Reel Good Fishing

My wife and I went on a two-day fishing tournament, between ourselves, in search for big Bass in the Tenoroc Fish Management Area in Polk County, FL. Mined for phosphate in the 70′s, this 7300-acre tract of land left behind fourteen lakes. The FWC managed lakes are open to the public, with reservations, and specific rules apply. It offers some of best freshwater fishing I have experienced.

Day 1: Lake “B”, with depths ranging from 4-28 feet, was no Florida bowl lake where the Bass are in the vegetation around the edges of the lake. The depth changes quickly and while there was an occasional ambushing Bass in the dollar weeds, often the depth was 9 feet at the shore line. We fished with plastic worms and creature baits of various colors. I threw a few crank baits and as the sun got high (and hot) we threw small spinners and my wife caught a hand size Bluegill. It flipped off of the hook as I was getting the camera, so there’s no picture. There was an abundance of Alligators in this lake and likely in the others as well. If you are scared of gators in the wild, you may get nervous in the many secluded coves where they sunned themselves and swam freely. This is a rational fear as these gators averaged 6-7 feet. We even saw one with a fish in it’s mouth. I was a bit jealous that he caught one and I didn’t. They will go underwater if you get too close for their comfort which gave my wife discomfort. I steered clear of them to make her feel a bit higher on the food chain. After all, the sign at the Ranger Station did say “Beware of Mating Alligators. So, I opted not to jig and pig or drop shot in the dollar weed. All in all, it was a great day. Since we only made it around half of the lake, we would return in the morning with new tactics and lures to unlock the secrets of big Bass in Tenoroc pits. We looked forward to day 2.

Tenoroc Fishing