a lot like the Harris Chain was actually,” he said. “The fish are doing a lot of things right now, so you have a lot of options to choose from. The trick is making the right choice…and hopefully I’ll do just that.”
Davis did allude to the “off”ness that’s rampant at Kissimmee this week. “They’re up shallow and they’re holding to outside edges of grass beds out in deeper water, and they’re at all points in between,” he said. “I’ve been able to establish four different primary patterns covering the span from the bank to offshore – and none are really any stronger than the other.”
As for the game plan, Davis said that he’s not fully committed until after the first day is in the books. “I will probably be locking some, and will likely be fishing a few different lakes,” he explained. “The fishing is a lot better than it was last week, but it’s impossible to know for sure until the first day of the tournament. I’m going to reserve judgment until then.”
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