The Kit Lake Solace

APRIL 2025   

It was a month of disorganized collusion on Kit Lake, my home water in central Florida’s largemouth bass country. Pencil purchasers purchased large pencils while pencil sharpener purchasers purchased small pencil sharpeners. The newest abandoned boat on Kit Lake was out of position to be a reef. And that low water grew fish-holding-vegetation. But, moved fish to new spots.

          Spring ended, and clean sunlight glinted off the leaves of our live oaks like polished emeralds. The annual dry season was in effect, driving down water levels making it tricky to find fish. Baitfish were present in the shallows, but falling water moved those shallows.

          Bluegill ruled the day in the reduced shallows. Kit Lake anglers found that moving water was more important than shade. The bluegill, small and large ate anything small from poppers with weed guards to streamers and bead head prince nymphs. Our anglers found the bluegill so active that talk of sporting tactics included mentions of 1 weight rods.

          The lowering water pushed our bass to the drop offs where pollen clouded the water and rewarded bulky flies. OB’s Grassy Whistler, and even Schmitterbaits fit the conditions for fish in water from 4 to 15 feet deep.

          Evening hatch fishing was good. Anglers found slots of 30 minutes at sunset where fish went all over and ate all kinds of flies.

          Those collusions of factors made decisions clear for everyone, even though we called audibles. And fly fishing for large mouth bass helped the anglers of Kit Lake see the challenges and options. Next month the rains will come and fish will be more available.