Just got my first bass rig and going to start fishing the everglades ie loxahatchee in Broward, Sawgrass recreation, Holiday park, US 27,alligator alley any advice on seasonal patterns out there or what to look for when picking out area cause it all looks same out there the few times I fished out there. Thanks guys!!!!
I would be looking for bass spawning this time of year. Senkos, worms, jigs, and topwater frogs are great to use..
Thanks for the reply it seems like just banging the bank it's just miles and miles of the same
The more you fish those long canals the more you will start picking out subtle things that will help you.
Just making sure we are on the same page are you fishing from the bank or from a boat? They can be very different.
But froglogger is right, a lot of the canals look the same. A lot of bodies of water down here do. One of the things you need to learn to do is pay attention to those small details and differences.
Say you find yourself fishing a canal with pads like US27. The entire bank is pads. From start to finish, BUT there may be a rocky bank behind those pads. A grassy bank. Trees with overhanging branches. Rocks in the water, or boulders. Drop offs. Is there secondary vegetation? Like say reeds, or grass in the water where those pads are. Subtle difference make a huge difference in your fishing.
Then there is what mood the fish are in. Are they on the drop off? Are they on the outside of the pads? Inside the pads? Are they biting when you get your bait between the pads and the bank? That is a good ambush point.
It takes experience, and just going out and trying it to figure it out. Also every day could be different to figure them out. So one day they might be on the outskirts of the pads and anything that falls just outside the pad line they hit, while other days they want it to land in the pads or behind them. Some days will be rough, and others will be great. lol
I am using pads as an example because it's what we have the most of down here as vegetation. Good luck, hope you get out there and catch some good ones!
On 2/9/2017 at 6:02 AM, SFL BassHunter said:Just making sure we are on the same page are you fishing from the bank or from a boat? They can be very different.
But froglogger is right, a lot of the canals look the same. A lot of bodies of water down here do. One of the things you need to learn to do is pay attention to those small details and differences.
Say you find yourself fishing a canal with pads like US27. The entire bank is pads. From start to finish, BUT there may be a rocky bank behind those pads. A grassy bank. Trees with overhanging branches. Rocks in the water, or boulders. Drop offs. Is there secondary vegetation? Like say reeds, or grass in the water where those pads are. Subtle difference make a huge difference in your fishing.
Then there is what mood the fish are in. Are they on the drop off? Are they on the outside of the pads? Inside the pads? Are they biting when you get your bait between the pads and the bank? That is a good ambush point.
It takes experience, and just going out and trying it to figure it out. Also every day could be different to figure them out. So one day they might be on the outskirts of the pads and anything that falls just outside the pad line they hit, while other days they want it to land in the pads or behind them. Some days will be rough, and others will be great. lol
I am using pads as an example because it's what we have the most of down here as vegetation. Good luck, hope you get out there and catch some good ones!
I'm fishing from a boat and thank you very much for the great info you provided me.
I'm far from an expert, but these are some of the things I've been learning myself.
Make sure you've got a good pair of polarized glasses too! That will help tremendously seeing cover and structure under the water.
BTW if you ever fish US 27 make sure you fish the finger canals. There are a ton of them and they are dead ends, but every time I have been there the fish have been in them fingers. Went one time where you literally got 1 or 2 bites per finger. So you could start off fishing the main canal and fingers, and if you realize the fish aren't on the main canal you can save time by jumping from finger to finger.
Other than throwing a worm at every piece of grass, these two patterns helped my wife and me catch many fish.
If the wind wind is up and making a decent chop on the water throw a buzzbait or topwater spinner and burn it in front of the cuts out to the grass flats. That worked on both the Big L and Aerojet a few times. But only when the wind was making small waves.
My wife beat my butt butt a couple of times using a deep crank with (20+) and tossing it up against the bank while I was paralleling it closely. . Holding the rod high she would slowly crank the bait over the top of the grass until it got to the edge. Then she would drop her rod tip and crank like hell. The fish would nail it as soon as it dove along the edge.
