Bass school off these points early and late in the day, but aren't always as visible as in the other two lakes. An excellent technique is to put your boat fairly close to the grass line and cast parallel to it with a Pop-R, Rat-L-Trap, or Spook-type lure. These cover water quickly to help find fish fast. Once you locate a bass-holding area, you can slow down to work it more thoroughly with plastic worms.

As the sun gets up, and the bass cease schooling and move to cover, there's no need to leave the area.

"When you find schooling fish on the maidencane in the morning," Alley offered, "you can spend the rest of the day flipping the outer maidencane edge in that area.

"The bass aren't going to move far, they just duck into cover."

If that pattern fails to produce, Alley has a backup -- one that works whether the water is up and moving, or in its currently low state.

"The big lily pads along the shoreline have been holding fish for the last couple of years," he said. "Under our low-water conditions, it's good cover. If the water comes up, some fish will still be there because they are getting ready to spawn. Flipping those pads has been a top technique for quality fish, and it's won some tournaments."

The "big lily pads" that Alley's speaking of are the large lotus pads. There are plenty left in Kissimmee, although very few in the other two lakes. Alley looks for the largest "clump" he can find in two to three feet of water. The ideal clump has three or four stalks with a big pad head on each, forming almost a single surface. He favors a Culprit Woolly Bugger or Water beetle, on 20-pound line with a 1/2-ounce sinker.

Should the water remain low, this is Alley's first choice.

In Hatchineha and Cypress, the pads are gone. Here, Alley looks for pencil reeds in two to three feet of water. Thinner patches can be covered quickly with spinnerbaits to locate fish, while thicker patches are best handled by pitching weedless soft-plastic baits.

Should a sharp cold snap intrude, savvy anglers look for the larger offshore hydrilla patches in five to eight feet of water.

That's not an extensive list of effective techniques, but they'll be the most productive this month, whether or not Mother Nature blesses us with water.

Find more about Florida fishing and hunting at FloridaGameandFish.com