Orlando Fishing - Lake Baldwin

JSchmed

I was wondering if anyone here has experience fishing in Lake Baldwin in Orlando. I live right around the corner from the lake and have had limited success fishing for bass on 6" watermelon chartreuse lizards. That bait is literally the only thing I've even gotten a bite on, and trust me I've tried almost everything.

I've seen some bass, sunfish and HUGE carp in there. Does anyone have any tips for this lake or know if there is anything else worth fishing for in there?

Any help will be appreciated!

Timba

I do not know when you were fishing, nor do I know anything about this lake. However, I was up there last weekend and fished several lakes with nil to show for it so sont be discouraged i think the cold snap affected them

LargeMouthBassAngler

crankbaits and swimbaits along with spinnerbaits

computerguy

I recently moved to Orlando/Florida and live near lake Baldwin. One of the things I noticed immediately with this lake is that most of the bass i catch are pretty far off of the shoreline. With fairly clear water the eel grass/lily pads will grow out for 30 to 50 yards off of the physical shore line. I catch most of my bass in thick grass in the areas that have 4 to 8 feet of water. My 2 primary techniques are using a slow moving weightless soft plastic and pitching it into the 'holes' in the grass (wacky rigged worm, lizard, senko) and letting it drop down to the bottom or just powering a top water across the grass mats. My power baits are usually a frog or lizard and I will just fan cast across vast areas and work the bait quickly across the surface. If you start to get strikes (many times short strikes) in an area then you may want to swap baits and use a slower moving plastic and start to dissect the area.

If you can get a hold of live shiners you have a great chance of catching some nice fish. If you don't have a boat you can fish from the docks near 'downtown Baldwin'. If you are facing the lake the dock on the right hand side is in deeper water and I would suggest fishing from that one, however both are pretty good.

Also has your limited success been in the recent months? I have noticed a dramatic shift in the number of strikes I get since the temps went down in January. I suspect as the weather warms in the coming weeks you should see an increase in activity.

Good Luck, and reply if you have any specific questions I will do my best to answer them.

capt louie

JSchmed wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone here has experience fishing in Lake Baldwin in Orlando. I live right around the corner from the lake and have had limited success fishing for bass on 6" watermelon chartreuse lizards. That bait is literally the only thing I've even gotten a bite on, and trust me I've tried almost everything.

I've seen some bass, sunfish and HUGE carp in there. Does anyone have any tips for this lake or know if there is anything else worth fishing for in there?

Any help will be appreciated!

First off , Welcome aboard the forum. !

Although I don't have any experience on your lake I'm guessing you are fishing from the bank. That is a natural lake meaning like most around there (and the whole state) its bowl shaped. Shallow edges and tapers slowly to deeper water.
Right now should be a real good time for catching bass due to bedding activity and cool water. Wading the edges to increase coverage can help. Just watch for gators , although bears seem to be a problem there also . :hairraiser

Only other advise would be fishing early and late when the bass move shallow to feed. I would try topwater baits then.
Post us a report when you get it figured out.

Jettypark

Try fishing it later at nite... with a worm (shad red 7 in right now).... we hit that lake LATE... and have gotten some big bass... they
tend to move in closer to the shoreline at nite.... be quiet and fish your worm real slow... You will notice some big hits out in the water
if you fish it enough at nite.....that's the time to get shiners and cast them out there.... (I haven't been there in awhile.. I have closer lakes
in my area) but the bass are in there.... and as far as those Grass Carp... a small hook> No weight> and a roll up piece of bread... it has
to float... and you are good to go... be warn that there are some huge tilapia in that lake and they will also grab the bread....

Good luck

chainsawcity

There are bass in Lake Baldwin. All you have to do is find them and catch them! Seriously though a small boat/canoe helps in that lake.

capt louie

Ya see ! That right there is why we have this forum.

Forum brothers and sisters ready to help.

I like it.

