This summer I am going to Florida for my holidays. The place I am staying at has a lake that is stocked with " a variety of fish " does anyone know what kind of fish might be stocked in this lake and also what the best way to catch them is. e.g fly, bait, spinner. Any advice would be appreciated.

I would imagine it will be filled with bass (smallmouth or largemouth). You catch them by either spinning or just dropping live bait down through the depths well thats what we did anyway!!!!

Cheers Steve will try that.

It will almost certainly be warmwater spcies like largemouth bass and varieties of sunfish (close to what you call Bream in the UK). I doubt smallmouth bass will be present in numbers, they tend to prefer moving water and cooler/more northern locations.

You certainly can (and I do) fish both species on the fly rod, but they require diffent setups, a largemouth is a big, strong fish that savages the fly and then loves to tangle you hopelessly in the weeds as he runs. You'll need at least a #7, and an 8 or 9 wt is better yet. Flies are usually large weedless surface flies and divers like the Dahlberg.

For sunfish, small surface poppers fished on a 5 wt are ideal. They will also hit subsurface flies like nymphs and very small streamers. Sunfish are terrific when filleted and coated in Shore Lunch coating and pan fried in oil. Bass taste like ****. Of course, if you intend to keep fish you'll need to know the local regulations as to what and how many you're allowed harvest.

Spin fishing can be more productive, it all depends on how much gear you want to bring and how you want to fish.

In Florida, you'll generally need to take precautions regarding the gators and snakes. Also, you will probably need a state fishing license, remember that fishing without a proper license is a serious deal over here. Seek advice from a nearby tackle shop or outdoors store.

Grouse