“It’s depending on the weather again,” Taylor said, noting that a cold front is moving across the area the first part of this week. “Kissimmee is tough when cold fronts hit.”

And the high water left from heavy summer rains is not helping matters either, he said.

“There is a lot more water than normal this time of year. We had a bunch of rain a number of days in a row back in the summer that filled up everything. It’s still pretty high, about three feet higher than it should be this time of year.”

Before the cold front this week anglers were catching fish outside the grass lines on Senkos, Rat-L-traps and spinnerbaits, Taylor said

“Kissimmee is a real good flipping lake but the flipping bite had been off. This time of year flipping is kind of tough anyway,” he said.

While the colder winter weather seemingly has stalled the bite some, Taylor said a good hard cold snap is needed to put the fish in the mood to move shallow and start preparing for the spawn.

“The fish should start migrating back to the shallow water pretty soon,” he said. “It’s really kind of strange. You need a cold snap to trigger the fish but we have not had that yet so the big movement so far is not doing a whole lot. They are catching some fish outside the grass, but they have not moved all the way in yet. You can go shallow and catch some small fish, young buck bass.”

Even with the economy down and anglers having to pick the tournaments they can afford to fish, Taylor said the Tampa Pro Trail continues to do well on the Kissimmee Chain, East and West Lake Toho and Lake Istokpoga.

The 30-year-old trail is the longest running trail of its kind in Central Florida, said Taylor who bought the trail with his wife 17 years ago. He said there is a core group of about 35 to 38 teams who fish regularly and over the last four or five years the tournaments have averaged 43 to 47 boats.

“Actually, last month at Istokpoga was our biggest turnout in three years. We had 53 boats, which is a good turnout for that lake and we think Kissimmee should be about the same this Sunday. We always draw really well on Kissimmee,” he said.

“We have a lot of faithful anglers who hang with us even in this down economy,” he said. “We don’t make any money with the trail. We do it because of the people who are in it. The anglers who fish with us are good people. We have no problems and no headaches.”

The Tampa Pro Trail starts in October and fishes up to May, with the annual classic in June. Anglers qualify for the classic by finishing in the top 30 in points or by fishing six of the eight tournaments.”

The membership fee is $25 per angler and the entry fee per tournament is $70, which includes $10 for big bass.

“Each tournament we pay back at least the top three finishers, top five if we draw more than 35 boats, and a big bass pot. At the end of the season we pay back the top two points teams. Our accumulated classic fund for the season is paid out at our two-day classic in June,” Taylor said

With three tournaments already in the book for this season, Taylor noted that Rich Fitzgibbon and Jeremy Cannon have staked a solid claim to the points title, leading the tied second place teams of Bobby Wooten and Richie Upchurch and John and Wendy Taylor by 15 points.

“they have done really well and been pretty consistent all year,” Taylor said of Fitzgibbon and Cannon. “They are good fishermen and they have fished with us for the last four or five years.”

 

Tampa Pro Bass Tournament Trail

Sun, Jan 8, 2012

Kissimmee Chain

Camp Lester Fishing Camp

Call John and Wendy Taylor (727) 789-0525 or (727) 403-6861

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