Anglers fishing for Big Bass can catch them in a number of ways from artificial to live bait.  If you wanted to catch a giant bass on a big trout imitating swimbait you would go to Lake Castaic in California; if you wanted to catch a monster bass on a live wild golden shiner you would go to Florida.  There are a number of lakes where monster bass get caught every year on live wild golden shiners in Florida.  Lake Okeechobee or the St. Johns come to mind, but these lakes are inundated with anglers, even during the week.  One lake consistently overlooked is Lake Tarpon located next to Tarpon Springs, Florida, just north of the St. Petersburg and Clearwater area.  The 2,500 acre reservoir holds the unofficial state largemouth record at 19.6-pounds.  Lake Tarpon is always ranked in the top ten best fishing reservoirs in Florida.  If an angler is not catching giant bass, they are probably catching fish in the 14-inch to 22-inch slot limit.  On Lake Tarpon an angler is only allow to keep one bass over the 22-inch slot limit.

In Lake Tarpon, wild golden shiners thrive in the nutrient rich shallow bays, canals, and miles of shoreline inundated with bulrushes, cattails, tape grass, eel grass, and other aquatic vegetation.  Lake Tarpon fulltime fishing guide Herb Stephen with over 15 years of experience knows all too well the chore of catching live bait for his clients during the winter months.  “From January through April, it’s the peak time to be fishing with gold shiners for bass on Lake Tarpon,” Stephen continued, “most of the bass will be spawning during that time and can be caught shallow or around spawning areas.”  Of course living right on the banks of Lake Tarpon does have its privileges.  Stephen can go out his backdoor, throw out some chum, and throw his cast net out to catch fresh wild golden shiners before each guide trip.

Locating areas to fish golden shiners is as simple as finding shallow water; however, Lake Tarpon is mostly shallow water, so anglers have to pay attention to contour changes, ditches, or holes that will hold schools of big bass.  Stephen likes the upper bays and canals when the bass first begin their seasonal movement to spawning areas.  One bay Stephens likes is where the A.L. Anderson Park launch ramp is located.  This bay can be loaded with bass early in the year.  “Spawning bass can be caught in all of the canals, the no wake area in the south end of the lake, and the north cove.  As it gets later in the season, he will begin focusing on other spawning flats or around the scattered boat docks which inhabited the shoreline.  Once the water temperature hits 62-degrees it will seem like every bass in the lake is headed towards the bank along with the anglers.

Stephen likes to us long, medium heavy spinning rods and spinning reels loaded with braid line to a fluorocarbon leader.  As for a hook, Stephen uses a 1/0 for the smaller shiners, 2/0 for the medium size, and 3/0 for the really big shiners in excess of 6-inches.  Stephen supplies all the tackle needed for the guide trip, but an angler can bring his own gear if they want to.  “Fishing a shiner is easy; just watch your cork, once it goes under,” Stephen continued, “reel down and wait to set the hook until you feel the weight of the bass.”  Anglers not wanting to fish with shiners have other options for catching bass.  “If I was not fishing with a golden shiner,” he went on, “I would fish a lipless crankbait or a jerkbait in the same areas I normally fish a golden shiner.”

Lake Tarpon has two county parks that anglers can launch their boats from.  On the east side of the lake anglers can launch from John Chestnut Park on East Lake Road or A. L. Anderson on the west side just off Highway 19.   Anglers are required to have a valid resident or non-resident Florida fishing license to fish Lake Tarpon.  These can be purchased at the tackle store located on the lake or online at www.myfwc.com.  For more information on fishing Lake Tarpon or to contact Herb Stephen for a guide trip email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (727) 423-2409.  For accommodations in the Clearwater area go to www.visitstpeteclearwater.com.