Lots of different techniques that will work, though.
Thanks guys great info trying lox tomorrow I'll let you know how we did.?
Do you remember the intro video of Roland Martin hoisting a double-digit bass?
He loses his grip on the beast, then scoops it up for the camera.
Well, that was photographed on the Florida Everglades, albeit many, many years ago.
Though our fishing is centered on mid-Florida, we hit the Everglades every couple of years.
For sheer numbers of bass, the best I've ever encountered in the state of Florida
was L-67A Canal in the Everglades. The hottest fishing is centered on the month of April
particularly during low water years.
Roger
Did pretty good got a dozen or so on chatterbaits and rapalas my financee got a nice 3.5 lber on swimbait thanks again for all the info.Tight lines!!!
Great news Wurming! Glad you caught some!
We fished sunday afternoon at Lox and got skunked, Went out to holiday park yesterday and absolutely slayed 'em. Caught 34 fish in about three hours, most being in the 1.5-3lb range. Biggest was 4.5. Mostly caught on spinnerbait or swimbait run along the edges of pads. When the bite slowed down the were throwing a wacky senko and ned rig. Heading out again today to try our luck!
On 2/14/2017 at 10:01 PM, Jake Salvati said:We fished sunday afternoon at Lox and got skunked, Went out to holiday park yesterday and absolutely slayed 'em. Caught 34 fish in about three hours, most being in the 1.5-3lb range. Biggest was 4.5. Mostly caught on spinnerbait or swimbait run along the edges of pads. When the bite slowed down the were throwing a wacky senko and ned rig. Heading out again today to try our luck!
Sunday was tough at Lox good to hear u did good at Holiday park! Were you getting all those fish in the canal or flats?
On 2/15/2017 at 6:45 AM, Wurming67 said:Sunday was tough at Lox good to hear u did good at Holiday park! Were you getting all those fish in the canal or flats?
We started out on flats and it was slow, went to the canals casting up against the pads and thats when it turned on. Just parked the boat at the house now, fished holiday park again and ran up to alligator alley and fished the canal north of it, nothing at all. Ran back down to where we were yesterday and caught like 15-20 in about 2 hours. Today creature baits seemed to be the go to. My buddy was throwing a watermelon ugly otter weightless and i caught my fish on a watermelon red palmetto bug t-rigged with 1/16 weight. Odd thing is, we caught a TON of tilapia or cichlids (whatever the heck they are). Wherever they were the bass bite was non-existent. Just food for thought....
I was out in the Everglades off the alley, Saturday we put a smack down, tons of fishing just not quantity fish. Sunday was the complete opposite, only couple of fish, and were small.
Nice reports fellas!! Sound like the glades are heating up! I saw them bedding out there a week or so ago, Only fish a few hours but was able to pluck a few of some beds. Biggest about 3-3.5 lbs..
All we caught on wacky style baits. I didn't catch numbers but it was fun playing with them, One of them I hooked twice and lost it. marked the spot and came back later and caught it!
The water was real clear but every once in a while it was a lil murky. Wouldn't you know they were in the middle making of beds!! Real cool stuff! I was using top water also, hoping to get a monster bite but not takers. Although, what Jake said, I to kept getting bit bye tilapia/cichlids..
I saw one bass on a bed, it was an absolute giant. At least 7 pounds, I'm thinking more in the eights. There was two (male and female). The male was about a 6. I tried catching them for about an hour, they were not interested at all. It was hard because it was under a bridge and was hard to hold position (wish I had some power poles). Hopefully I get out there soon and can get them.
On 2/14/2017 at 10:01 PM, Jake Salvati said:We fished sunday afternoon at Lox and got skunked, Went out to holiday park yesterday and absolutely slayed 'em. Caught 34 fish in about three hours, most being in the 1.5-3lb range. Biggest was 4.5. Mostly caught on spinnerbait or swimbait run along the edges of pads. When the bite slowed down the were throwing a wacky senko and ned rig. Heading out again today to try our luck!
