Turf

To be honest Wurming they don't bother me and I don't bother them. Just need to be cautious and smart. If I see one I will give him as much space as he would like. Knock on wood, but haven't had any approach my kayak at this point and there were days were I easily paddled past 30+ gators on the alley, and those were only the ones that I could see. I'm guessing that the only reasons the gators who approach bass boats are doing that is because some idiot(s) on boats are feeding them, and now they see boats as a source of an easy meal. Not sure if they view kayaks differently than boats but I like to think that they do. Regardless if I see any aggressive behavior I will do anything I can to avoid it. Almost always as soon as I attempt to paddle past or even turn around, they just duck under the water and swim toward the bank away from me. My biggest concern about Lox is that the deeper I go, some of those gators likely haven't seen a kayak, or a boat and curiosity may get the best of them. Flip side to that is as Geo said, there are likely some double digits out there that haven't seen a bait either, and curiosity will definitely get the best of me. All of that said it's all just a minor fear at this point, and although I know they are there, and I hear them all around (especially during mating season), I've only seen 3 gators with all of the times that I've been out to Lox.

Wurming yes I was definitely excited to see the fishery in much better condition then the last time couple of times I was out there. And I hear you on needing to stay in the main canal. Often I'm kayaking through 5+ feet of water, which rapidly drops to 1 foot or less in a heartbeat. Thanks Geo, which I assume is George. But yes I have actually scoured google maps quite extensively and it seems to be almost endless in terms of the trails that lead you way back into those flats west of the ramps. And looks like essentially an unlimited amount of open water to get into back in there. A little daunting to say the least. Now I just need to explore them one by one until I find those big girls. Haha, more easily said than done of course. Lox has quickly turned into my favorite place to fish down here, at least from a kayak that is. Thanks again and hoping that you were able to have some luck lately as well. For anyone attempting to Kayak deep into the flats at Lox (or even on smaller more shallow running boats) make sure that you are using a GPS of some sort. I don't have any electronics on my kayak so I downloaded a free app for my phone called "Fishing Points" that tracks my GPS location as I am fishing. There are many others as well. It's very easy to get turned around while you are out there and everything looks the same. Unless you are really familiar with the place be sure you are tracking your route with GPS. Without that app it would've taken me much longer to get myself out of there.

Parkland. Put in by the Lox Rd boat ramps.

Got back out to Lox this past Saturday and was pleased to see that water levels, although still high, were quite a bit lower than 3 weeks ago. They were also still pumping water out of the basin and not in so the current wasn't nearly as drastic as last time. Water quality was much better than expected and as I was paddling into the flats I noticed quite a bit of surface action early in the morning. Got off the ramp around first light and fished until about 10:15 when a few storms started to roll in. I paddled all the way back deep into the flats just north of the Lox boat ramps. A couple of times I found myself throwing my weight back and forth to nudge my kayak through the muck that I was stuck in. Once I reached the open water I was shooting for it paid off. I started fishing around 6:45 or 7 and started with a green/watermelon senko. About every 3rd or 4th cast I had a largemouth. Had landed 14 fish by 8:30, all under 2 lbs, all on the same color and presentation of senko. Just letting it sink to the bottom and jerking it two times slowly off the bottom, many hit on the way down on the initial fall. After 8:30 the heat must have set in as it was a bright sunny hot day, before the storm clouds started to roll through. I did manage to catch another 5 from 8:30 until 10:15 but it was much more difficult. Switched to a fluke and caught a few, also caught one on a swim bait, all still under 2 lbs. Only fished a hb frog for about 20 mins but nothing going. Despite the size of the fish I had a blast. 19 in total on the day and lost 5 others that shook loose. All Largemouth, not a single exotic. My thumbs were both torn to shreds which is always a good sign as far as I am concerned. Looking to try to get back out this Sunday morning if everything lines up. Hope everyone had a good and safe 4th by the way!

Agreed, live in the neighborhood Tyloo mentioned, fished it a few times with varying success. That specific area is ALL chewed up at the moment however with the new Sunrise / Turnpike ramps that they have/will be putting in over the next few years apparently. It's a mess honestly. Have seen much less activity there since they've started digging and stirring up the area.

