The Bassmaster Southern Open is set to begin this coming week on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. Practice will start on Monday; competition on Thursday, concluding with a big weigh in at Bass Pro Shops Orlando on Saturday at 4p.m.

I am thrilled to be fishing this one as a co-angler (they used to call us ‘no-boaters’ before everybody got so politically correct).

A friend of mine is fishing the pro division. Jeff Holland, of Orlando, FL, fished the Opens last year and he is excited to start 2013 in his back yard. I am grateful to him for the excellent insight he has shared at his web site – JeffHollandFishing.com – and the links he has provided to maps that show the location and density of grass in the 4 lakes that are in play for Open anglers this week.

You won’t find this info just anywhere. Jeff is a great guy and a wonderful resource for anybody who is heading to Central Florida to do a little bass fishing this week.

He summed up his practice this way:  The Kissimmee lakes are acting very typical, with bass in all three phases of spawning.  Professional anglers like Chris Lane are predicting good weights.  Weed control efforts against the overgrowth of nuisance Hydrilla have taken effect.  Some lakes are fishing easy, giving up ten pounds limits within minutes, others were difficult at best.  The new lake maps that Florida’s fish & wildlife agency has been placing on the Internet were very helpful to my practice.

I will have my own practice reports to share with AnglersChannel.com viewers soon. I plan to get out with Ish Monroe before the tourney begins. That will be fun and informative for me and, by extension, all of my fellow fisherfolk who stay tuned to AnglersChannel.com.

From Kissimmee I will head down to Okeechobee and fish the FLW Tour, again, as a co-angler. I should roll into Clewiston in time to watch the Super Bowl from the outdoor Tiki Bar at the Roland Martin Marina. Then we begin practice on Monday, competition on Thursday, and the final weigh in Sunday at the Walmart in Clewiston.

I will take you out on massive Okeechobee with an FLW Tour pro to see how they shrink the inland ocean and find that 10% of the water that holds 90% of the bass.

It will be a two-week tour of South Florida bass tournament action as the Bassmaster Southern Opens and the FLW Tour kick off their seasons in the Sunshine State. And you will tag along with me and Anglerschannel.com!