CountBassula

yea i saw your post, looks like we're in the same boat :-(

LOL!!! I only have 3 bass rods and 2 ocean rods. But you should see my wife when I told her I got a Glock 19 a week after I got a PTR-91 :-)

OK, so I went out on a larger canal today (one I went to with LgMouthGambler before) and I know where are fish there! I saw a ton of bass, and even two other fish, that were huge, about 2' each easily. Anyways, I was casting a red 10" xoom worm with a 1/16 weight, then black worm, then 4" zoom lizard, then humping frog, then out of desperation I even ran the frog top water, then back to black 10" worm. NOTHING! Well, I did have one tiny bite when this stupid 5" bass nibbled on the end of my worm. But no real strikes/bites, nothing! So, do I suck at this? Or is it the time of year/weather/time of day (i was there from 2-4pm). I've also been practicing my presentation, I try to wiggle and pull the worms so they look somewhat natural. Nothing helps! Anyways, just venting I guess, I really hoped to catch SOMETHING! OH well. BTW, the very large fish I saw looked kind of like a bass, but had wider gill fins and appeared a bit more silver'ish. What could it be? I know it was not snake head nor gar, but what else lives in those water?

I also noticed there's a LOT of little fish (1" in size) swimming around, I'm guessing that's small BASS? I'm also guessing that's a good sign of things to come?

One other thing, the canal is full of vegetation, most of it in every direction is weeds etc, with some clear spots. I've been casting everywhere. Also, the canal is rather narrow, maybe 10-15 feet now, 20 when the water goes up, on a good day... but after Isaac it went up so much and about doubles it's size :-) that's when I saw a large gar patrolling the water! Anyways, Maybe I'll just invite LgMouthGambler for few cold ones and he can show me how to fish this spot. BTW i never see anyone else fish there, well except this one time my neighbors kids were catching sunfish, and ONCE i saw 2 guys on a small boat casting some spinners there... it was almost silly looking, the boat would get stuck sideways :-) Anyways, what are your thought on smaller canals that are off shots of the large ones?

So I have this small canal behind my house. I check google maps and I can see that it feeds from the C-14 monster canal. I've seen plenty of fish there in the past: bass, cat fish, snake heads, gar, and other smaller fish. Last summer when my brother was visiting, we caught some fish here; I only landed on bass here, but that was before I knew what I was doing , and one snake head on a bobber and a small hook with an earth warm on it; my brother on the other hand caught plenty of bass, even one peacock bass, and other fish. Now, since I got back into fishing (bass fishing mainly), I never considered this canal I have in my back yard, it appears too small. So I always went out to other places. Well, I tried fishing in "my" canal today. I came home empty handed, but I noticed some things: 1) i saw a school of bass, 5 maybe 6 fish, but very small ones, no one over 8 or 10 inches. 2) i saw a LARGE snake head, and it even followed my top water lure for a while, but I guess I suck at working it... 3) the water level is extremely low, about 1 1/2 to 2 feet below what it should be (see attached pictured). So my question: should I NOT overlook this canal as a viable fishing spot once the water levels and temperature improve? Do you think it has potential for being a good fishing spot? BTW, I can walk along this canal in every direction very easily. More info; I'm on this canal about 15 houses west of the Ralph Diaz Memorial Park (the canal starts on the north end of the park and heads west): Ralph Diaz Memorial Park Thanks!

there is a hug pond behind publix where i used to live with a no fishing sign

YOU SUCK! AND I HATE YOU! LOL J/K! I have a crappy little canal behind my house... if I knew I would get back into fishing like this I would have bought the same darn house across the street for extra $5K and been on a much larger canal!!! d**n that's nice fish man!

LOL I second that! I watched LgMouthGambler pull out few Bass using this lure from a canal along Sawgrass when we fished together late last year! I've tried a pond near my work (Citrix, Powerline and Cypress) that's next to our parking garage today, used jitter bug and senkos and got nothing, i declared it a fish-free-zone :-P My house is on a small canal in Coral Springs (I'll give you a hint, it's in Maplewood, and I'm on that canal right south of Royal Palm Blvd and west of University Dr, about 1000ft west of Ralph Diaz Memorial Park :-) ), and I've pulled bass, snake head, and cat fish from my back yard in the past, but lately the water level has been low and I don't see any fish there no more. Though right after Isaac storm rolled through, the water went up like 2ft, I almost had water spilling into my pool, and when I walked out past my backyard fence, within feet of me there was water, and a HUGE gar was patrolling the water :-D what a thrill that was!!! anyways, i often fish at the C-14 canal, south of Atlantic Blvd where University Dr crosses it. There's a dog park there, boat ramp, etc. I've caught my biggest bass there, probably a 3lbs monster :-D lately though I've been checking out areas around my house and work, and along the way to/from work. Today I'll be fishing in the canal north of McNab on Powerline. If you live near Marhkam Park we should go shooting there some time :-) and on google maps it looks like it's littered with ponds etc, probably have fish there, but it being a large park, i would guess it's been way overfished, but who knows... M.

