A Local Angler’s Tips for Bass Fishing at Rodman Reservoir

Rodman Reservoir is located in northeast Florida and frequently recognized as one of the state's top bass fishing destinations. Captain Tommy Collins with Great Day Guide Service has spent more than 23 years fishing its waters and has landed countless fish over the years, including some 12-pounders.

Fresh off a morning trip that produced 19 bass during the off-season, Captain Tommy shared his personal expert tips for fishing at Rodman Reservoir. 

Q: What makes this spot so special? 

A: This is one of the best fishing spots, not only in Florida, but in the nation – it’s probably in the top 10. It's special because it has such a great big fish habitat and it is full of stumps, logs, and grass. It has deep water, shallow water, and moving water. It's just a great fishery, and it’s my personal favorite where I like to go.

Q: What do people need to know before fishing at Rodman Reservoir for the first time?

A: It's very important to know that Rodman is full of logs and stumps. If you're a first-time angler out there on the water, you need to be very careful of where you're running. There are areas out there where I can get on a plane with my boat, and I can run just like I'm in the river. But even as long as I have fished Rodman Reservoir, I am idling through places that have stumps and logs in it. It can be very dangerous. 

If you get out into the stump fields, you have an area where trees have rotted off at the water line. If you go out over some stumps, the next thing you know, the bottom of your boat gets hung up on a stump that you didn't see. You can risk bending a prop shaft or your propeller. You just need to be mindful of the area out there because you can tear up some equipment if you're not very diligent.

If you have GPS on your boat, that helps you quite a bit. You can see the old river channel. It's deep, and there are no trees there. You can get up and run through it pretty much okay, unless you see a floating log. You still have to be mindful of that, but with GPS and electronics that we now have on boats, you can navigate the river channel fairly easily.

Q: What is the best bait for bass fishing on Rodman Reservoir? 

A: Out on Rodman, I exclusively use wild golden shiners. That's the main bait for largemouth bass. You can also buy what we call a domestic shiner. That's a shiner that's been raised in a pond. They're quite a bit different, and you can catch bass with them if that's all you can get, but the wild golden shiners are the best for catching largemouth bass. You can also use a bluegill for bait if you catch one on a hook and line.

Q: What is the best spot for bass fishing on Rodman Reservoir? 

A: The thing about Rodman is, the whole almost 10,000 acres looks like every square foot would have a big fish. There are so many bends and turns in the natural river, and there are flats out there that have stumps in it. 

There's a section of trees out there we call the first set of trees, the second set of trees, and the third set of trees, and it's just different areas where the trees have rotted off, and there's just a stump sticking up out of the water. I like to go down to the third set of trees. I fish down that way a lot. There’s also good fishing down by Orange Springs. It can be really productive there, and I fish there often too.

Q: What is the best time of year to catch bass on Rodman Reservoir?

A: January through April is our season. That's when people from the north are coming down because everything's frozen up north. That’s also when the bass are spawning, and the big females are out there. For sport fishermen who want to catch a big fish, that's the time frame. In the summer, the fish are moving around a lot more. They're still out there, though. We just start early in the morning, and try to get off the water before it gets unbearably hot that time of the year.

Q: What type of tackle do you need for fishing at Rodman Reservoir? 

A: You don't want to go out there with wimpy rods and reels. Make sure you've got good terminal tackle, because there are big gar out there. I'm talking about huge gar – long-nosed gar and spotted gar. They're fun to fight, but if you get a 3-4 foot gar on there, you’ll want to make sure you have good tackle.

Also, there are a lot of logs out there that you can’t see, but a bass can. He knows where that log is, and he's going to go under it and go down. You're going to have to bring him back under that log, so you need real good tackle for that, too.

I use medium-heavy rods. I don't have any medium rods at all. You don’t have to get the most expensive ones, though. A 7-foot, 6-inch medium-heavy Ugly Stick rod is perfect.

Q: What is the best boat ramp to use at Rodman Reservoir? 

A: There are three. Two of them I like to use, and one of them I don't use. I do not launch my boat from Orange Springs. It's just further to drive, the ramp is steeper, and I just don't prefer to go that way. I like the Kenwood Boat Ramp that's at Kenwood Landing. The other one is at the Rodman Campground, and it has a nice ramp. The only difference there is they don't have a dock, so you have to beach your boat and climb in the boat right off the beach, which is fine. For me, a lot of times it depends on where I've located some fish on Rodman.

Q: Rodman Reservoir is known as one of the best bass lakes in Florida, but what other species can be found there? 

A: There’s a really good crappie population. We call them speckled perch here in the south, but up north they're called crappie. When we're out there bass fishing, we see a lot of people that are trying to catch crappie. And they do quite well. There are also bream, or panfish as we call them. At Rodman, there are also people that go out there and target those.

Q: For someone who’s never been there, what else should they expect? 

A: The people that come here from other areas are just so in awe of the beauty of not only Rodman, but the St. Johns River.

There are manatees out there, and alligators. And the birdlife… there are all kinds, like kingfishers, blue herons, snowy egrets – all of the different varieties of wading birds. The bald eagles are all over out there. You can be going down the river or the channel and a bald eagle will be on a stump, like literally, just 50 yards away from you, flying over you, picking up fish out of the water. We see them all the time. There's not just one, there's quite a few out there. There's just an abundance of bird life and beautiful flowers. It has a lot of eye appeal. It’s just great. 

At Rodman, the water is dark, but if you stick your hand down in the water, you can see it. It’s clear, except after a big rain. People see nature and the trees, and they're like, man, look how pretty this is. People really are in tune to the nature part of fishing but when they're out on the boat, they've also got all this wildlife. The birds, the plant life, the big cypress trees and big pines. They really comment a lot about that.

Booking a guided fishing trip on Rodman Reservoir

Great Day Guide Service operates year-round, offering morning half-day charters in the summer, and half and full-day trips the rest of the year. Captain Tommy’s center console boat can accommodate up to four adults comfortably, but he also loves taking families out on the water, and he loves teaching kids to fish. As a Christian-owned guide service, he guarantees a fun, wholesome family-friendly experience. 

When you book a Rodman Reservoir fishing charter, you can leave all of your bait and tackle at home. Captain Tommy supplies everything you need – even those wild golden shiners. You will still need to make sure you’ve gotten a Florida freshwater fishing license before your fishing trip, though. You’ll also want to bring along some snacks for your day on the water, as you may need to refuel after reeling in all of those lunkers.

Pro Tip: If you’re coming to the area to fish, download the Visit Putnam FL app for Apple or Android to learn more about where to stay and eat while you’re here. 

Note: The Buckman Lock connects Rodman Reservoir to the St. Johns River. At times, the lock is closed to vessel traffic, so make sure to check ahead of time if you’re hoping to access the river from Rodman.