Awesome guys keep it flowing great info very cool we can share
Sunday was tough at Lox good to hear u did good at Holiday park! Were you getting all those fish in the canal or flats?
I keep hearing about L67a gotta figure out how to get out there....
I keep hearing about this L67a gotta figure out how to get out there...
On 2/16/2017 at 6:20 AM, Wurming67 said:Sunday was tough at Lox good to hear u did good at Holiday park! Were you getting all those fish in the canal or flats?
I keep hearing about L67a gotta figure out how to get out there....
I keep hearing about this L67a gotta figure out how to get out there...
Out of Holiday Park head West... that l67
On 2/16/2017 at 11:08 AM, topwaterrob said:
Out of Holiday Park head West... that l67
We fished the L67 yesterday. Its usually my most productive canal. It was super windy but it died out towards the late afternoon. We only got 2 fish over 12 inches but a ton of little guys. I took a unexperienced boater out yesterday with me, 50mph in the boat with the wind blowing close to 20 was an eye opener for him I'd say. Saw a couple of kids in a jon boat throwing umbrella rigs, they claimed they had caught a bunch. I feel like I'd need a new arm after throwing that monster of a bait all day
This is great guys reading about the glades cool that we can share info ????
On 2/17/2017 at 6:49 AM, Wurming67 said:This is great guys reading about the glades cool that we can share info ????
It definitely is! Anyone fishing from holiday park this weekend? I fished for a few hours this afternoon, bite was pretty slow. But around 5:15 the topwater bite turned on and we landed some fish on frogs. Thats probably my favorite fishing, i think everyone loves a good topwater explosion
We fished lox today got about a dozen one pounders in north canal off of swimbait,worm,spinnerbait a little windy but better than working ?
On 2/19/2017 at 5:32 AM, Wurming67 said:We fished lox today got about a dozen one pounders in north canal off of swimbait,worm,spinnerbait a little windy but better than working ?
I fished holiday park yesterday, caught about a dozen fish as well, all around 1 lb. Mainly on creature baits. We launched about 15 mins before first light and it was dead calm. As soon as the sun came up the wind picked up. Didn't seem to bother the fish though
Going back to lox tomorrow got the day off?
On 2/20/2017 at 10:44 AM, Wurming67 said:Going back to lox tomorrow got the day off?
I might be there on the south side
On 2/18/2017 at 11:19 AM, Jake Salvati said:
It definitely is! Anyone fishing from holiday park this weekend? I fished for a few hours this afternoon, bite was pretty slow. But around 5:15 the topwater bite turned on and we landed some fish on frogs. Thats probably my favorite fishing, i think everyone loves a good topwater explosion
I fished holiday on Friday... L68. Caught a bunch pitching a jig but nothing with any size.....
Only fished for a few hours caught half dozen 1lbers and this one?
On 2/21/2017 at 1:32 AM, Wurming67 said:Only fished for a few hours caught half dozen 1lbers and this one?
Nice!! What did ya get it on?
Thanks!!!got him on trig worm right when it hits water he slammed it,was alot of fun,!!
Nice one, Wurming!!
Went out to MM39 off I75 on Sunday with Geo G and we ended up catching around 22 small bass under 14 inches. The Oscar population is out of control. Every single cast was constant machine gun like bites from these cichlids. We caught maybe 40 or so Oscar, Warmouth, Sunfish, Bluegill, and Mayans. The bass didn't really start biting till around 9:30am.
On 2/21/2017 at 11:48 PM, SFL BassHunter said:Went out to MM39 off I75 on Sunday with Geo G and we ended up catching around 22 small bass under 14 inches. The Oscar population is out of control. Every single cast was constant machine gun like bites from these cichlids. We caught maybe 40 or so Oscar, Warmouth, Sunfish, Bluegill, and Mayans. The bass didn't really start biting till around 9:30am.
I hear you with the mayans.... They are a pain and wreck your baits. theyre fun to fight though sometimes.
