Fishing in Central Florida

[James Smith]

I'm finding fishing in Central Florida a bit different than it was in Central Georgia. Part of that might be because I knew the 50-acre lake that I lived on like the back of my hand and the 100-acre lake I live on is very different, included different species of fish. The lake I live on now was an old potash mine so it's about 35-40 feet deep in the middle. The bottom of the lake has a lot of rotting vegitation, and since it's in a HOA community there is no submerged timber, downed trees, or even any docks for me to fish. I took a chance and went this evening, but I got rained out after about 35-40 minutes. I still managed to catch about 8-9 fish; a mix of Bluegill and Tilapia. I kept one Tilapia since they are a non-native fish that compete with the Bluegill and they are pretty darn good eating. The Tilapia can be fussy eaters since the are mainly vegitarian, but I'm getting a few on Carter's Scuplin or small leech patters and well as some some baitfish immitations. They fight pretty hard almost like a very big heavy Bluegill. T16006.JPG