Lake June in Winter best fishing baits and lures to catch monster bass.
Lake June in Winter is a beautiful 3,726.11 surface lake located just north of Lake Placid. There are two public boat ramps. The first is H.L. Bishop Park and the second is Scrub State Park. As you can see from the map below, Lake June has an unusual depth for a Florida lake. As deep as 34 feet in some areas.
What's the biggest bass caught in Lake June in Winter?
Lake June has an amazing population of large bass. Including, according to FWC Trophy Catch over twenty four bass exceeding 8lbs. The largest bass on record reaching an astounding 11 pounds 3 ounces. From the video below you can see a giant largemouth bass caught offshore.
What is the best baits for Lake June in Winter?
Enough about the lake and where to put in. Let's talk about the best fishing lures and how to catch big bass on Lake June.
3" Minnow - Gizzard Shad & Ghost Shad
The first must have soft plastic lure is the 3" Minnow on a ned head, Damiki rig, or other vertical presentation heads like the image below. The two colors we liked best are the Gizzard Shad and Ghost Shad. This bait will be used exclusively in a vertical presentation.
The 3" minnow was responsible for our three largest bass. Two of our big bass weighed 8.3 lbs and 8.11 ounce. The third largest weight 7.9 lbs. 23 lbs of bass with this tiny little soft plastic bait.
We rigged our 3" Minnow using 3/8 ounce jig head and would drop the bait on top of the fish and slowly lower it to the depth the fish were hanging out. We used 10# and 8# Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon on a 7' 3" medium fast action spinning rod.
8" Pippin8'r - Plum Apple, Watermelon Red Flake,
The Pippin8'r is a magnum finesse worm which was the perfect bait to catch tons of 2-3lb bass. Most of the day was spent searching for bass. When we would find bait or hard bottom we would throw the Pippin8'r in Plum Apple in the morning and Watermelon Red Flake as the sun came up. This is the same exact soft plastic bait that won a 1st and 2nd place Co-Angler finish at the Bassmaster Open, we just used a different color.
We rigged the Pippin8'r Texas style with a 3/16 ounce Burnt Tungsten weight with a 5/0 2x EWG Hook. My retrieval would vary from bouncing the head off the bottom (the tail floats above the weight for a bit). Or we would just drag it along the bottom.
10" Ribbon Tail Worm - Plum Apple, Watermelon Red Flake, Junebug.
We rigged the 10" Ribbon Tail Worm the same way we did the Pippin8'r. Texas style with a 3/16 ounce Burnt Tungsten weight with a 5/0 2x EWG Hook. We would increase the Burnt Tungsten up to 1/2 ounce in deeper water. We would just drag the worm along the bottom. To be fair, Junebug only caught one bass but it was picture worthy so we included it.
5" Stickler Pro - Green Pumpkin Chart Tail, Junebug & Watermelon Red
We fished the Stickler Pro on a 3/8 ounce shaky head around any brush or wood on the main lake. The color that got the most bites was the Green Pumpkin Chart Tail. When we would approach a brush pile, we would position the boat facing the wind/current with the offshore structure on the edge of my MEGA 360 which is the perfect distance for my Humminbird Live.
We rigged 20# Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon on a 13 Fishing Concept C GEN II 7.5:1 matched with a 7' 3" Medium Heavy Rod. I personally like this combination because you can bomb cast the shaky head. Plus, the Concept C has a 25lb drag system so we did not have to worry about hang ups.
5" Wobbler - Watermelon Red Flake or Ditto Swimbait - Shad, Blue Red Pearl, or Tennessee Melon
When we were fishing suspended bass or fishing around shell bars and sand flats, we would use swim baits to find bass. Additionally, when fishing the canal the water would transition from clear to tannic. We would use either a 3.8 Ditto with a 1/4 ounce swimbait head or the Wobbler with a VMC Drop Dead Weighted Hook either 4/0 or 5/0.
Drop Shot with Pippin6'r Floating Finesse Worm - Junebug & Tennessee Magic Shad
It's no secret that a drop shot is a deadly rig for deep water (20-30ft) brush piles. .
What structures hold bass in Lake June?
We found two shell bars and sand in Lake June as well as a laundry list of brush piles scattered all over the lake. Hard bottom areas and sand exist all over the lake. Additionally, we found Bluegill beds in the main lake and the canal system that leads to Lake Carrie.
The canal has variant depths, hard bottom, shell and others. There are deeper drop offs and docks all through the canal that hold fish year round.
Bottom line, most of our larger bass were caught in 15-30 foot of water on offshore brush piles and hard bottom.
Lake June in Winter Fishing Guide
Sometimes figuring out a lake is easier on a guided bass fishing trip. If a guide trip is what you are looking for then we recommend calling Guide Fishing (407) 374-9908. They have a lot of guides for the Lake Placid area for both artificial or live bait fishing trips.
