Day 2: What to watch for

What can we watch for today on the Kissimmee chain of lakes? The expectation would be seeing more and bigger bass coming to the scales.

Yesterday only two limits surpassing 20 pounds were weighed. And not many big bass–at least by the standards of this lake — came across the scales. 

What we can watch for is how yesterday’s leaders will fare with this same group starting later in the morning. There are a couple of reasons why that is important.

First, most of those big bags came from Lake Kissimmee, a long run and lock passage from the takeoff site. Yesterday’s early arrivers benefited from fishing the unpressured waters until the boats taking off after them arrived. With later takeoff times, those same guys are worried they will be in the same boat.

Word gets out and this is the do-or-die last chance at qualifying for the finals on Friday. Those key prespawn transition areas are well known. So look for the pressure to build. What else is a challenge is those few key areas are vast in size, but very small when it comes to specific transition points where the big bass gather to move into the spawning areas. 

Second, the most and best activity observed yesterday was early morning through midday. There was a lull and then it picked back up late. So as outlined above, being on the spot early could be huge.

On this deal, time will tell as the bottom line on what to watch for is whether or not the heaviest weights come in early, not late, which will bode well for the anglers leaving the dock first.