Took a friend out who had never fly fished and he did amazingly well. We used No. 12 nymphs under a strike indicator and Myakka Minnows. In all, we caught loads of big bluegill, shellcracker, bass, speckled perch, tilapia and channel cats. I find the channel cat action on this lake pretty amazing.
Catfish in salt water are considered a nuisance (by most). In fresh water, they're trophies. Lake Manatee cats fight hard and make long runs. I catch them mainly only on nymphs and Myakka Minnows, but got one on a popper.
Lake Manatee isn't an easy lake to figure out, but if you put your time in you'll figure it out. I spend most of my time east of the S.R. 64 bridge. I carry three fly rods: 1 weight, 2 weight and 3 weight. I fish a nymph on the 1 weight, a popper on the 2 and a Myakka Minnow on the 3. I find a strike indicator pretty important when fishing nymphs and scuds.
It's usually pretty easy to figure out the pattern. Some days, the fish are hanging out around trees. Other days, they prefer a grassy shoreline. Docks are always worth a try.
Bass often will school in the river channel just east of the bridge in the afternoon when the water warms and the shad rise up to eat algae.
Don't know what happened to the sunshine bass population. The state used to stock sunshine bass, but I haven't seen or caught any in years.
Should be approaching prime time for speckled perch.