On 2/20/2017 at 12:41 PM, topwaterrob said:I fished holiday on Friday... L68. Caught a bunch pitching a jig but nothing with any size.....
oops... wrong post.
On 2/21/2017 at 1:32 AM, Wurming67 said:Only fished for a few hours caught half dozen 1lbers and this one?
That's a nice one!! WTG
How did u guys do today out in the glades?I had a late start at lox 10am ish caught 6 one pounders and this 2lber
With decent fishing returning to the glades, we should do a BR meetup somewhere...Its been a long while.
Sounds great I'm at lox every weekend got a late start today but landed 9 half pound to a pound
holiday park is on fire right now. the canals are alive!
We fished Holiday today from about 3:30 to sundown... Caught 12 total once we figured out where they were. They were caught of a chatter bait and a jig. Like the past few times out the mayans were out of control. As soon as the bait hit the water they nailed it. We also caught the biggest mudfish I've ever seen in my 10+ years in the glades. Hey either way it beats being at work!
On 3/16/2017 at 10:43 AM, bocabasser said:holiday park is on fire right now. the canals are alive!
That's what I hear!!! Probably gonna be a madhouse out there this weekend....
Yes it's a good time to go to the Glades now,should be a good time to catch good numbers of bass(+50 bass in a day per angler is common when the water level is low), but most of the bass are very small.The bass fishing in the Glades will be even better if the water level keeps dropping.
I agree alot of 1lbers gotta try and find the big boys n girls.....Maybe crankbait deeper??
On 3/22/2017 at 12:47 AM, Wurming67 said:I agree alot of 1lbers gotta try and find the big boys n girls.....Maybe crankbait deeper??
Deep diving crankbaits work,but they are easy to lose since the trebles get hooked on rocks,logs,and other stuff in the bottom of the canals.Slow rolling a spinnerbait,punching heavy aquatic vegetation,texas rigged soft plastics,swimbaits, and hollow body frogs are known to catch quality bass in the Glades,you just have to go through the big bowfin, gars, and various exotics that hit these lures as much as bass do.
On 3/22/2017 at 11:12 AM, soflabasser said:Deep diving crankbaits work,but they are easy to lose since the trebles get hooked on rocks,logs,and other stuff in the bottom of the canals.Slow rolling a spinnerbait,punching heavy aquatic vegetation,texas rigged soft plastics,swimbaits, and hollow body frogs are known to catch quality bass in the Glades,you just have to go through the big bowfin, gars, and various exotics that hit these lures as much as bass do.
Thanks for info iam actually in the market for a flipping stick think that's how I'm gonna start to try and find the bigger ones last few months been catching a ton of these 1lbers which has been fun but think it's time to start targeting the bigger ones ?
holiday is hot. fished from 2-dark and smashed them. biggest fish was 6ish and a mess of 3-5 pounders. I've got a tourney in 2 weeks so ill hit it a couple more times to dial it in. it'll take 30 pounds to win for sure.
On 3/23/2017 at 10:42 AM, bocabasser said:holiday is hot. fished from 2-dark and smashed them. biggest fish was 6ish and a mess of 3-5 pounders. I've got a tourney in 2 weeks so ill hit it a couple more times to dial it in. it'll take 30 pounds to win for sure.
Your always on fish!! Good luck on the tournament!
Went to lox today alot of junk fish and alot of one pound bass and than this one made my day
I haven't fished Sawgrass Rec park in a while so I'm thinking about heading out there tomorrow... Anyone know what the water levels are like out there?
My neighbor said fishing has been good out there not sure what the water levels are,he was isaying throw top water out there
On 3/27/2017 at 4:45 AM, Wurming67 said:My neighbor said fishing has been good out there not sure what the water levels are,he was isaying throw top water out there
We fished out there today from 3:30-7:45. What an awesome afternoon. We went through four packs of senkos and two packs of the bps stick-o's. The smallest was about 1lb, average was about 2 lbs with a 5 and a 6 lber. I think the total was probably around 35 or so. We're hoping to fish the miami airport lakes tomorrow. Ill report back haha
Awesome man!!!
