The Kit Lake Solace

JULY 2025

          It was a month of loss on Kit Lake, my home water in central Florida’s largemouth bass country.  Ideology was washed away. We said goodbye to friends. And we gave up options in our fishing to get shots at fish in warming water.

As the sun peaked over the horizon, Kit Lake Anglers moved quickly to the lake for surface action. But throughout the day they needed a reason to move quickly. Water heated up also, and the energy of the fish matched the energy of the anglers. So slower presentations worked to connect the two.

Lilly pads have been expanding, so we have lost a good bit of shoreline holding area. But Selena figured out the new environment with weighted mohair wooly buggers, dropped from poppers on short tippets. Even though she lost both deep presentation because of the short drop, and the relaxed countdown of an unweighted fly, she came away with two fat bluegills who struck with increased confidence.

Limited rains raised water levels a little. So, Mr. Two Plates stuck with weedless poppers on shortened leaders. He got more drifting time and found bass early in the morning by changing the direction of his float through the Post Bay.

During the heat of the day, some tough anglers with ten foot long leaders holding single sinking streamer flies found bass in five to ten feet of water, near shade, drop offs, or those intruding lily pads. Moving water was key, and fishing in the cool breeze ahead of storms was tempting.

Well into the late morning, hopeful pod-chasing anglers found nervous water, but lost most of their catching time, by chasing pods of bait fish coming to the surface of about fifteen feet of water.

          We have entered another hot period. We’ve given up some things, and are ready to find new fish during August on Kit Lake.