Sights Set on Florida Bass

"You should be hitting it about perfect," Tim Mann told me yesterday. Considering current conditions, the calendar and the 5-day outlook, Mann believes things are setting up nicely for a big wave St. Johns River spawners to move up between now and our Sunday outing. Things can change, I know, but I like Mann's confidence, and I'm looking forward to peering at some big ones on Lake George flat and hopefully getting to lock horns with a true heavyweight.

I'll also get to spend time fishing the St. Johns with Cliff Prince, a bass pro who will begin his rookie campaign as a B.A.S.S. Elite Series angler in month and a half on the same waters, which also happen to be his home waters. Terry "Big Show" Scroggins has said that Prince knows the river as well as he does -- and that says a lot.

Should be a great week of learning and gathering story material and a good chance to catch some nice Florida largemouths. Lawrence Taylor of BOOYAH Bait Company also assured me that he has some cool stuff to show me and for us to show to the fish. That means innovative tackle and tactics that I'll be able to share in stories.

First stop, though, is Orlando, where we'll attend the final-day weigh-in of the PAA Tour Team Challenge at Bass Pro Shops. The teams will actually blasting off at Lake Toho for their first day of fishing some time very soon. It sounds like the pros were down-talking what they'd seen in practice or not say much at all, so no one knows quite what will come to the scales. The lake is ultra clear now, and seemingly not many fish have moved up, so it could fish tough. But any teams find an early wave of spawners or the right pre-spawn spot, their bags could be enormous.