Ever since I got my boat which was 3 months ago I been only going to lox I gotta venture out and try sawgrass,Holiday park and us 27
On 3/28/2017 at 6:43 AM, Wurming67 said:Awesome man!!!
Ever since I got my boat which was 3 months ago I been only going to lox I gotta venture out and try sawgrass,Holiday park and us 27
I'd fish sawgrass rec park over holiday personally, I think theres less pressure there. We fished blue lagoon today just south of miami international airport. We caught 8 largemouth, a few peacocks and both hooked up to several tarpon in the 10-25lb range. We both got one tarpon to the boat. Such a great fight on light tackle. Definitely worth the drive!
Awesome bro!!!!I think that's y I like lox not as many people out there I think Holiday park has kotg tournament out there this weekend.....
Might go to the Glades in a couple weeks if the water level keeps dropping.
Where you guys going tomorrow?I'm thinking sawgrass recreation.
Ended up going to sawgrass recreation had a good day this was the best one
I fished Holiday park sunday and man the cychilds or whatever they are called are worse than I have ever seen them. Had to wade through a ton of them to get to the 25-30 bass I caught. They are definitely competing with bass in the food chain. Could be an issue for bass fishing out there in the future. Theyre super aggressive and will try to eat anything close to shore. On top of that my motor broke down making the afternoon even better.
There's not much that can be done to remove all the exotic fish from the Everglades.Few bass fisherman in the Everglades are keeping exotics to help thin out the numbers,maybe making a exotic fish tournament with prizes will encourage people to help eradicate these fish.A couple strong confronts may help to greatly reduce the exotic fish population,that's what happened in 2010 when massive amounts of exotics died.The past "winters" we had where much warmer than usual,so these exotic fish are thriving in the warmer water.
On 4/4/2017 at 5:04 AM, topwaterrob said:I fished Holiday park sunday and man the cychilds or whatever they are called are worse than I have ever seen them. Had to wade through a ton of them to get to the 25-30 bass I caught. They are definitely competing with bass in the food chain. Could be an issue for bass fishing out there in the future. Theyre super aggressive and will try to eat anything close to shore. On top of that my motor broke down making the afternoon even better.
We had the same problem at sawgrass recreation than we found an area that had clearer water and not all those junk fish than we started slamming the bass.
On 4/4/2017 at 5:04 AM, topwaterrob said:I fished Holiday park sunday and man the cychilds or whatever they are called are worse than I have ever seen them. Had to wade through a ton of them to get to the 25-30 bass I caught. They are definitely competing with bass in the food chain. Could be an issue for bass fishing out there in the future. Theyre super aggressive and will try to eat anything close to shore. On top of that my motor broke down making the afternoon even better.
they're oscars and they are were a pain in the butt the last 3 trips at holiday. i was on 25 pounds in 3 different areas, but on sunday could only manage 16.8 pounds. to top it off, i dropped my pliers in the water unhooking a 15 pound mudfish. that made it super difficult to get those oscars off my trebles by hand. my hands are tattered.
On 4/4/2017 at 6:45 AM, soflabasser said:There's not much that can be done to remove all the exotic fish from the Everglades.Few bass fisherman in the Everglades are keeping exotics to help thin out the numbers,maybe making a exotic fish tournament with prizes will encourage people to help eradicate these fish.A couple strong confronts may help to greatly reduce the exotic fish population,that's what happened in 2010 when massive amounts of exotics died.The past "winters" we had where much warmer than usual,so these exotic fish are thriving in the warmer water.
I'm taking a 5 gallon bucket with me every time I go out to Holiday this summer. Ill fill that bad boy up and give it to someone on shore to eat or for catfood or something....
On 4/4/2017 at 12:03 PM, topwaterrob said:I'm taking a 5 gallon bucket with me every time I go out to Holiday this summer. Ill fill that bad boy up and give it to someone on shore to eat or for catfood or something....
