on success outside of a very narrow win-
dow of time, or they might be so valuable
that it pays to guard them at all costs. But
to find out, first you have to locate the
source of the flow, then investigate what
sort of opportunities bubble up with it.
Brad Knight says it’s not easy to go
out hunting for springs, but he’s
always got his eye out for them
when on the water.
fish and can be productive all year, but
they’re great targets in the early season.
You just have to game plan for the
amount of pressure those fish will get.
“They’re easy to see,” McMillan says
of the bass in those canals. “You better
have your act together if you’re going to
fish in there because everybody can see
them.
“You’ve got flow. You’ve got bait.
They really don’t have a need to leave.
The problem is, everybody kind of
knows it. They’re the most educated
bass on the Harris Chain.”
Lake Apopka, also on the Harris
Chain, is home to a large spring that
Frederick has fished over the years.
“It comes into play in the summer-
time, for sure,” he says. “At the same
time, if we have a cold front that lasts a
couple weeks, and the water temp is in
the 50s, you can go to those springs and
the water temp is still in the 70s. In
Apopka, the area impacted by that
spring is probably 200 yards by 200
yards. It’s a circle. That’s actually a pret-
ty big one.”
Big, small, obvious or not, springs add
an interesting element to a bass fishing
strategy. They might have little influence
APRIL-MAY 2020 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | FLWFISHING.COM
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