Turf

Geo as always thanks for the advice, I was out of town last weekend but will be back at it this weekend. May head up 27 as you mentioned. Appreciate it sir!

Had a great weekend fishing Lox from the kayak. Was able to fish both mornings and had success both days fishing the same flats north of the Lox Road boat ramps but fishing different styles. Saturday Morning 11/24 - 6:30 - 9:00 Fished first light and immediately had a blow up on a ribbit frog first cast. Of course missed the fish but the bite didn’t slow. Didn’t get another blow up on the ribbit so switched to the usual suspects (blk/blue grass pig, wm/gld flukes, senkos/u-vibes/trick worms). Had fairly consistent success the entire day on all baits, but seemed as though they preferred it slower Saturday. Ended with 20 fish on the day, most were caught on flukes (10) and the ribbit frog (6) and a few on worms and one on the grass pig. All fish were under 1.5 lbs unfortunately although still very much fun of course. Highlight was the gorgeous sunrise which was one of the best I've seen as out there. Sunday Morning 11/25 - 6:15 - 9:45 Got out a bit earlier and headed a bit deeper into the flats to the north than I went the day before. Actually as a reminder, if you are planning on heading into the flats at Lox especially, don’t forget to use your GPS to track your trotlines, it’s very easy to get turned around out there, especially when you have the thick fog that we had Sunday morning. Visibility was pretty poor for the first hour or two. Unlike Sat, fishing was slow early on (only caught a couple of small guys) but it seemed to turn on around 8:15 - 8:30. I had decided to fish a little larger and to try to find some bigger fish so I rigged up a weightless gambler ez swimmer, and continued to concentrate on the ribbit frogs. First 10 fish were small just as the day before but I noticed Fish seemed to hitting whatever I threw at them almost immediately on the top of the water, most were caught on the ribbit. I decided to focus on the frog the rest of the day and it paid off. The next 6 fish ranged from 2.5 - 3.5lbs with 3 being over 3 lbs. Missed a couple of others. Then it all seemed to turn off around 9. However it was a great way to end the day / weekend. Looking forward to getting back out!

Yes sir. I stumble on chains every now and again and it’s always a pleasant surprise. I grew up fishing in eastern PA so I’m quite fond on pike/musky fishing as well. All good in my book!

11/17 - Alligator Alley MM35 (Miami Canal) Got out to the alley again for the first time in a while and the weather couldn't have been more beautiful. Only had a couple of hours to fish (6:30 - 8:30) and the temp started and stayed around the mid 60's. Wind was blowing more than I wouldve liked (10 mph NNW) fishing from my kayak but it was just in the right direction to push me straight down the Miami Canal with little to no paddling. The bite was steady from the beginning. Started with a hb frog, then grass pig, then anything soft plastic. All were effective with the exception of the grass pig. Caught a couple early on the frog, and had several other blow ups that I missed. The grass pig was getting lightnight strikes (seemingly cichlids, Oscar's or other exotics) however nothing stuck. Despite being pushed down the canal quicker than I would typically fish the soft plastics were the keys. I fished everything from senkos, flukes, trick worms, rage crass, to some older worms I had laying around that I wasn't even sure what they are anymore. It didn't seem to matter much honestly as long as I was casting to either bank and letting it drop, I would get hit more often than not. There were lots of exotics that trashed a lot of plastics and toothy critters that cut me off a couple of times but in terms of boated fish I only caught nice Oscar. On the day caught 15 LM all two pounds or smaller. Nothing of size but a fun day nonetheless considering I was only able to fish for a couple of hours. 11/18 - Lox Preserve Fished Lox Sunday morning first light until 9am amd while the wind was very calm (<5mph) the bite was not nearly as consistent as the alley. Temp were in the high 60's lower 70's. I fished the flats just north of the lox road boat ramps from the kayak. Started with a hb frog and had a big blow up on the second cast. But no reward. Continued with the hb frog for a while and no luck. Switched to the grass pig swim bait also with no takers. I switched fairly quickly to soft plastics (senkos and flukes) and fished much slower for the next hour or so and only had one bite which resulted in a 1 lber if that. After switching back through the frog and swimbait again I decided to change it up and fish a ribbit frog with a quicker presentation on top. That seemed to do the trick, in the next 30-45 mins I caught 4 LM (all around 2 lbs) , 1 pickerel, and one big ole mudfish that jump up into my kayak and somehow released himself (so technically not caught, although he was in the kayak). At the end of the day not what I was hoping for in terms of size or number of fish but turned out to be a fun a day. Always fun trying to figure out what these guys want and how they want it each time out. We will see what next weekend brings.

Thanks for the report as always geo. Only have a couple hours tomorrow morning so going to try the alley briefly. Will be back out fishing the Lox flats Sunday and will report back. Was out there a couple of weekends ago and had similar results. Both Sat and Sun were tough. Caught 12 between the two days. 7 on watermelon/gold flukes, 3 on swimbait and 2 on rabbit frogs. None were over 2lbs. I did have a big girl on for about 5 seconds until her first jump. I didn’t get a very hook set and she threw my ribbit. Can always speculate on the size but she was a nice fish. After a bit of cursing I continued on with my trip. Good luck out there this weekend boys!

