How Brandon Lester will fish the Kissimmee Chain

The first Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open kicks off this week on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in central Florida. This will be the fourth year in a row that the first Bassmaster Open of the year has been held on these lakes, and I have fished all of them.

In 2013, I finished third in this tournament, and that is the year I would go on to win the Southern Opens points title and qualify for the Elite Series. That fact alone will always make the Kissimmee Chain a special place to me, and I always look forward to going back, not to mention the fact that I’m leaving snow in Tennessee and headed for sunny skies and 75 degrees.

The Kissimmee Chain is made up of several lakes, including Toho, Cypress, Hatchineha, Tiger and Kissimmee. Like most Florida lakes, these are all packed with many types of aquatic vegetation. Pads, hydrilla, Kissimmee grass, hyacinth — and some other grasses I don’t even know the name of — give the bass plenty of places to hide.

One thing I have learned in the last three years of fishing down there is that if you are fishing to win, you’d better be flipping some matted grass somewhere. In 2013 and 2014, the tournament was won punching grass on Kissimmee, but last year, Chad Morgenthaler won it by punching grass on Toho. I have no reason to believe that it will be any different this year.

This is when Florida gets its “winter,” and the bass know that. Some fish spawn this early in the year down there, but not until you get at least a few days of stable weather that spikes the water temperature on or near a full moon. We haven’t had that the past couple of weeks, and it looks like we are not going to have it for the tournament.

I must always keep an open mind, so I will start practice with some other moving baits tied on, like bladed jigs and rattle baits, but you can bet I’ll spend most of my time looking for those key mats that have big girls living in them.

My setup for punching mats is very important, and it starts with the right rod. For 1- to 1 1/2-ounce weights, I use an MHX-FP-936. For anything heavier, I use an MHX-FP-937. Both of these rods are 7 foot, 9 inches.

I team them up with Winn grips for maximum gripping power and built with weight added in the butt end to offset some of the fatigue from swinging that heavy weight all day.

I use a high speed casting reel, 65-pound Vicious braided line and a 3/0, 4/0 or 5/0 Mustad Grip Pin Max flipping hook, depending on what bait I’m using.