Fishing at Lake Tohopekaliga, Orland Florida

[Frogman20]

Finally made my it down to Orlando Florida and had a chance to get out and fish Lake Tohopekaliga. I was enlighten quickly on the 10 to 12 foot gators which is a little unnerving to say the least. The wind was blowing pretty strong at 12 to 14 miles and hour. The sun was bright and it was a muggy 91 degree's but the lake was beautiful and full of energy with air boats and helicopters buzzing around, which made fishing difficult. It still was a great experience since I had never fished Orlando before and lake was famous for producing 10 to 12 pound bass. I had a few good strikes using topwater frogs but mostly spinner baits where producing.
The water was murky and difficult to see past the first few inches and kayaking was tough and not the best way to fish the lake. I would recommend using a boat especially since the gentlemen at the marina mentioned that kayaks don't usually venture out much because of the large gator population. Lot's of weed beds throughout the lake. The average water depth was about 6 feet and the water temp was right around 70 degree's. Over all it was a pleasant experience and I would fish the lake again but with boat instead of a kayak for sure.

[Top Tiger]

If you go again, try Lk Hatchineha or Blue Cypress. Both on the same chain but smaller. Great fish in on both. I speak from experience.

[Bassboss]

Sounds fun! But you don't really have to worry about the gators. They're not man eaters like folks make them out to be. Just don't tick 'em off!

[WTL]

Hatchineha and Cypress are both terrific lakes, Hatch is actually my personal favorite lake in the world. Cypress is very similar, shallow, bowl shaped.

As for the gators and kayaks, I think kayaks are fairly safe, but you have to worry about them. If they start circling around, you should not say to yourself "self, I'm not going to worry about that 12 foot gator making the sounds of love 20 feet over, and that other one on the other side, because bassboss said they arent maneaters"


That doesn't mean no kayaks in gator country, but be cautious and smart and just do what your common sense tells you to do.

[danielbasspro]

I would fish cypress, west lake, and kissimee. I've fished there a lot and you need to throw a spinnerbait, buzzbait, t rigged curlytail, heddon baby torpedo, but most importantly, flippin(if you can from a kayak). I've had a few tournaments there the past few months and first place finishes have been big ones caught flippin. Don't worry about the gators a whole lot, but don't push your luck. Dont second guess your self either, if you see a gator posturing it's back up or they are appearing closer and closer, just go. If you can get to west lake, fish near the powerlines, or an island they call "big grassy" with a fluke/trickworm,downshot. Be patient and you'll get em.

[Top Tiger]

All this talk of spinnerbaits, different worms and presentations etc, etc. Without a doubt, the best way to catch BIG bass is to get you a 10" to 13" golden wild shiner (we called them "horse shiners"), hook him through the lips and slow troll him 75 to 100 yes behind the boat. You might not get the quantity of fish but what you get will for sure be a keeper. I know that's not legal for tournaments but for catching big fish live bait is the wY to go.