shallow thinker

I tried about 3 weeks ago and bailed out after just an hour. The water level had risen giving fish access to the flats. Currents were strong in both canals and I just didn't feel like it was going to be productive. We moved over to the alley and had a pretty good morning.

here are a couple of options for you. One is the ramp into the Hillsboro canal that is just west of Powerline road. Look on Google. There is a park in the neighborhood off of NW 6th Street. The water is low so be careful when launching. If you can, head west and fish the stretch from Lyons road to 441. Bass are in the shade or hanging on the deep side of the grass line. Another option for a very small boat is the put in along Boca Rio Road between Glades and Palmetto. This assumes you can pick up your boat and don't need a ramp. Good luck

Busbey, Glad you got out there. That photo looks a lot like a mudfish. Snakeheads have some similarities but they also have spots on the tail and a different shape to the head. Both are nasty critters This link has lots of snakehead pix http://www.jdscustombaits.com/Snakeheads!.php I put in a few miles east in the Hillsboro canal thinking I would catch some snakeheads. Launching the boat took some doing with the low water. Fishing was surprisingly good... for bass. Biggest was 3.9 lbs and I had 4 others over 2.5lbs. Snakeheads didn't bite until 10am and I only got 3 of them. Was off the water by 11am

There's no snakeheads in Lox (FWC has not had a confirmed report). That north south canal in your 2nd picture should have snakeheads but its tricky to get in there. I've dropped a kayak in from the bank and then had to duck under that bridge. A boat may not clear that bridge. I've done OK on bass in there and seen a few tarpon roll. Snakeheads are decent to eat. Just fillet them and use whatever preparation you like. They are mild tasting and the texture is firm and almost like a piece of rope (not flakey like many local fish). I can't say that I am a great fan of them on the table.

Great job. Those are some awesome weights.

That's a shame. I've been hit at Lake Ida so I know the feeling. Never had trouble anywhere else in spite of doing a good amount of late night snook fishing at some very sketchy ramps.

Welcome to the forum. There's a bunch of regular contributors from our area. Hint, Lox refuge is pretty good fishing (though not at the moment due to construction and super low water). Good luck

Man it's getting hot out there. I about fried on Saturday fishing some urban canals for snakeheads. It's time to sleep in and fish late afternoon or at night.

A 17 Tracker works just fine around here. I run around in a 17 foot flats boat. Besides the places mentioned, you have tremendous saltwater fishing inshore in the St Lucie river and to the north in the Intracoastal waterway. Flatlined Charters (George Gotz) is a well regarded saltwater guide for PSL. Look at the reports on the Florida Sportsman forum for some of the old time guides. You can also stop into a tackle store called Snook Nook for advice. I think Squeaky Kelly still guides from there. There are many, many very good guides and knowledgeable forum members who can show around Lake O. Welcome to Florida.... once you get here and experience the fishing you'll not want to leave.

Shane, I've met you at one of the snakehead round ups... & seen you outfish Charlie Moore on TV. You'd be welcome next time I go (which is no sooner than the weekend of May 21). I've also got a back seat open for the May 15th roundup if you know anyone looking for a ride. I usually do those with my son but he's tied up. Finding fish on Lake O has been pretty easy this year but getting around is becoming an issue. I draft 10" was worried in a few spots 3 weeks ago. I'll shoot you a PM next time I'm looking to get out to Lake O Jack

Good report Shane. I've been meaning to get my nephews out and into numbers of fish. I'll may try Sawgrass as we usually go out on the Alley.

Man, those are some giants. Way to go.

Holy cow! I have to rethink my bias to always fish the flats at lox and bypass the canals.

We made the trip yesterday and fished East Wall, Long Point, spoil islands, observation shoal.... The boys did OK and the weather was good. I was hoping that I could find schooling fish outside of the grass line but in each place we had to go into heavy cover to get bit. We had steady action all morning on fish to 2 lbs and I got one at 4.8 lbs later. Not the banner day that Mike had but still lots of fun.

I'm heading out there Saturday morning with 3 novice 16 yr olds. Mike was kind enough to share the exact location of his honey hole but I think I'm better off parking on an outside grass line and manning the camera and landing net.

Mike, thanks for the play by play text messages yesterday while I was in Chicago. I'm extremely jealous! I may have to change my weekend plans to get in on the good bite up at the lake.

Nuts, I can't go. Two things showed up that I have to do on Friday morning. Catch them up!

Hmm. I may want to get in on this too. Lox used to be my regular bassin spot until this KOTG thing got going. I have good memories of those flats during the spring

Yes, like in I'm not going to the Lake (as much as would have liked). Caught a zillion fish yesterday but found it hard to get quality No quality in the glades for me either. About all I've done is to rule out certain places for KOTG. The good news is that my teenage son will fish the tournament with me next weekend and he'll have constant action any place that we end up. Another good thing about the low water is to try out new baits. You find out quick what works

A couple of painful memories........ Once I ended up at the ramp without my boat keys. Still fished with the trolling motor and got a 4 lb bass. I lost 3 different pairs of expensive sunglasses off the deck of my boat. One was while packing in the driveway at night and the other 2 were taking the glasses off while on the water (then jumping up on plane). Now I wear cheaper glasses

Good report. I put in up in the fingers on Sunday afternoon. It was a numbers day. The water is low and the bite was strong. Biggest was 4 lbs and we had a blast on topwater towards evening. Now is the time to hit the glades.

I saw the coverage (and followed the day by day reports on flw.com). While I don't remember who made the comment of fluorocarbon it could be like what the BASS Elite guys were doing up in Palaka. Guys using swimbaits and topwater as a search tool used braid. So did those flipping and pitching into the slop. In those cases you have rip the fish out of the slop and braid is the ticket. Sight fishing bedding fish is where they were downsizing to 8 lb flouro. If you look at what happened at both Toho and the St John's many of them used finesse techniques on the bedding bass. It has to take nerves of steel to look at a 10 pounder and try to wrestle it away from cover using that light line.

Shane, nice job on the Charlie Moore TV show that aired on Friday. I'm itching to get back on those snakeheads as soon as our local bass tournament season wraps up in May.

I'm going to head up to Lake O again on Saturday for some fun fishing. Thinking about putting in at J&S and exploring up that way. Does anyone have any advice (particularly if the area is fishable on a north wind)? Looks like we have a front Thurs-Fri so I'd expect a NE wind and a better bite in the afternoon. It's been 20 yrs since I've been in that area of the lake. Any help would be appreciated.

I use a loop knot for most topwater and jerk baits