Bass & Bluegill at Bear Pond - A Mimic Minnow Review

First I want to write a quick review of the Mimic Minnow Silver Shiner. This small 1/8 oz lure arrived this week and has been deadly on bass at Colonial Grand Apts in Lake Mary. I've been catching about 2-3 bass everytime I go there on the Mimic Minnow. A total of 7 bass on this one lure, and it's still in good shape. The biggest bass was 1 LB 2 OZ.

Bear Pond, Seminole State Forest. I've been there twice this week. The first trip was with my grandparents and my son Cody on Wednesday afternoon. We arrived around 3:30pm. Using live large shiners, we tried catching some largemouth bass. We almost had a couple smallies but they both popped off when we got them up to the water surface. We did catch a bunch of bluegill using trout worms on a size 10 hook. I did bring home 5 handsized gills to eat, which were very good fried with cornmeal, flour, and egg.
On Friday morning I arrived at Bear Pond again with Kyle and Zack around 10:30am. I caught 2 largemouth bass this time after only 3 live shiners. I also caught a ton of bluegill using worms and hotdog, released the small ones and kept 7 good sized gills for eating.

The problem with Bear Pond now is an alligator has become interested when people are around. It actually swims up close to where we're fishing now. My guess is others have been feeding it so now it looks forward to people fishing. I wish others would pay more attention to the sign that says "please don't feed or molest the alligator" but of course you have those people that have no common sense and/or don't care. If I ever witness someone feeding or teasing the gator I'm going to report them to FWC and hope they get busted while they're out there. The more this gator gets used to people, the more dangerous it will be to fish there.

Bass Fishing in May - Bass Pro Shops Order

Well, I haven't been catfishing much since it is mating season for gators. Plus our favorite catfish hotspot on the river bank at Mullet Lake Park may be a potentially ideal location for gators to nest and lay eggs, since we have to walk through the tall grass and brush just to get to the bankside. So our main focus lately has been bass fishing, mostly in residential ponds and lakes. The Colonial Grand Apartments has been a good bass spot, I've caught a fish everytime there usually. Small ones, about a pound each. The Berkley 7" Power Worms in Red Shad are bringing them in. Kyle has been working the pond near Lake Loch Leven in Mount Dora with the Culprit 7.5" Red Shad worms.

So I'm running out of worms and had a couple BassProShop gift cards to use. I placed an order yesterday and this is what I got for about $20 shipped...

Berkley PowerBait Power Worms 7" - Blue Fleck (10 pack)



Culprit Worm 7.5" - Red Shad (18 pack)



Zoom Super Fluke 5 1/4" - White Ice (10 pack)



Zoom Super Fluke 5 1/4" - Baby Bass (10 pack)



Mimic Minnow 1/8oz - Silver Shiner (2 pack)

Colonial Grand at Town Park in Lake Mary

Today I learned that there was an 8 lb bass caught in an apartment complex in Lake Mary. At Colonial Grand At Town Park, there are two ponds to fish. We fished the south pond first, getting a few bites. I tried my Super Spook Jr for some topwater action and got a bite but nothing. Didn't catch anything so we walked to the north pond. Fished there for about 25-30 minutes and I caught a nice little bass, about 1 LB. I was using a Zoom Fluke in White Ice. Kyle almost had a fish too, but it got away close to the shoreline. Kyle was using the 5" Yamasenko worms in Green Pumpkin/Black Flake, which are very productive in small ponds.

Fishing Florida Radio

After catching that 17 1/2" American Shad a few days ago, I was invited by co-host Steve Chapman to give Fishing Florida Radio a call on Saturday morning to talk about my catch. I called around 8:30am and was able to talk to Steve for a few minutes. He asked what I used to catch the shad, where I caught it, and what time of day. It was a brief discussion but regardless, I was happy to be part of the show. As a thank you for calling in, they are mailing me a prize pack. Not sure what's in that prize pack, but I guess we'll find out next week!

Today I took my dad and my son Cody to Mullet Lake Park to go fishing. This was my first time fishing with my dad in about 15 years or so. My first cast, BITE! It was something big and it made a fast getaway. My drag was singing and then snap, my line broke pretty quick. I'm guessing it was a big Largemouth Bass and it's unfortunate I couldn't land it. The rest of the day was pretty slow and relaxed. I caught 2 little Largemouth Bass using an Arkie Twirl Tail (pink jighead / yellow glo body) and a Creme Spoiler Shad (Black Back). Both were under a pound. Surprised to say no American Shad caught today either. When I got home and checked in with my online fishing buddies, one of them said they were on fire this morning at the same location we were at. He said he caught 6 shad and hooked at least 15, nothing over 16" though. I think we arrived a little too late for the shad action today because we got there around 11:30AM. As long as nobody beats my 17 1/2" I'll be fine with that, LOL.

C.S. Lee Park report

This afternoon after picking up Cody, we headed out to C.S. Lee Park to find my first shad. I had made my own rigs earlier in the day and wanted to test them out too. Each rig allows me to use two lures instead of just one, giving me twice the attraction and hopefully more fish.

Here's my homemade rig:

At first my top lure was a Road Runner Crappie Thunder 1/16oz electric chicken color and then below that was a Nungesser Shad Dart pink/white/yellow. I fished that setup for about an hour and got a small Largemouth Bass on the shad dart.
So then I took off the Crappie Thunder and replaced it with a 1.5" gold spoon, and nothing. I called it a day around 5:30 to head back home. Tomorrow I might try Mullet Lake Park with my homemade rigs and see what happens.

Largemouth Bass - Pink/Yellow Grub-tail Jig

Fished the Mullet Lake river bank yesterday afternoon trying to get my first american shad of the derby, but no luck again. I could see them jumping out of the water a few times, but they are not that thick right now. But I did catch my first river largemouth bass on a very small 1/16 oz pink jighead with a 1" yellow grub-tail lure. The bass weighed at 12 oz.

Rig: Carolina rig
Lure: 1/16 oz pink jig head w/ 1" yellow grub-tail
Tackle: 3/4 oz Egg Sinker, 10 lb test line

Storm Wildeye Swim Shad Lure - Baby Bass color

Bought a pack of 3" Storm Wildeye Swim Shad lures in Baby Bass color, same as above. These ultra realistic baits feature soft bodies, lifelike wildeyes, and great swim action in the water during retrieve. They come pre-rigged with hooks, weight 1/4oz each and 3 per pack!

Me and my friend Kyle put the new lures to the test over at Bear Pond, in the Seminole State Forest. Kyle caught his biggest largemouth bass to date using the swim shad lure, we didn't have a scale with us but estimate it around 8 lb.

My First Largemouth Bass - Zoom Fluke White Ice

Hooked my first largemouth bass using a Zoom Fluke in white ice color. It was caught at Bear Pond in Seminole State Forest. I didn't have a scale at the time but my guess it was under a lb. Regardless of weight, it was a fun catch for sure!