Rick Rawlins finds big bass in the quiet back creeks off the St. Johns River near DeLand. Photo by William J. Bohica

Although there's really no such thing as a "bass season" in Florida, you'd be safe if you said that January is the start of it. Not that you can't catch bass during the preceding months. You certainly can.

But when it comes to that frantic spring spawning period when even the biggest, wisest, and most elusive bass in the lake have to come into shallows within the easy range of anglers, January starts the ball rolling.

Just how quickly that ball rolls depends a lot on latitude and, given the north-to-south length of the state, that can vary quite a bit. Top tactics on one lake might be a month or so away from being effective on another.

If you time the tactics to the lake, however, bassin' success can follow quickly. Here are four top lakes to check out this month.

LAKE TOHOPEKALIGA
Like the rest of the Kissimmee Chain, Lake "Toho" was impacted by the hurricanes of 2003-04. But it didn't suffer as much damage to vegetation as did some of the other lakes. Currently, native vegetation is healthy and in good supply, along with what some anglers consider the "perfect amount" of hydrilla.

Like the rest of the chain, Toho was also drawn down to a lower than normal level last summer in preparation for hurricane season. If heavy rains materialize, that could result in high water this month. If not, expect levels lower than normal. However, that won't do much to alter fish- catching patterns.

"This is traditionally the month where we see the first major spawn on Toho," said guide Reno Alley. "If we have a real mild winter, it might occur early to mid month. If not, it'll happen by the end of the month. Regardless of when it happens, anglers need to think shallow cover with spawning and pre-spawn fish."

If water levels remain low, Alley starts his search along the outside edge of emergent vegetation in 4 to 6 feet of water, where the big spawning females will be staging up. Although plastic worms, soft-plastic jerkbaits and spinnerbaits can be effective, Alley favors a different technique when searching for bigger bass.

"Flipping those weed edges is a key tactic for bigger bass this time of year, much more so than on the other lakes in the chain," he observed.