That sounds like a good idea but that won't do much to the Oscar population.These fish are everywhere in the Glades and it will take much more than a couple bass fishermen to truly lower their numbers.
Oscars are infested at sawgrass recreation like piranhas
the park is hot! when you're catching these all day, its hard to leave.
On 4/6/2017 at 8:03 AM, bocabasser said:the park is hot! when you're catching these all day, its hard to leave.
Awesome!!! I was thinking of going out there but I thought it would just be boat on top of boat out there,how is that?Thanks!!
Nice catches fellas!! Holiday park/Everglades there is plenty of space for everyone. Almost seems endless lol.. Although at times it seems if one person see's a boat fishing they will stop in the area,thinking it must be fishy. Then another boats comes by and sees 2 boats fishing etc.. lol
The park was closed yesterday due to the fires/smoke out there..
Thanks for info!!
There was a bunch of wild fires today by US27.
On 4/7/2017 at 10:39 PM, Gotfishyfingers? said:The park was closed yesterday due to the fires/smoke out there..
It was open this afternoon.
Went out on Saturday and man, I think the water levels were high and it was extremely windy! Caught a few mud fish and 1 bass! Mostly flipping into the pads! I need help. Lol!! I'm launching at the first boat ramp just north of i75 on us-27. Anything helps!
where you are fishing secondchance, those fish aren't there yet. instead of going north, go south to holiday park. take the l67 the south canal, to the cut #4 and start fishing south to five. stay on the flats side. the two baits that have been working for me are the spook and the snake. wherever you see a washout, hit it hard. stay and make extra casts at everyone of them. i don't mind giving up this info now, because the king series is over and the classic has a 1/5 chance of being there. they are not smashing the spook, they are more or less sucking it in. at first you'll think its an oscar, but when they pull you'll know its not. the better bite is during the week because the weekend pressure is brutal. don't be afraid to throw a swim jig in the pads as well. the pad bite will be next, just don't know where.
On 5/10/2017 at 9:02 AM, bocabasser said:Weekend pressure.... Man I fished the Kotg sunday and there was literally a boat every 100 yards d**n near all the way to Tamiami.... Definetly right on about them not crushing the spook, they would just tap or slurp underneath it.
where you are fishing secondchance, those fish aren't there yet. instead of going north, go south to holiday park. take the l67 the south canal, to the cut #4 and start fishing south to five. stay on the flats side. the two baits that have been working for me are the spook and the snake. wherever you see a washout, hit it hard. stay and make extra casts at everyone of them. i don't mind giving up this info now, because the king series is over and the classic has a 1/5 chance of being there. they are not smashing the spook, they are more or less sucking it in. at first you'll think its an oscar, but when they pull you'll know its not. the better bite is during the week because the weekend pressure is brutal. don't be afraid to throw a swim jig in the pads as well. the pad bite will be next, just don't know where.
I was fishing mostly on the main canal heading towards holiday park. Those numbers that you're mentioning, I have no idea where those are . Lol please excuse my lack of knowledge. I was also wondering where the "flats" are!?! I just finally bought a boat and I'm going out after work during the week and in the weekends with my kid.
hopefully this weekend everyone has done better, i Know its mothers day weekend but hopefully some of us have a little time to wet our lines.!
Bottom line you go.out there spend time on the water and you will figure it out takes time
Btw I wasn't trying to sound cold or short but it's really how learn an area by spending time in it there is alot of guys catching 100 fish but imho finding the big boys on a consistent basis is what separates the anglers.
i agree, hopefully ill run into them soon...plus its fun serching around.! have a great weekend guys.!!
You will and once you figure it out it will boost your confidence and add to your arsenal
There are bass all over that system just because guys are catching fish fishing a certain area using a certain pattern doesn't mean thats it.I kinda go against the grain and don't do what everyone else is doing and land very good numbers and weight remember it's a fish it has certain characterics that just don't change cause they are in Florida.