Been thinking the same thing honestly and I apologize for my lack of action. This time of year / most of summer I always find myself drawn to the beach / canals for some snook / tarpon action. Glad to hear spawn is on the horizon. Will be launching back at Lox next weekend likely if I don't go tomorrow. Thanks for the report as always. Good luck out there!

We've all sat in silence before... For me the silence is usually after an avalanche of curse words lol... You'll get her next time. Great report as always. Been enjoying some snook/tarpon fishing while it's still good, then looking forward to getting back to catching those big mouths.

Yeah fished Lox as well today with my pops. Lots of fish (36 in total) not a single one over 2 lbs. But only two Mayan and one mud fish, which was positive. All fish were caught on flukes or senkos. Large majority on watermelon flukes. Thanks for the report as always guys, good luck out there!

See you out there tomorrow morning, going to get out for a few hours myself. Good luck!

Yeah figured that would be the case. I stuck around for a bit but them my impatience got the best of me. I'll pm you my cell phone number for next time. Fishing was a lot of fun. Don't think the biggest went 2 lbs but caught 18 on the morning. All on watermelon colored flukes and grass pig swimbaits. beautiful day until that wind started ripping.

Was going to say the exact same thing. Planning on getting there around sunrise (6:45 ish). Hope to see you there! Blue Jackson Kayak, Blue Ford Expedition. If I miss you, good luck!

Thanks for the update sir!

Yes sir but will only be able to make it out one of the two mornings. Trying to debate which one will be better for wind/weather. Will you be there both morning or only going to be fishing one as well? We make sure we get together briefly and at least chat face to face.

Absolutely. And yes the wind is key unless you have some sort of anchor. I don't but I'm debating on rigging something simple up. Usually for me if it's blowing over 10-12 which is often is, I find myself very frustrated at times. I typically look for some pads or structure I can drift against that will stop me from blowing all over the place. Otherwise your best bet is typically first thing in the morning until about 10ish. Usually after that I find the wind gets unbearable. All depends on the weather of course but that been the story many times for me.

Nice fish!

Nice work, sounds like a fun day! What location / times did you fish. Heard the junk fish were out in droves so curious as to where you were able to avoid those pesky devils. Good luck out there.

Been fishing most of Broward County from a kayak and bank for many years now and have had a blast doing it. The alley is great but do be careful in those narrow canal areas and more importantly anytime you're around a bend, airboats and bass boats alike will rip through there and will not see you, especially if you don't have a flag mounted to your kayak. Also as the name implies, and although I havent been personally bothered, there have been several reports of very territorial gators approaching and even chasing bass boats for stretches, not something you want as a kayaker. Likely just because people feed the them from their boats which is a separate issue. Otherwise the alley can be great fun and can produce big numbers. There are some big girls out there as well if course but I've had less quality and more quantity out there overall. I also like to fish the Holey Lands, Lake Ida, and multitude of lakes, canals all around Broward. Favorite place is Loxahatchee, from a safety standpoint it has loads of flats that bass boats often can't even get to and the other areas are fairly wide open and you should be easily spotted. Even better I believe the airboats are secluded to the south side of Lox, and I typically always fish the north side of the Lox boat ramps. So you don't need to worry about an airboat tearing through one of the secluded flats I was referring to. You will have your fair share of hunters out there depending on the season and rightfully so. Just be courteous and steer clear of decoys, etc. I see very few gators at Lox as well although they are definitely there, just beneath the surface. Additionally the big fish are there, not always accessible but they are there, just need to find them. Not to mention its beautiful. Ping me if you have any questions or wanted to meet up sometime, otherwise be safe and have fun out there!

Sorry to hear about the tough day but sounds like fun to be out there nonetheless. I've had my share of tough days of on the alley dealing with those pesky junk fish. Seems as though as soon as the bait hits the water they are all over it. The bass don't even get a shot at it. Thanks for the report as always. And very cool about the cats, you think Panthers, Bob cats?

Got back out to Lox this morning (3/3/18) but was only able to fish from sunrise (6:45am) through about 9:15am. Lox once again didn't disappoint. Went back to the same secluded flat where I found the fish above. Wind was testing my patience all morning blowing a good 8-12 mph NNW. Otherwise it was low to mid 60s and absolutely gorgeous out there. Based on my results a couple of weeks ago I pretty much fished exclusively a watermelon super fluke on a 5/0 hook. Fished on 15 lb braid with a 17lb flouro leader. Spinning combo. Action was consistent all morning. Ended up 8 bass on the day and 1 mudfish. 2 bass were in the 2-3lb range, 3 were less than 2lbs with a couple of dinks. The last one was likely now my new-er personal best, tough to tell. This fish was bigger than the one above, just didn't have the same belly. A beautiful fish that tried with all its might to take me in the grass on numerous occasions, pulling a good bit of drag along the way. Strong fish. Before you say it BCline I should've just listened and bought the d**n the scale, needless to say, I will have a scale arriving at my house on Monday. Which will of course mean I won't find one of these guys for another few years, lol Hope yall did well this weekend also, minus the wind the weather couldn't be much better. Good luck guys Side by side.

