Fishing Lake Panasoffkee Florida

Today my good friend and fishing partner Don and I, fished Lake “P”, also known as Lake Panasoffkee. We also fished the canal and a short stretch of the river downstream from the canal. We started out on the lower canal and worked out onto and downriver. We threw soft plastics as well as a couple of crankbaits. The water was fairly clear, and with the lack of rainfall recently, there was almost no current. Water temps were in the high 60’s in this area.

We saw very little surface action in this area and marked very few fish once we left the canal. We fished several back slews and main edges and had very little success. We saw no evidence of spawning or pre-spawn in these areas.

Around 1:30 we motored up to the lake, which was laid down like a mirror by the way, and went over to the east side of the lake. We motored up the east side, fished, and scouted a few coves. The water temps here were almost in the 70-degree range and we started to see some fanning evidence in the shallows, although we didn’t see any active beds yet, they were definitely “testing” the bottom in these areas.

We then motored up to the northeast end of the lake and tried to go up the little cut that joins up with Little Jones Creek. Here we have seen definite signs of bedding but no active beds yet. Sadly after going up the cut for about ½ a mile, the path was blocked by a downed tree, so we had to come back out.

Keep Looking

We then motored up to Big Jones and in the back bay, before the creek narrows, we found a few bass chasing Threadfin Shad. The area was littered with big gators so we didn’t linger and disturb the big guys, and it was time to head for the ramp.

While the fishing wasn’t that great today, the weather and the lake were absolutely beautiful. We were mainly on a scouting mission to find spawning areas and we did find quite a few. So hopefully in a couple of weeks, we will be “tearing ’em up.”

This post is a little wordy, but I had a lot to cover today. I’ll try to keep it more to the point from here on in. I appreciate good feedback, and if you want a fishing report from one of these areas in Sumter County or just some general information on this great sport, I’ll be glad to help you. So please drop me a line. Good Fishin Mates.

Till next time, tight lines….
From Staff Writer Skee (skee@bassonline.com)
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