Clermont Chain

[Florida Bassin]

Saturday the 12th I fished the CFBA tournament out on Clermont Chain. Not having been out on the chain in several months, and unable to do any prefishing, I was just hoping for the best. I had spent the entire day on the main lake from the downtown ramp, Lake Minneola. I had started out with some quick top water baits, with no takers at all, then quickly switched to a whacky rigged Gitem K.O in dark mellon. This is the bait I thru the entire day, working very slowly and focused on mainly isolated grass patches, and an occasional grass point off a main bed. This had me culling bass at 9 AM, with all the bass coming in right at 15 inches each. I made 2 moves the entire day, and the last move was the one that paid off, trying a drop shot in the old dynamite holes produced one miss, when I spotted a bass cruising the flats, which used to be almost 4 feet deep.

I worked this grass area over for close to 40 minutes, when a single blade of grass got bumped, I tossed my bait to it and the fight was on, a nice kicker bass coming in at 6.25 pounds. Pretty much everyone was saying the same at weigh in, a lot of 14-15 inch bass, and few got kicker fish, there was a 7 an 8 a 9 and a 10 pounder weighed in, with the winning weight being just over 15 pounds. I managed to catch 17 bass and weigh in 12.67 pounds squeaking out a 4th place finish. This chain seems to being fishing good despite some very low waters, plenty of great grass beds and some deep drop offs, although I myself did not see any schooling action, this chain has produced some very good bass coming from schools. Lets pray for rain, we need it!!!
Capt Tim Fey
Bassfishingfl.com