by | March 12, 2026
A Trusted Captain Shares Her Best Bass Fishing Spots in Florida
Bass fishing guide and captain Debbie Hanson shares her tips and tricks to fishing for these catches in Florida's spring season.
Spring arrives in a subtle fashion here in Florida. There’s no dramatic thaw, no seemingly sudden burst of green. Instead, it shows up in small, but unmistakable ways—warmer breezes blowing in from the south, a few more hours of sun and the keen observation that our freshwater lakes and canals are becoming more active again. As a captain and fishing guide, I define spring not by a date on a calendar, but by the routes I take to pursue my passion for bass fishing.
I begin to celebrate this much-revered time of year by spending time in the Everglades Water Conservation Area (WCA) canals of South Florida. These thin ribbons of water, bordered by rugged limestone ledges and towering cypress trees, come alive when water levels in the surrounding sawgrass marshes drop during Florida’s dry season from late winter to early spring.
My pace when fishing these narrow canals is slower and much more deliberate than it would be when targeting bass on a large lake or out in open water. I take mental notes of where I see herons and egrets wading along vegetation edges. I use my polarized sunglasses to spot bass patrolling beneath the spatterdock leaves and stay mindful of the many alligators that fancy sunning themselves along the canals.
As South Florida water temperatures start to warm back into the high 60 to low 70-degree range following our winter cold fronts, the WCA canals provide exceptional bass fishing opportunities. On calm days, I love rigging up a weightless Senko fishing lure in either a junebug or watermelon color and casting it around the edges of the bulrushes and lily pads using a medium-light rod. It doesn’t matter that I’ve been fishing for over four decades: When I feel the thump of a 5 to 6-pound bass striking a Senko as it flutters down through the water column, there’s always an emphatic “Yes!” or “Yahoo!” echoing across the Everglades.
Once April arrives, I make my way north from the Everglades to Lake Istokpoga in Highlands County. The variety of aquatic vegetation is a reason the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission ranks it among the top lakes in the state for trophy bass fishing. The hydrilla, eelgrass, bulrushes and Kissimmee grass provide plenty of hiding places for big bass that come to shallow water to spawn. The heavy cover also means switching to medium-heavy rods rigged with 30-pound braided line and stocking up on soft-plastic creature baits like lizards or craws.
I caught my first Florida trophy bass in 2015—weighing just over 10 pounds—on Lake Istokpoga, while learning about the fishery from local guide Don Hatcher. That morning and the slow, foggy drive up to Sebring on US-27 North will remain ingrained in my memory for years to come.
What connects these places isn’t the spring fishing patterns alone—it’s the way they anchor me to the season. I find myself returning to these waters not out of habit, but out of gratitude for the ways they continually challenge me and provide much-needed space to reset.
