Nick Kefalides

Captain Nick Kefalides is a Marine Corps combat veteran and one of Florida's best trophy largemouth bass guides. He fishes Central Florida's lake system season by season, from shallow hyacinth and hydrilla flats to the deep phosphate mine pits few anglers understand. In his In The Spread videos, Kefalides teaches topwater buzz baits and frogs in heavy cover, prespawn wild shiner and grass bed tactics on Lake Tohopekaliga, and using electronics to catch bass suspended on deep offshore structure, all broken down cast by cast.

Instructor's videos

Nick Kefalides fishes for big Florida largemouth the way he did everything in his prior career: with discipline, precision, and nothing left to chance. Before he was one of the best bass guides in the state, Kefalides was a Marine Corps special operator, and that background shows in how meticulously he breaks down a lake. He is a combat veteran and a lifelong Florida fisherman who grew up prowling the canals of South Florida, and today he guides anglers to trophy bass across Central Florida's vast lake system.

Central Florida is trophy bass country, with hundreds of lakes that give up fish in the 8 to 12 pound range on the right day. The trick is knowing which water to fish and when, and few people read that puzzle better than Kefalides. He is a true seasonal specialist, dialed in on how big bass move and feed from the prespawn through the spawn, into the heat of summer, and on into fall.

His range across those seasons is what sets him apart. In shallow, grassy lakes choked with hyacinth and hydrilla, often three feet deep or less, Kefalides fishes topwater with authority: buzz baits, frogs, and swim baits fan-cast to cover water fast and find the pattern before he dials it in. He knows how to work thick vegetation without fouling and how to pull a giant out of heavy cover. When the fish move, so does he, rigging wild shiners along the weed edges of Lake Tohopekaliga for prespawn fish and trolling open grass beds to find them when they scatter.

Then there is the water most anglers never figure out. Florida's old phosphate mine pits run deep, 20 to 60 feet in places, and the bass in them relate to offshore structure and suspend at the thermocline. Kefalides uses electronics to find fish on invisible structure and matches Texas rigs and crankbaits to what he sees, unlocking a fishery that leaves most anglers guessing.

In his In The Spread videos, Kefalides teaches shallow topwater and heavy cover tactics, prespawn shiner and structure fishing, and deep-water mine-pit strategy, all broken down cast by cast. If you want to catch a truly big Florida bass, learn from a man who does not miss details.