"Live shiners are the top tactic this months," he assured. "And in the lakes, I want to find floating vegetation that forms an overhead cover in 3 to 5 feet of water and tuck a shiner right up on the edge under a float.

"You can also find this cover on sandbars in many of the creeks. But in the creeks, I also concentrate on those treetops that have fallen over into the water and collected floating vegetation around them. Shiners in this kind of cover usually produce the biggest bass."

If lures are on the menu, Rawlins recommended that anglers arm themselves with a Texas-rigged plastic worm of 6 to 7 1/2 inches in darker colors like black, June-bug or purple, or a flipping rod rigged with a compact crawfish.

"Flipping a craw in the matted cover in the lakes, or around treetops in the creeks, can produce good fish," he noted. "But the plastic worm is probably the bait I would use the most. You can toss this up on top of the cover and ease it off the edge to drop straight down. Or you can toss it into holes in the cover, or swim it very slowly through thinner sections of grass. It's also the best bet for fishing shoreline wood in the creeks.

"You just want to take your time and fish the worm slow," he concluded, "because the water is still a bit cold, and the bass aren't quite ready to chase yet."

For information on guided trips on the upper St. Johns River, call Rick Rawlins at Highland Park Fish Camp at 1-800-525-3477.

LAKE TALQUIN
This Panhandle lake won't see actively spawning bass for several months. But some solid fish are available to be caught, and veteran guide Mike Mercuri has a three-part strategy for tangling with them.

"The first place I would look in January," he said, "would be the main river channel down in the main pool. As the channel snakes towards the dam, it produces a lot of bends. On the outside of each bend, you'll have a sharp dropping ledge that may go down to 25 feet, while the inside of the bend will have a slow tapering point from about 12 feet that drops into the channel. These bends will hold most of the winter bass in the pool."

A depthfinder is mandatory, but an angler so equipped should have no trouble locating the submerged channel bends. Mercuri's tactics are simple. "Vertical jigging with a 3/4-ounce Hopkin's Shorty Spoon is the most effective way to catch these fish," he explained. "If the weather has been cold, I'll usually start on the sharp drop on the outside of the bend. The cooler the water, the sharper the ledge the fish seem to prefer. Then I'll check the inside point of the bend.