[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/florida-bass-fishing-setups-that-work-in-any-state\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/florida-bass-fishing-setups-that-work-in-any-state\/","headline":"Florida Bass Fishing Setups that Work In Any State","name":"Florida Bass Fishing Setups that Work In Any State","description":"When most people picture a Florida getaway they dream of sunshine, white sandy beaches, and tiki huts. Not for bass...","datePublished":"2018-03-15","dateModified":"2018-06-12","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/#Person","name":"Hector Agosto","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Legendary Whitetails","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","url":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","width":522,"height":226}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG957055.jpg","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG957055.jpg","height":960,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/florida-bass-fishing-setups-that-work-in-any-state\/","about":["Fishing"],"wordCount":1015,"keywords":["Fishing","Tips"],"articleBody":"When most people picture a Florida getaway they dream of sunshine, white sandy beaches, and tiki huts. Not for bass fisherman. For us, it\u2019s miles of fresh water and vegetation holding giant largemouth bass. When the Midwest is under a blanket of snow, Florida can be a great winter destination to escape for some exciting open-water, rod-bending action.My first stop as a co-angler on the Bassmaster Eastern Opens tournament series landed me on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Florida \u2013 a famed big bass fishery. While it\u2019s true, it still doesn\u2019t mean you will be catching jumbos on every cast.\u00a0 On a lake system this large, it is important to cover a lot of water to find the areas that hold large numbers of quality sized fish. Pre-fishing for the tournament was pretty good all week, but then a massive cold front pushed through the night before the tournament started and water temperatures dropped 7-8 degrees overnight. This pushed the fish off the beds and structure making it tough to locate them.\u00a0 When this happens, it is imperative to slow things down to get bites from these lethargic fish.\u00a0 Of course, bait selection was critical as well. Here are a few that helped us put several largemouth bass in the boat.The Zoom Speed WormThe first bait, a Junebug colored Zoom Speed Worm, is a classic Florida bass fishing presentation.\u00a0 It was Texas rigged with a 3\/16 or \u00bc ounce tungsten worm weight, pegged on an EWG worm hook.\u00a0 17-pound fluorocarbon kept the presentation abrasion resistant, yet invisible in the water.\u00a0 One of the reasons this bait is so popular is because of its versatility.\u00a0 The standard paddle tail version was used to target isolated pieces of cover, such as lone or scattered clumps of reeds, or what the locals call \u2018buggy whips\u2019.\u00a0 A cast would be made past the cover and the worm would be swam subsurface through or directly alongside the cover with the hopes of triggering an aggressive fish.\u00a0 If that didn\u2019t work, a repeat cast would be made, but this time the retrieve was a slower drag along the bottom, with long pauses when contacting the cover.From R to L: Zoom Speedworm, Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Worm, Senko, and the BPS Stik-O WormTexas Rigged Ultra Vibe Speed WormThe Ultra Vibe Speed Worm was used as a top-water style bait.\u00a0 It was also Texas rigged weightless or with a small tungsten worm weight to increase casting distance.\u00a0 This setup was perfect around flat-laying lily pads and patches of grass.\u00a0 It was reeled at a moderate speed over the top of the pads causing the tail to wag and splash.\u00a0 The fish seemed to track the worm and as it would reach open pockets in the pads they would explode on it.\u00a0 As with many topwater presentations, although exciting, the hookup ratio was not very good at times.\u00a0 A follow-up cast would sometimes get another strike, otherwise pausing the retrieve and letting the bait fall into holes in the cover got reaction bites as well.Wacky Rigged SenkoFor fish set up on edges or in sparse cover, a wacky rigged Senko was the hot bait.\u00a0 Hook choice was a number 1 VMC wacky hook, and wacky band for hooking the worms.\u00a0 The two Senkos were a 5\u201d Yamamoto in baby bass color, and a Bass Pro Shops Stik-O in black and blue flake.\u00a0 Although more expensive, I prefer these because they seemed to have the correct density and sink rate versus other brands.\u00a0 Several other baits caught fish throughout the week of practice but did not produce the same number of bites, especially after the cold front.The way bass fishing is going, there are new baits hitting the market every year.\u00a0 Each one crazier in color and style than the next.\u00a0 One of the first artificial plastics I used growing up bass fishing was a worm.\u00a0 It was fun to get back to basics throwing it around, and remembering how such a simple bait is still so effective.\u00a0 Although Florida is a thousand miles away, these same techniques can be used back in my home state of Wisconsin.\u00a0 The fish use the same types of structure including lily pads and reeds, that can be attacked using the speed worm.\u00a0 The wacky rigged Senko can be used around the same type of scattered grass and on submerged weed lines.\u00a0 Although the lakes in Wisconsin are still covered in feet of ice, it won\u2019t be long until it\u2019s time to chase midwestern bass around in open water.\u00a0 Try out some of these techniques to target spawning fish or tempt the most stubborn bass during those dreaded cold fronts.\u00a0 Stay positive and chase that next bite!"},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Legendary Whitetail's Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/florida-bass-fishing-setups-that-work-in-any-state\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Florida Bass Fishing Setups that Work In Any State"}}]}]