1/28/2025
With water temps hovering into the low to mid 60’s bigger fish are finally starting to bite. Caught at lot of 5 to 7lb. fish one fish over 8 lbs. this week. Fish are biting live wild shiners on both bobbers and free lines. Both on the Butler Chain and Lake Kissimmee the fish are outside the grass lines and you catch a number of fish. Artificial bite is a little slow for bigger fish but you can catch some smaller fish up to 4lbs. on spinner baits, hard jerk baits flukes and rattle traps. Took Neil McQuality and his dad Jim of Chicago Illinois they caught 9 fish over 5lbs with the largest weighing 7lbs. caught by Jim. Some fish are starting to spawn if you can find the beds slow down and use soft plastic creature baits to lure them off their beds.
Great Fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson
A#1 Bass Guide Service

8/8/2019
With 20 fish each of the last 3 times out. Fish are biting shiners on free lines. Lake Kissimmee the fish are outside the grass lines and you catch a number of fish up to 5lbs on worms and rattle traps early in the morning. When the sun gets up they are very tight to cover flipping seems to work if you can find them. Some smaller fish up to 2lbs. on flukes and rattle traps when you see them schooling.
Great Fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson
A#1 Bass Guide Service

06/03/2018
First week in June proves again to be excellent for big bass again. Billy Hayes of Missouri caught a 10. 3 lb. linker first thing in the morning on top water bait on Lake Toho. With water levels low fish are biting on weed beds in 5-6 feet of water. Caught another fish over 7 lbs. most fish are 2-4 lbs. Top waters in the early morning and rattle traps fished mid to late morning. Fish are biting live wild shiners on fished on corks. Both on the Butler Chain and lower Kissimmee Chain we are catching 15-20 fish in a ½ day. Artificial bite is a little slower for bigger fish but you can catch some smaller fish up to 5lbs. on watermelon red flukes, frogs and chrome blue rattle traps when you see them schooling on the surface.
Great Fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

5-1-2024
With water temperatures in the low 80 degrees the spawn is now over. We had a great week of fishing! We fished the Butler Chain in Orlando on Tuesday and Larry Loomis caught a 7.5 lb fish on a shiner and we caught over 20 fish on plastic worms in the watermelon red color. Tuesday fishing in Lake Wales area caught 19 fish up to 5lbs. on shiners we did not get started until 9 a.m. even thought the wind was up a little. Thursday the fish were on fire had half day morning trip with Chris Striffer of PA. and his 2 twin grandsons we caught over 40 fish on plastic worms and 5in.Kalin grubs. Some fish were in the 5-6lb. range.
Great fishing!
Capt Pete Matson

03/11/2017
With weather getting close to normal and water temperatures getting around 62 degrees fishing is starting to get good. Caught 2 fish over 10lbs shiner fishing this week. Lake walk in Water produced a fish 11 lbs on shiners. Butler Chain the fish are starting on the beds, Sinkos and plastic lizards and trick worms produced the best in watermelon red the best.
Great fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

Capt. Pete Matson
02/28/2017
With February weather all month below normal and water temperatures rising and falling between 52-62 degrees so was the fishing. No reel spawn yet so shiner fishing dominating the big fish bite and artificial bite getting more numbers. Lake Toho was tough but we managed to catch 3 fish over 10 lbs. Lake walk in Water produced the larger fish one over 12 lbs. Kissimmee we got one 11.5lbs. When we could fish Kissimmee in good weather we would catch 25 or so on artificial. Sinkos and shallow running crank baits produced best with Carolina rigs sometime working on the outside when the fish would back off from the beds.
Great fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

11/28/2017
With the changing weather and an arriving cold front in Central Florida this week fishing was excellent in the first part of the week to slow in the later part. Lake Toho was on fire on Tuesday temperatures were in the eighties and cloud cover. Ted Schrep his son Justin and his work partner of Orlando caught 21 fish up to 7 lbs. in a half day trip on shiners we used 4 doz. by 10:30 a.m. On Wednesday the Butler Chain was good as well we caught 26 fish in 2 half day charters up to 6.8 lbs. on both artificial and shiners. Zoom Super Flukes, sinkos and 10 in. worms in watermelon red and junebug were the trick that day. Walk in Water was slow on Thursday Thanksgiving morning wind came out of the north and we only managed 6 fish up to 3lbs. in the boat although we lost a big one in heavy cover that would have made the day! Friday also had 20 mph wind and temperatures in the forties that morning so we fished the Butler Chain in a half day caught 7 fish with the largest weighing 5lbs.
Great fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

