The Seven Great Houses of Florida Bass Fishing – Volume II

Happy Monday Spacefish!

When we last left the Seven Great Houses of Florida Bass Fishing, House Senko, House Fluke, and House Speed Worm seemingly had a firm grip on the status of “Florida Bass Fishing Staples”; But every research-rich kingdom attracts challengers.

The first three houses were defined by consistency, adaptability, and reliability. The houses entering the battlefield this week are different. These are the power players. The heavy cavalry. The houses that thrive on reaction strikes, explosive surface attacks, and heavy vibration and/or surface commotion.

Just like Volume I, these aren’t necessarily the only lures worthy of noble status. Ask ten Florida anglers to build their own kingdom and you’ll probably get ten different answers. But these are the houses whose personalities stood out to me the most while talking fishing with friends, students, tournament anglers, and just about anybody willing to engage in spirited opinionated fishing tackle discussions with me.

If Volume I was about endurance & legacy, Volume II is about power. The war for the Iron Throne of Florida bass fishing continues.

House Chatterbait: “Ours Is The Fury”

House Chatterbait feels a lot like House Baratheon because neither one has ever understood the concept of subtlety. The Baratheons didn’t win battles through political maneuvering or patient strategy. They won by charging directly into the fight, swinging warhammers and daring someone to stop them.

The Chatterbait operates with the exact same energy. Everything about this lure announces its presence. The vibrating blade emits waves of energy through the water. The skirt pulses. The trailer kicks. It crashes and can be ripped through submerged grass, it bangs and bounces off cover like Derrick Henry running through a defense, and forces bass to make split-second decisions.

In Florida waters, where bass lurk and stalk prey in submerged vegetation, reaction strikes are often the difference between a slow day and a memorable one. Bass buried deep within hydrilla, eelgrass, pepper grass, and submerged vegetation may ignore finesse presentations entirely. A Chatterbait gives them less time to think.

The lure excels during windy conditions, cloudy weather, and periods when fish are actively feeding. It allows anglers to cover water quickly while maintaining enough vibration to call fish in from further distances.

The comparison to House Baratheon also works because Chatterbait anglers tend to fish aggressively. This is not a lure for sitting in one place all day. It rewards movement, confidence, and the willingness to hunt. Much like Lyonel Baratheon in the recent Game of Thrones Spin off series, it doesn’t sneak into the fight. It announces itself and dares somebody to stop it.

Best Colors:

• Green Pumpkin/Bluegill
• White
• Black and Blue
• White Chartreuse

Representative Bait:

• Z-Man JackHammer
• Original Chatterbait (The OG)

House Frog: “What Is Deadly May Explode”

House Frog reminds me a lot of House Greyjoy. Not because they’re everyone’s favorite, it is because they willingly live where nobody else wants to go. The Ironborn built their identity around harsh environments. Stormy seas. Rocky shores. Isolated islands. Places where survival itself became a form of strength.

House Frog rules similar territory. Frogs dominate in the sloppiest, heavy vegetation areas such as matted hydrilla, lily pad fields, thick duckweed, Kissimmee grass, and various floating vegetation. Places where most bass lures simply surrender.

The hollow-body frog was designed specifically to invade terrain that destroys other presentations. It skims across the surface, slides through openings, and reaches fish hidden beneath dense vegetation where they spend much of Florida’s hottest months.

Frog fishing also shares something important with House Greyjoy: A true “burn the boats” mentality. The house words for the Ironborn are “We Do Not Sow” – this group never even attempted to settle down and engage in agriculture. They raid, they pillage, they make war, they take, and they attack with reckless abandon.

Hardcore Frog sticks operate with a similar aggressive mindset. They cast, and they cast, and they cast. Hours can pass without a bite, then suddenly the surface erupts, and water explodes. Despite all that chaos, there’s still a decent chance you’ll miss the hookset. That unpredictability is part of the appeal. The best frog anglers understand that every cast carries possibility. Every hole in the pads could conceal a giant. Every stretch of vegetation could produce the fish of the day, or the month, or the year, or the fish of a lifetime.

Much like the Ironborn themselves, House Frog survives because it thrives in places others fear to enter.

Best Colors:

• All Black
• White Belly

Representative Bait:

• Spro Walking Frog (Pointed Nose)
• Gambler Popping Frog

House Swimbait: “A Giant Always Pays Its Debt”

House Swimbait belongs to House Lannister, the comparison practically writes itself. The Lannisters are powerful, ambitious, expensive, and perpetually convinced they belong on the throne.

