My wife and I have saved up enough to come to Florida and fish for specs in January. This is our favorite thing to do in Missouri.
We do not know anything about fishing for Crappie in Florida. We are looking to rent a boat and fish for several days, we hear
the Crappie spawn is in Jan - Feb.. Which would be the best lake to fish or the easiest and do you have any advice where to rent
a boat and to stay. We are coming into Orlando.
Thank you in advance for any advice,
Joel & Liisa :pray
Keep an eye on the forums here. I live on Lake Griffin, which is part of the Harris Chain. I caught one Bass, that's it. But I only fished for about two hours at most each day. Check again tomorrow, vbottom (from Michigan) is supposed to stop by and we'll certainly fish Griffin for more than 2 hours, we'll see how it goes. The only other suggestion I can mention is, fish near and over the top of weeds, if you're not hitting weeds, you're not catching. I longline though, so I'm not sure how you're planning to fish. Oh, early last week I was out on Griffin and did manage a few longlining deeper water. 16-18 ft to be clear. In this case, it was not over weeds. The colder water likely drove them deep. And since you're talking the spawn, you'll likely be fishing pads anyway. Having said all that, I find Griffin a hard lake to fish.
Only place I know that rents boats is Highland Park Fish camp. It is real close to Lake Woodruff and is a fine lake as well as the river between camp and Woodruff. It is located east of Orlando in Deland. they do have a few cabins to rent but lots of hotels in area too. Do not know anything about big O and fish camps on it but am sure someone will chime in.
I would definately stay away from the Harris Chain... crappie fishing has been poor the last couple of years... your best bet... is the St Johns River.. or Lakes on the St Johns.. Highland park in Deland rents boats... If you catch any bigger than two pounds... throw them back... those are mine... LOL
Thank you for the update, ever fish Okeechobee? I am researching St Johns River.