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DONT MISS THE GLADES, but I would skip the Big O unless unless you are familiar with it. It changes so much in just a short period of time. So vast and everything looks so good. Tough place for the novice.

Tournaments have been won while fishing only the canals that connect to the main lake. The north west side have extensive canal systems around Lakeport, buckhead, and the okeechobee city limits. Windy I would seek them out.

I fish south Florida all the time and one thing that will determine what you can throw will be the vegetation. Especially from the bank it will have to be weedless and as light as you can get it to keep from hanging up on the sandstone rock walls. Another tip is to wear leather boots especially in higher grass. We have things that can hurt you down here especially when bank fishing. alligator alley on the west side of Naples should be hot that time of year. There are two college campus with lakes you can fish in Naples. Have fun and watch where your walking! Large commercial areas usually have lakes that provide fill. All have bass, and all connected to the drainage system through culvert pipes. Spawn anytime from November to April. They sometimes spawn several times during one year. Without extreme seasons they have flexibility. Down here it’s more wet season vrs. Dry season, welcome to the tropics!

Nice ones FD! Congrats.

I could not agree more with what Gary said. Find a few baits you have faith and trust in and make them work for the conditions at the time. Location and presentation are what you need to concentrate on. I also believe much produced today, is made to catch fisherman and not so much bass. A senko will catch fish from east to west, north to south. Just work on speed, location, action, and it often requires changes in those three things as the conditions change. Lastly if you want to really learn a new bait, go out with that bait and nothing else. Instead of giving up and going back to old faithful, you will be forced to experiment with new action, and new placement, rather then changing lures. One guarantee we can all agree on is, you cant catch fish when your running, and tying constantly. Your lure has to be wet!

Big rock still holding heat after the sun goes down, it's like throwing a quilt on the bed, Soooo comfy!!!!!

Riprap especially good as these fronts move through. They hold considerable heat long after the sun's direct rays move off the area. Fish magnets during those cold sunny afternoons regardless of what bait your throwing. Never pass them up.!!!!!!!!

The answer is yes, before they get to full size. After that they have nasty spines that would make them hard for bass to eat.

The success of the site starts at the top, with vision and a sound set of rules. Anyone out of bounds will not go far without being notified. I love this site and the sharing of information that takes place everyday. If you need to know just ask, someone will come along to help!

Tough time to fish. Be very quiet, move slowly, down size, light weight, and let it slowly fall through the water column. Then slow jerks and let sit still, then repeat. It’s like watching paint dry but you might get bit.

Wow that had to be stressful, in a boat things can go bad so quickly. I too was isolated with my son 22 miles from the ramp in the everglades. Luckily I had cell service and had the number of Florida Fish and Game, and they sent a supervisor with a boat to come get us on a Sunday Afternoon. We could of spent the night out there with all the mosquitos, gators, and pythons. He tows us in 22 miles, and would not take a penny. He said it's my job and I'm paid well to do it. I learned a lesson that day. I always take three times more water then I normally would take just for an emergency. Glad no one was hurt in your boat!

if things happen to be tough that day I often switch to a lighter set up with a black trick worm wacky rigged. This I will throw parallel next to the deep ledges. This has often saved the day and produced some big girls hugging the bottom. Just some things to consider in the glades.

The Alley is a Sun Pass road. The water levels are split between the east and west sides of the Miami River which is at Mile Marker 35. Water levels and water quality can be different between east and west. The river runs north and south and can be quite good and loaded with wildlife. At the north end of the river, you can often see otters along the bank, and hear bobcats in the early morning calling out to others. Fishing can be the best in the nation during low level conditions, and tough during high water conditions when bass move out into the grass looking for food. February should be a good time to go. I personally like zoom flukes, senkos, both in watermelon red. Then hollow body frogs deep in the pad fields, and close to sawgrass stems. Just remember 65lb braid for the frog fishing. They will often come out with ten pounds of vegetation attached. Pure fun, good luck my friend!

While in the Fort Lauderdale area I would fish Alligator Alley which is I-75, once you pay the toll, there are multiple boat ramps every 5 miles along the highway. Ramps are on both sides of the road. All good quality ramps, and loaded with bass especially if the water levels drop. A 100 fish day is a real possibility. You don't need to run far, you have already driven to the heart of the everglades. Lots of black bass, peacock bass, rock bass, tons of Oscars, a variety of exotics, many big gators, otters, some snakeheads, and occasional mega python. Don't fall in the water!

South Florida we have it all now with panthers, exploding coyote population, pythons, green anacondas, even Nile crocks have been found in a few spots. Some believe the crocks escaped from the zoo during Andrew. So much swamp to hide in!

I agree with most said here. I would add, after arriving at the lake I check the slop of the bank. The slope often continues under water same as above water. Then I look for water flow access points, like flow in / and flow out. Then I look for green vegetation. with isolated clumps being better then large fields. Isolated clumps will concentrate bass from a larger area to the shade, and O2 provided. Then bird activity, birds will give away bass in a mood to hunt. I never start fishing before scanning the water body.

Here in south Florida there is so much vegetation of all types, if you don’t get their head up quickly a big bass will rap you up and make recovery near impossible. I will use light tackle sometimes when I fish my daughters lake in Georgia which is deep with a lot less weed.

Oh yah, I had a Bill Dance crank bait bury into my belly all the way to the deepest bend of the treble hook. I had jerk bait hook the back of my hand as it sailed past me. The scariest of them all was a bullet weighted fluke hit my sunglasses right in the lens. That scared the crap out of me. Thank god for unbreakable Costa lens.

In hot Florida months I like evening fishing because its a lot cooler when you have to load the boat after fishing. In the cooler months I like morning fishing because the loading and the heat are not a problem. Both evening and mornings have low sunlight conditions, and excellent fishing. Those are magical times.

Don't kid yourself, we may be good on bodies of water we are familiar fishing day after day, but these guys are constantly on the move and fishing constantly changing waters of all type, under all conditions. I have fished over 50 years and still fish at least 5 days a week, from both the boat and the bank, and am not foolish enough to think I could hang in with the guys on the circuit, day after day. Wake up and smell the roses.

Florida in August, and September, never longer then four hours! Too d**n hot and humid!

When fishing from the bank in south Florida treble hooks are not a wise choice in most cases. I have found a 4” Senko type bait weightless works well on Peas as long as you keep it moving. I Texas rig it so weeds are not a problem. I have caught hundreds on this little bait. Just keep it moving fast and jerking it. Watermelon red is my fav color.

Some days I’m better than others, but I do try hard to be an accurate caster. When I get in a zone it’s turns out to be a great trip regardless of the bass caught!

My house is surrounded by 10 small man made lakes about 10 to 20 acres in size. A few years ago I was cutting a small V cut in a dorsal fin without hitting any spines. The cut was very small and always in the same spot. When I caught a fish I would check and if no sign I would make a cut. It got to be a pain to do. I never caught a fish that I had made a mark on, but I still check for signs.

Bass come in a variety of shades and colors. A lot depends on the environment they live in, and every once in a while, comes the freaks of nature. About a year ago I caught a black Peacock Bass. You could just see the faint bars and slight dot on the tail. Except for the color it was all peacock bass, including bad ass attitude. Just like humans every once in a while there are freaks of nature.