There's a reason for that.

"If we have a mild fall, you see some bass start to spawn in mid-January," Romeka explained. "And when they stage, they don't want to be very far from the flats (where) they'll be spawning in a month or so.

"When I'm looking for fall bass," he continued, "I look for those drops that are within a couple hundred yards of where those fish do their early spawning."

Live shiners take the biggest fish this time of year, but artificial lures can also produce. Savvy anglers definitely keep a flipping rod on hand, and probe areas of surface matted cover on a drop. If the hydrilla is a bit more scattered, don't overlook spinnerbaits or plastic jerkbaits.

For more information or to book a guided trip on Rodman, give Jim Romeka a call at (904) 291-8052.

LAKE SEMINOLE
Old Sem has been on a roll of late, and this fall promises to be no different!

"The lake is in real good shape right now," said Jack Wingate, who likely has more years on Seminole than anyone. "There's a lot of hydrilla, but not enough to keep anglers from getting around. That's been real good for the bass."

Good enough, in fact, that Seminole is currently producing some truly outsized bass for a lake so far north. Three fish over 10 pounds were weighed in at Wingate's Lunker Lodge late in the summer. And in one weekend tournament in July, three bass over 8 pounds were brought to the scales!

"We haven't had a tournament with a five-fish limit that was won with less than 20 pounds in quite awhile," Wingate noted. "And one tournament during the spawning season took a five-fish limit of 34 pounds to win. We're seeing a lot of 5- to 6-pound fish on a regular basis. The lake has a huge shad population, so there's lots of forage."

Those shad play a key role for fall anglers on this lake. So too, does hydrilla.

"Those bass are going to be offshore chasing shad," Wingate emphasized. "But they are going to be holding on hydrilla edges that border on a deeper dropoff while they do it. The easiest way to find fish on this lake during November and December is to find a deepwater hydrilla edge on a creek channel and follow that until you find bass. Works every time."

Though any deep hydrilla edge can hold fish, savvy anglers often find them faster by concentrating on irregularities along the edge. Bends in a creek channel, points where one channel intersects with another, or the sharp end of a drop from a shoreline flat can all pay off.

Wingate also noted that anglers shouldn't overlook offshore bars and humps that have heavy hydrilla.

He went on to suggest that anglers start their search in the Butlers Mill Creek and Faceville Landing area. There is some excellent deepwater hydrilla between the two creeks. Also high on his list is the Ten Mile Still Landing area, the Flint River arm of the impoundment and Spring Creek.

Bass actively feed on shad, but may not be chasing them in open water. Often, the largemouths are ambushing from the edge of the hydrilla. Frogs or white Trick Worms have proven deadly when twitched over those edges. Topwater plugs like the venerable Zara Spook or virtually any of the "chugger" baits like the Rebel Pop-R or Storm Chug Bug can be effective.

Wingate favors surface baits, but doesn't want to be without a soft-plastic lure rigged and close at hand.

"If you're running any kind of lure over the top of hydrilla," he explained, "and a bass blows up and misses it, drop that rod immediately and throw a plastic worm or soft-plastic jerkbait right into the boil. Most of the time, you catch that fish on the plastic lure."

For information on fishing conditions, accommodations or booking a guide on Lake Seminole, contacted Wingate's Lunker Lodge at (229) 246-0658.

Find more about Florida fishing and hunting at: FloridaGameandFish.com