Hey everyone, Im coming down for vacation next week Jan 4-11 as the family wants to see the parks. I intend to get one day of fishing in. Do I need a guide for Lake Toho or can I rent a boat and be successful on my own? I am a part time fishing guide here in PA. Most of the charters say they are using shiners and from what I hear Toho is loaded with bass...doesn't seem like a guide is needed. But Toho might get a lot of pressure and I have never fished in Fl so maybe I do need it. Any opinions on the subject would be appreciated.

Tight lines!

Let me see if I can get Doug Hannon on here to answer you. He has caught 100s of DDs on shiners in Florida.

Crankin'

You definitely need to get a guide. There is too much water to know, and, when I was guiding, the main thing I brought to the table was knowing where the fish were at the time and using the right tackle and techniques to catch them. A good guide should have all this, and without it you are lost and may not find yourself. If you are bobber or float, make sure you use a floating line (like one of the braids). Trolling is easy. Use mono and a long rod (8ft. or better if you have it)and just set your depth sounder on the 8ft. contour line on the South facing shorelines. Use a 4/0 Trueturn hook and free line with the shiner hooked only through the lips (not the nostril) so that is comes off when you set the hook.
Good Luck--Bass Professor

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