Black 5" Senko, Texas Rigged. Weightless.

bad karma but ok

A friend suggested that I kill it if I catch one. Is this good advice? He said they're invasive specie and not good for the area... I caught one from a canal right behind my house (yey water front property with fish in it ) but released it back.

yes Sir!

I didn't try ML, I did have MH and now have M. For me personally, I much prefer the feel of M over MH. SirSnookAlot says that for some reason Hurricane rods are bit stiffer thank others. I would go with M :-)

Thanks to all who replied to my Rod Advice thread here: I've decided to exchange my Hurricane Redbone Medium Heavy 7' for a same brand and model in Medium Action. I took the MH out few days ago, and felt like it was way too much for a Bass that I'm catching (I caught a small one and hurt the little guy a bit when setting the hook; and I hate to cause the fish anymore suffering than it needs to). Anyways, so now I have 2 rods: Hurricane Redbone Light Action 6'6" with Shimano Sonora 2500FB, 10lbs braided line and 8lbs leader. Hurricane Redbone Medium Action 7' with Shimano Sonora 4000FB, 15lbs braided line and 12lbs leader. I'll be fishing the longer one tomorrow! Wish me luck! Martin

Went fishing after work yesterday for a little bit on the canal at University Dr. and Southgate Blvd. Caught 4 Bass in under an hour on a Senko :-D

LOL! I see! I'll PM you me contact and you can do the same. I'll contact you sunday when I'm ready to go out! Martin

so my son and I went to a canal near our house. we tried a top water lure first, i got a strike, but stupid fish missed. then switched to senko which never fails... pulled out a decent size bass, and had another bite but didn't set the hook right. overall good 30-45 minutes of father-son time

I went out fishing on a canal this Sunday. about and hour or two later a family shows up with a jet ski, daddy, and his kid take turns and blow fulls speed withing 30 feet of me MANY times. some people are just inconsiderate a**holes. another day i was fishing the same canal, a guy shows up, sees me pull fish from one spot, so he starts casting his bait right in front of me and almost over my lines... oh well.

oh dear! 7am may be way too early for me :-) do you go fishing then church, or church then fishing? :-) i have some guests coming over saturday night for some drinks so no way I can be up this early... perhaps some other time and day?

yea ordered online. i hate going to big stores, plus it's ways off from where i live and work. it will probably not get here till next week but i have other lures to get me through the weekend. i think sunday will work for me. let me know what time and where you're going and i'll let you know if i can join. btw do you have a boat or are you fishing from the banks?

Very well! I ordered everything you mentioned as well as some jitter bugs, crawfish, and few other lures. I'll be going fishing most likely Friday around noon, let me know if you want to meet up! Martin

And I gladly accept the offer! Let me get the lures you mentioned and we can definitely come out some weekend soon! BTW, I'll be going fishing this Friday most likely, and possibly Sunday too :-)

Cool! I already have some of this stuff (mainly hooks, and senkos with tails and similar rubber goodies). Any particular colors I should stick with?

Well, I'm not exactly totally new, but it's been a looooong time since I fished, and just got back into it recently (though I've done some Ocean fishing in the last 6 years in FL). So I have some comments and questions about types of tackle I should get for bass fishing in Florida canals, lakes, ponds, etc. Let me start by saying what I have and use right now: 2 rods, Hurricane 6'6" Light action 10lbs braided 8lbs leader. Hurricane 7' Medium Heavy 20lbs braided and leader. The baits I used before are Senkos, 4 inch black, TX rigged (though on weights on the line, just hook). I picked up few baits the other day (see pic below); basically few funny colored fish, some that float, some that sink. 2 poppers, and that's it. I have no idea what else to use except Senko. Now, I figured I should check out what kind of little critters live in my area (lizards, frogs, etc) and get bait that looks as much as what local bass can have for dinner, right? There's a reason why I say this: few months ago I was working on my pool screen, or what was left of it, and I took a part off. Underneath it were 20 or so little frogs. Being the nice guy that I am, I picked them up and decided to throw them in a canal behind my house... the first frog hit the water, swam maybe 5 inches, and immediately a fish came up and ate it. I let the rest just hop off on the grass... ANYWAYS, this gave me an idea that I should get some 1-2 inch long black/brown frogs as lures (fish in my canal sure like them ). Also, are top water lures a good idea here? I used to fish in upstate NY on a lake back in HS and College and I remember catching 10-15 Bass in a matter of few hours on a dinky little jitter bug that was maybe 1.5 inches long; at the same lake Daredevil never failed me (a spook painted red and white). I'm also thinking about a lizard looking bait for top water (?). But I think I test my theory first, that is I'll catch a few of those boogers around my backyard and throw them in the canal (I know they can swim well, tested that in my pool once, i know i'm cruel) and see if they last longer than the poor frog from 2 paragraphs above :-) I also hear that bass love Crawfish, so I'm thinking about few rubber ones rigged TX style just like my Senkos. Sorry about a long post, but I'm really puzzled by what I should get. I know some of you will say to just try them all out, but I honestly don't have time to fish that often, maybe once a week on weekends, so I would really appreciate tips and/or links to tackle, so I can get it quickly and be ready for the next trip. Thanks! Martin