JesseJames

If the spawn hasn't ended in the lake it will soon like most other CF lakes it will soon. Post-spawn the fish will move off a bit and you'll find a lot if them suspended in the 5-10ft depth range near cover/structure but especially under docks and near submerged stumps and grass edges. They'll be feeding fairly aggressively throughout the day as long as it's not in the 2-3 day window right after a cold front has come through (don't know if we have many of those left this year.) They'll still be feeding the hardest during the crepuscular(dawn/dusk) time frame and will move into the shallows. Perfect time for top water like the Livingston Pro Ripper Jr or a Heddon Spook Jr, or a top water Popper like The Rebel Pop-R. I prefer colors like Baby Bass, Olive Shad or Sexy Shad. Texas rigged flukes and swim baits are awesome for this time too. For most CF lakes your go to colors will be Watermelon Red, Junebug or Green Pumpkin (all of these have a lot of variations to play around with) one of my favorite go to's is the ZOOM Super Fluke in the Mardi Grad color on a Gamakatsu 4/0 EWG superline hook.

If it's later and the fish have moved off into the deeper water you can try a Strike King 1/2oz Red Eye Shad, a Mann's minus 1 or a good, old-fashioned Rat-L-Trap or Cordell Super Spot. I prefer baits with sharply contrasting colors and/or Chrome and Chartreuse finishes. Of course you can stick with soft plastics. Dead sticking a senko either Texas or wacky rigged in the same colors is great. I would try and find variants that have a brighter fleck in them or some Chartreuse. Same for more finesse style worms like Trick Worms or Sweevi worms. Depending on the water depth and how aggressive the bite is you'll want to add a worm/bullet weight somewhere between a 1/16 and 1/4oz. Lately I've been
Playing around a lot more with ribbontailed worms because if the versatility of being able to work them dead stick like a senko if their weighted right, or using the tail action with a steady retrieve to create some commotion and move some water. The ZOOM U-Vibe series are also good for this. My go to has been a Lake Fork 10" Worm in Green Pumpkin/Charteuse.

Just a few ideas to get you pointed in the right direction. Shoot me a PM if you've got questions.


- James

Flash

Jettypark wrote: »

Try fishing it later at nite... with a worm (shad red 7 in right now).... we hit that lake LATE... and have gotten some big bass... they
tend to move in closer to the shoreline at nite.... be quiet and fish your worm real slow... You will notice some big hits out in the water
if you fish it enough at nite.....that's the time to get shiners and cast them out there.... (I haven't been there in awhile.. I have closer lakes
in my area) but the bass are in there.... and as far as those Grass Carp... a small hook> No weight> and a roll up piece of bread... it has
to float... and you are good to go... be warn that there are some huge tilapia in that lake and they will also grab the bread....

Good luck

We use to do that when I worked at the Sentinel. Come down late at night and we did catch some bass that way.

JSchmed

Thank you very much to everyone who replied to the thread. I purchased a canoe and have had better luck since taking into account all the replies I've gotten here on the forum!

capt louie

Thanks. That is cool. Post some reports!

FernParkKayaker

JSchmed....good post! First off...I exercise around the lake about 2x a week, but never fish it. I fish lakes in the area that are better and have possiblilities for 8lb plus fish. I did notice last Thursday that two "older" gentleman came back to the boat ramp and he showed me a pic of a 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 lber he caught on a Berkeley havoc...I was S.H.O.C.K.E.D! I know their are some big fish, but Baldwin gets hit hard by everyone in the area who fishes for bass(besides during the week). I have fished it 3 times in the last 3 years and I have always caught 2-5 fish, BUT they are "schooly" bass 1-2lbers. I'm after 5lbs and above fish and really you're best shot at bass this big in this lake is to fish shiners in the deeper eel grass holes. I still haven't heard of a bass over 9lbs in this lake. Which tells you something. IF you just want to catch some numbers, I would do like a few other's on here have done...fish it at night...then you could get lucky and catch a 4 or 5lber, but more than likely 1-3lbers...Im all about catching trophies(8lbs and bigger), so I can win prizes with the FWC bass fishing program(my goal is a 13lb or bigger "hall of fame" bass).

btw, if you ever want to meetup and fish sometime let me know..If I like you(hehe), I will give you some of my secret honey holes that produce 5lbers and up, fairly easy. Like my forum handle says, I fish from a kayak, and can haul it around really easy. So many lakes that are good in the Orlando area...I actually have a hard time choosing which ones to fish sometimes! oh yeah...May is usually(for me) the best time of the year for big fish(5 lb and up)! I will be fishing 2-3 times in the next three days.