Thanks guys and yes a scale will be purchased in the very near future. Thanks sir, and yes they're back there. Hoping that one day soonish I'll be able to have one of those double digits on the end of my line!

Sounds like a fun day. Nicely done and very happy to hear it sounds like safety may be taking center stage out there. I also haven't been out there since that incident. May need to put that little place back on my regular spots. Thanks for the report and funny that I had almost the exact behavior this same weekend at Lox. Little on top, but they were killing plastics slow off the bottom. Good stuff.

Stealing my start directly from Geo G Loxahatchee 2/18/18 7-10am Clear sunny day Wind ESE 2-4 mph Water temp 72.5* No current Water light stain Was able to get out on the kayak for a few hours this last Saturday morning. Always get excited when the forecast calls for light wind conditions when fishing from the kayak, and the weather guys were dead on this time around. Wind was nonexistent up to a light breeze for the large majority for the morning. High bright skies and overall a beautiful day to be out on Lox regardless of the fishing. Paddled directly back into one of the more secluded flats that I typically target just north of the Lox boat ramps. With the high water levels it was very easy to get back there. Actually with water levels so high, this was the first time I saw a bass boat back in the same flat I typically fish. Looked possibly like a guide with his client who clearly knew where he was going. He went directly to an area that I just fished through 10 minutes prior and only caught one small LMB (less than a lb). Difference is they were live baiting and from what I could hear from the constant splashing of fish on the other end of their lines, they did a LOT better than I was doing. Although I'm not a live bait fan, it looked like a fun time. On my end, mainly fished that back flat and had a great time doing it. Started with a HB frog and had two on early but wasn't able to bring either to the kayak. Never got a good hook set. Then it went flat for the remainder of the first hour or so, I continued with the HB frog, switched to a grass pig swimbait, also threw a swim jig for a bit with no takers. A bit discouraged, I tried to slow it down and switched over to a watermelon fluke and the bite turned on immediately. I'm guessing by the color and presentation that it was resembling a baby bass in nature. In any case, the bite for the next couple of hours was fairly steady. Caught 10 fish in total all on the same watermelon fluke (9 LMB, 1 Cichlid , 3 got off (including one rather large mudfish that hit about a 5 feet from the kayak). 2 of the bass were in the 2-3lb range, otherwise most of the others were less than a lb. but still fun to catch of course. The highlight of the morning was hooking into my new personal best pictured below. She was the bedding bass I was searching for. Her tail was all bloody from making her bed. Unfortunately I didn't have a scale but I'm guessing she went at least 5.5 to 6 lbs, thinking maybe more judging by her gut. Pretty fish! Made my morning. Looking forward to getting back out this weekend and continue the hunt for these big girls. Hope you all are doing well. Good luck out there!

Thanks for the reports guys . Going to head out to Lox tomorrow morning and will report back . Sounds encouraging though and so do the weather conditions. Will let you know how it turns out .

Good idea. Didn't really think about anchoring as I'm typically always moving even if conditions are good. But I will definitely give that a try next time out.

Yes sir, that was definitely me. Typically in the morning I'm not very aware of what is going on around me but I did notice the boat that was putting in on that 3rd ramp. I'll have to be a little more with it next time and I'll introduce myself. In terms of frogging from the kayak, apparently I'm not able to set the hook either. Lol. Honestly I typically can get a solid hook set but everything in my kayak is so dependent on the wind. Anything nearing 8-10 mph or more and I'm pretty much done for the day. Even when fish are hitting I'm so distracted trying to keep my kayak straight and line taught that my success rates are fairly poor. I am however going to be getting a 7'6" heavy, extra fast tip frogging rod and reel for Christmas to better my chances. Right now I'm still using some of my grandfathers old gear from the 1980's believe it or not. 6'6" med heavy all star rods and two different daiwa casters that are still kicking just fine. In terms of the fishing on Sunday, I d**n near got blanked. Caught one on a watermelon senko and had one other nice one on for a very brief time, only enough for him to jump and show it's back and then he spit it out. Otherwise, from 8 am on the darn wind kicked up again and I was cursing more than I was fishing. The wind was even blowing me through lily pads which typically I can bank up on temporarily. Brutal. Other than those two fish there were very few bites out there Sunday. I even tried to come out to the main north canal to finish up the day but nothing going there either. I fished from 6:30ish until 10:30 or so and had a rough go of it due to the wind. Threw a ribbit frog, hb frog, big ez watermelon swimbait, black/blue swimjig, uvibes, senkos and craws (watermelon green/red, junebug, black/blue). Nothing going... Just the way it works some times I suppose. Can't make it out this weekend but the following I will give it another shot. Tight lines folks!