12/12/2024
With changing weather all week and water temperatures rising and falling between 65-72 degrees. shiner fishing was not as good as artificial bite the fish not on a steady feed no sign of a spawn yet. Lake Toho was tough but we managed to catch 8 fish on Zoom Super Flukes not bad average though fish were around 4lbs. largest weighing 5.5lbs. Saturday the Butler Chain we caught 16 fish shiners worked a little better, but rattletraps 6in. worms in watermelon red and junebug both Texas and Carolina rigged worked better. Great fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

1/07/2025
With the coldest temperatures in years in Central Florida shiner fishing is producing the larger fish. Not as many as you will catch on artificial. There is no sign of a spawn with temperatures hovering around freezing at night. Lake Toho has been tough but we manage few larger fish but one can only expect only a few bites a day. The Orlando Butler and Conway Chains are a lot better on artificial. Monday the fish started to school up as the day warmed and we caught 14 fish in deep water ledges. Carolina rigs watermelon red and June bug worms are working best use rattletraps when the fish come up. Shiners worked a little better when you anchor up.
Great fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

1/31/2016
The fishing is excellent in the Kissimmee Chain of lakes with the weather warming this week. The fish are both in a pre-spawn and some fish spawning it depends on what lake you are in on the chain. In the last 4 trips have fished 3 different lakes with great success in all of them. Caught big fish and numbers both. On Saturday in Lake Kissimmee Ron Patrick and his wife Jody caught 15 fish in a half day up to 6.7 lbs. on shines using 3 dozen. Emanuel and Jean Raquet from France caught 21 fish with the largest 8.1lbs. On Thursday Jules Lopez and his business associate on spinner baits caught 14 with an average fish weighing around 5lbs. in Lake Cypress. On Saturday George Kull caught a 10 lb. fish on a shiner in Lake Toho. Some fish will leave the beds with the appreciating front because the water temperature will drop below 60 degrees so we should be able to locate them a little deeper this week..
Great Fishing!
Capt Pete Matson

02/28/2025
With February weather all month below normal and water temperatures rising and falling between 52-62 degrees so was the fishing. No reel spawn yet so shiner fishing dominating the big fish bite and artificial bite getting more numbers. Lake Toho was tough but we managed to catch 3 fish over 10 lbs. Lake walk in Water produced the larger fish one over 12 lbs. Kissimmee we got one 11.5lbs. When we could fish Kissimmee in good weather we would catch 25 or so on artificial. Sinkos and shallow running crank baits produced best with Carolina rigs sometime working on the outside when the fish would back off from the beds.
Great fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

03/11/2106
With weather getting close to normal and water temperatures getting around 62 degrees fishing is starting to get good. Caught 2 fish over 10lbs shiner fishing this week. Lake walk in Water produced a fish 11 lbs on shiners. Butler Chain the fish are starting on the beds, Sinkos and plastic lizards and trick worms produced the best in watermelon red the best.
Great fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

06/10/2016
With summer weather here and water temperatures getting around 85 degrees fishing is good. On half and three quarter day trips producing over twenty fish normal on artificial. The top water bite and Carolina rigged worms producing the best , sinkos and plastic worms producing after the sun gets up near structure into mid morning and afternoon. Shiners are producing some big fish over ten lbs. early in morning and late evening. Bev Hockarin from Ft. Lauderdale Florida caught a ten lb. fish on a wild shiner. Openings in June still available.
Great fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

7/21/2024
With water temperatures hovering around 90 degrees fishing has slowed down some. You need to fish very early in the morning or at night to catch the bigger fish. Each day seems to be a different approach. One day they will hit shiners and the next day they will not hardly touch them. Find running water when we get a good shower the night before the water seems to cool down a couple degrees and the bite will be strong the next morning. On artificial top water such as flukes and zara spooks in the early morning for about an hour the move into cover such as lily pads and hydrilla. Fish worms and sinkos in watermelon and gord green slow and deliberate to get bit. Lake Toho and Lake Kissimmee are the best on the chain because of the water levels in the middle part of the chain are low.
Great Fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson

12/12/2024
With changing weather all week and water temperatures rising and falling between 65-72 degrees. shiner fishing was not as good as artificial bite the fish not on a steady feed no sign of a spawn yet. Lake Toho was tough but we managed to catch 8 fish on Zoom Super Flukes not bad average though fish were around 4lbs. largest weighing 5.5lbs. Saturday the Butler Chain we caught 16 fish shiners worked a little better, but rattletraps 6in. worms in watermelon red and junebug both Texas and Carolina rigged worked better. Great fishing!
Capt. Pete Matson