The swimbait world feels remarkably similar. Swimbait anglers are not generally pursuing numbers. They are pursuing a bigger bite. They willingly throw larger baits for fewer bites because they are hunting the type of fish that can inhale a 6-8 Shiner, or a Bluegill.
Much like House Lannister’s pursuit of power, swimbait fishing requires confidence bordering on arrogance. In Florida, where 8-10 pound largemouth remain realistic possibilities on any fishing trip, swimbaits continue gaining popularity among anglers focused on targeting fish with a bigger appetite.

Big paddletails, with a heavy tail kick that can be rigged weedless have carved a niche amongst Florida bass anglers because they can be thrown in, and bumped or rolled through any type of cover, or can nose dive down into holes in lily pads. This is a bait that Swing for the fences. The Lannisters never aimed for second place, and neither does House Swimbait.

Best Colors:

• Copperfield
• Golden Shiner (49er)
• Florida Five-0
• Red Ear

Representative Baits:

• Gambler Big EZ

House Topwater: “Growing Stronger…Louder”

House Topwater belongs to House Tyrell. Not because it is the most powerful house, but because it is the most beloved. The Tyrells understood something many other houses never did: people are drawn to spectacle.

Topwater fishing operates under the same principle. No other lure in bass fishing creates anticipation quite like a topwater bait. Every cast feels like a possibility. Every twitch feels like a challenge. Every second spent walking a plug across glass-calm water carries the potential for absolute violence.

When a bass eats a Senko, the line jumps. When a bass eats a Speed Worm, the rod loads. But when a bass eats topwater, the entire lake seems to explode. The strike itself becomes the experience.

Florida is uniquely suited for House Topwater. Scattered submerged vegetation, an abundance of baitfish, shoreline cover, and warm water temps almost year round all create ideal conditions for surface presentations. Early mornings, late evenings, cloudy afternoons, and summer thunderstorms can all bring this house to the precipice of power.

The comparison to House Tyrell also fits because topwater fishing possesses a certain elegance. Walking baits glide. Poppers spit water. Prop baits churn the surface. Everything looks intentional. Everything feels theatrical. It takes a higher level of casting ability and techniques to become consistently good at catching fish with topwater hardbaits. Yet beneath all that beauty lies genuine power, because no lure creates memories quite like a topwater bait.

Years later, anglers may forget how many fish they caught, but they rarely forget the one that exploded on the surface.

Best Colors:

• Bone
• Golden Shiner (Orange Belly)
• Frog Patterns
• Shad Patterns/Florida Bass

Representative Baits:

• Heddon Super Spook
• River2Sea Whopper Plopper
• Heddon Torpedo

Conclusion

At the end of the day, every house believes it deserves the throne. House Chatterbait charges into battle beneath antler banners, relying on fury and force. House Frog rules the swamps and forgotten corners of the realm where giants hide beneath tangled vegetation. House Swimbait pursues glory beneath golden lions, convinced the next cast could change everything. House Topwater rises before dawn beneath the green rose, chasing the most exciting strike in all of bass fishing.

The truth, of course, is that Florida bass don’t care which banner you carry. They don’t care what logo is printed on the package. They don’t care what internet experts, tournament pros, or random guys at the boat ramp told you. All that matters is whether your lure arrives where they live and whether you fish it with confidence. Maybe that’s the real lesson hidden beneath all these great houses – confidence matters.

Because when an angler believes in a bait, they throw it longer. They fish it better. They experiment more. They stay focused. They give themselves more opportunities to succeed. The lure may catch the fish, but confidence keeps you casting long enough to find them.

Of course, confidence doesn’t just come from lures. It comes from the kayak beneath your feet and the tackle you’ve chosen to carry into battle. That’s one of the reasons the crew at Kayaks By Bo has become such an important part of the local kayak fishing community here on the Space Coast. Whether you’re rigging your first kayak or fine-tuning a tournament setup, they understand that confidence matters just as much as equipment. The right kayak gives you access, efficiency, and the freedom to fish your strengths instead of somebody else’s.

While every knight has to trust their mount, the sword and the lance are equally important, and when it’s time to stock the armory before your next campaign, there’s no better stop on the Space Coast than Strike Zone Fishing in Melbourne. From Chatterbaits and frogs to swimbaits, topwaters, hooks, braid, and enough soft plastics to supply every great house’s army, they’ve got everything you need to prepare for your next battle on the water.

Choose your house wisely, until next time!