"Looks like a good one!" yelled Doug Metz from the bow of his 17-foot aluminum Sea Nymph.
Doug's prediction proved to be correct when, within seconds after setting my hook, a bass that we estimated would go on the plus side of eight pounds broke the surface, shook its head a couple of times, and returned to its underwater haunts after leaving a washtub-sized boil in Lake Panasoffkee's clear water.
"Keep up the pressure," the guide advised as he moved to the center of his boat for a landing net in anticipation of quick victory.
Although this particular largemouth didn't clear the water, there was no question concerning its heft. Confirmation came within moments when the piscatorial adversary tired and was led alongside the boat.
Rather than using a net, Metz, who guides out from Pana Vista Lodge, leaned over the side, lip landed the prize and deposited it into the boat's large live well to keep company with three other bass weighing between five and seven pounds each.
"Too bad we're not in one of Ray Scott's Megabucks tournaments," I remarked while re-baiting.
"Unfortunately, we'd be disqualified for not only using live bait, but for trolling," Metz replied.
"Besides, nobody would believe us when we told them 'where' we were fishing."
He was correct on all scores.
First, we were slow-trolling wild shiners with the aid of an electric motor.
And, we were fishing in the middle of the lake!
"For years," Metz emphasized, "people thought Lake Panasoffkee had mostly two and three-pound bass.
"It wasn't until a few years ago that folks really learned how to fish this lake."
He went on to explain that Lake Panasoffkee is quite shallow. "Its average depth is about six feet, while its deepest part is only nine or 10 feet.
"When you fish the shorelines here, you're only talking about 12 to 24 inches of water and, usually, big fish aren't found in such depths."
Metz feels that big bass have always been in Lake Panasoffkee, but haven't been caught with regularity until recently.
Traditional bass anglers have had to adapt to new conditions here. Instead of working shoreline cover and structure, it's necessary to move toward the center of the lake and concentrate on or in grassy areas.
In addition to a few patches of submerged hydrilla, the lake has coontail, shrimp moss, maidencane, pepper, and eel grass--all essential to a robust fishery.
Metz and other successful bass seekers employing this "new" tightline trolling technique are using five- to nine-inch wild shiners on a 4/0 weedless Eagle Claw hook tied directly to 17- or 20-pound-test line spooled onto either open-face spinning gear or baitcasting rigs. The guide's personal favorite is a 7-1/2 foot Daiwa graphite flippin' stick with a level-wind Ambassador reel.
They troll these shiners about 30 feet behind a slow-moving boat powered by an electric motor well away from shore. "When the wind blows," Metz pointed out, "we shut off the motor and drift."
After a strike, anglers here let the fish run for a short spell before setting the hook.
"Don't let them go too far because you'll injure the fish by gut hooking it," said Metz.
"Most of us release every fish we catch weighing more than four pounds, unless it's to be kept as a trophy for mounting."
Metz' largest, since he began guiding full-time here, is 10-1/2 pounds, even though he has seen others with largemouth scaling on the plus side of 13. So far, the record at Lake Panasoffkee is a 15-pounder that was bagged in the 1950s.
Until recently, the lake held the state shellcracker record at three pounds, four ounces. A 41-pound gar caught here in the seventies continues to stand as a state record for that specie.
"During the summer months we catch lots of gar weighing from 30-35 pounds, and it's a real blast," said Metz, a University of South Florida graduate who was a practicing psychologist in St. Petersburg for 11 year, prior to opting for his more sedate lifestyle in 1984.
In addition to excellent bass and shellcracker fishing, Lake Panasoffkee is noted for its bluegill opportunities. "Although anglers in other places...such as Lake Okeechobee...catch more speckled perch (crappie) than we do, ours will probably run larger on average than anywhere else in Florida," Metz said.
"We also enjoy top-notch bluegill activity in the spring."
Best bass months at this Sumter County lake are from late-September through November, and from mid-January through April. Bluegills usually begin bedding here in April, while shellcrackers usually bed in May and June.
Although a wild shiner is the most widely used bait for big bass at Lake Panasoffkee, several artificials including Rapalas, Reel Magics, Bangolures, Dalton Specials, artificial eels and the Cotee Weedless Swimmin' Glitter Worm are quickly gaining acceptance.
Fly fishermen, using popping bugs, frequently connect with limit hauls, particularly at the north end of the lake, in the Outlet, and in the Princess Lake area which flows into the Withlacoochee River.
Live worms seem to work best for shellcrackers, while grass shrimp, Beetlespins, tiny jigs, popping bugs, and wiggler worms are tops for filling a bluegill stringer. Speck fans insist that a Missouri minnow is the ticket to success.
Located 70 miles north of Tampa, just west of I-75 on State Road 470, the Lake Panasoffkee community is 15 miles from Webster, home of the "World's Largest Flea Market." It has a new library, tennis court, and recreation area, all constructed without federal, state, or county funding.
My headquarters when here is always Pana Vista Lodge, the only full-service fish camp on the lake which has been owned by Jim and Eloise Veal since 1954. Pana Vista has been a Cracker-type fish camp since the late 1800s, possibly making it the oldest such facility in Florida.
In addition to an "ancient" camp store that is fully stocked with fish mounts, tackle, photos of past glories, antique lures, rattlesnake skins, live bait tanks, and a sometimes displayed original oil painting by Herb Allen, the Lodge features a dozen modern, neat-as-a-pin efficiency cabin units, 102 boat slips, 25 rental boats and motors, paddleboats, canoes, pontoon boats, a launching ramp, 100 RV sites, 40 mobile home sites, and a primitive camping area for those who enjoy roughing it. For more information about the Lodge, call 904-793-2061.
From a marshy area at the north end, to a grassy area at the south end, Lake Panasoffkee measures nine miles in length and is about two miles wide. Some 20-million gallons of fresh water pours into the lake daily through natural springs.
Also feeding the lake is Panasoffkee Creek at the south end, along with Little and Big Jones Creeks at the north end. The Outlet River flows into the Withlacoochee River, two miles away. The only development is on the western shoreline. The lake bottom consists of sand, shell, and marl.
Within rock-throwing distance of the Lodge are several well-known public hunting areas including the Withlacoochee Tract, the Jumper Creek Hunt Area, Richloam, Green Swamp, Croom and the Citrus Wildlife Management Area.
According to Lodge Owner Jim Veal, there were only 64 registered voters throughout the Panasoffkee community when he and Eloise moved here 43 years ago from Cedartown, Georgia. Now, there are about 450.
"We used to have distinct seasons back then," Veal stated.
"Today, we're staying pretty busy year round. If we have a slow period, it's probably during September and October."
When Metz and I concluded our day at this aqua elysium, a count revealed that we had landed and released nine fish in six hours that ranged in weight from five pounds, one ounce, to eight pounds, nine ounces. The combined total was an impressive 57 pounds, six ounces.
"Not bad for a couple of amateurs," mused Metz upon our return.
Fellow anglers out there who are singing "The No Fish Blues" might be well served to change their tune and pay a visit to beautiful Lake Panasoffkee where the pace is slow and the fishing is often frantic.
Who knows? After one trip, you too may place it atop your list of favorites.
Copyright (c) 1997 Herb Allen. All rights reserved.
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