Read today that water management is now pumping water north into Lake O since water levels are continuing to be dangerously high through the Broward everglades. Seems a bit ridiculous to me being that we all know the natural direction that the water should be flowing but clearly I'm not an expert. Also not sure how long this will go on or exactly how much it will impact Lake O water levels but apparently this started on Friday and will continue for a few weeks at least. At least until July 15th. Additionally I can't imagine water management will let water levels rise too much barring we are ramping deeper into hurricane season. Would be a mess should a storm actually hit prior to getting these water levels back in order. But that's mother nature I suppose. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-pn-everglades-flooding-lake-okeechobee-pumping-20170626-story.html?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Contentutm_content=59518aeb04d30172b54abee3utm_medium=trueAnthemutm_source=twitter

Hoping to get out this weekend to either Lox or the Alley somewhere but we will see. Haven't heard much promising in terms of Snook so far though. Might be a bit early still. Let us know how it goes. Good luck.

Didn't get out this weekend unfortunately. Hoping to hear some reports of better conditions/fishing than last weekend however.

Same report from my side gentlemen. Went out to Lox this Sunday against my better judgement in the kayaks with my brother in law and we had a rough day. If it wasn't the wind we were battling we were getting thrown around by the high current. Water quality was a couple of feet tops and there was little to no bite out there. Threw just about everything in the arsenal at them as well (ribbit, hb frog, uvibe, senko, swimbait, swim jig, lipless crank, etc.). Together we had two fish on the day, brother in law lost a 2lber at his kayak. That was the highlight. Probably sitting out a couple of weeks at this point till things normalize a bit.

Any of you boys planning on heading out this weekend to see what kind of havoc all of this rain has caused? I believe that I am planning on heading back to Loxahatchee on Sunday morning and will report back with my findings. Hope everyone has a good weekend! Good luck out there!

I've only seen one out there thus far in my two trips now but he was tucked way back up in a flat that I had to paddle through some extremely skinny water to get into. Hoping that trend stays.

Nice Report Geo G, this just confirms for me that my Kayak and I will unfortunately be staying clear of the Alley until those aggressive big fellas calm down a bit. Really don't like the repeated aggressive open mouth behavior. Sounds like you had a nice day on the water however, congrats. On the flip side I made my way back up to Lox and had another decent short morning as well. Funny is that in the almost 2.5 hours I was out paddling around in the flats I didn't so much as even see a single gator. For that was a first. A welcome first as far as I was concerned. And I'm anxious to have someone solve your Oscar riddle as well as no more than 3 months ago I couldn't keep the darn things off my line out there.

Got back out to Loxahatchee this morning but was only able to fish from 6:30 to 9. Another good day however at least as far as I'm concerned. Also managed to avoid the rain that seemingly showed up as I was leaving around 9:30 or so. Wind was <5 mph again so cruising around wasn't an issue. Found a decent sized body of water tucked up behind a load of heavy pad cover. As soon as I got past the pads and through some really narrow areas it opened up quite nicely. Ended with 7 fish on the morning, all caught back up in that flat. Lost one that felt decent as well due to a bad knot, opps, shame on me... Two were decent, one likely around the 3 marker and one that may have been closer to 4, not entirely sure. I mentioned earlier last time out I was fishing light line (15 lb PP) with a 10 lb flouro leader, but decided to change that up this time out to see the differences. Kept the 15 lb PP on my soft plastic rigs but upgraded the flouro to a 17lb leader. Didn't notice much of a difference there in terms of strikes changing from 10 up to 17. The 3 lber I caught was once again on the junebug uvibe, fishing it dead on the bottom. I did rig up a another rod this time out with 65lb PP fished straight without a leader with a 3/8 oz swim jig with a rage craw trailer (both black/blue). I threw this most of the morning to try to entice a bigger bite and for the most part, I was able to still catch the smaller fish but was waiting on that big guy to hit. Well I ended up overcasting by accident and ended up looping my line over a tree branch on edge of the cove I was fishing. Well since I've actually seen people in videos try to perform this technique in terms of being able to have your larger bait enter the water without spooking all of the fish around I figured why not try it. Well sure enough I bobbed the jig from the tree one time and then on the second this big fella shoot out of the water and crushed it. Due to the 65PP I was actually able to get a good hook set but even with all of that I was still snagged solid in the tree, only with a large bass on the other end. At one point I had this bass entirely suspended out of the water as I reel myself toward him. I then let him down gently with just his nose out of the water. Pretty sure he was as confused as I was with what was going on. It was pretty cool and would've made for a great picture, if I wasn't scared of losing the fish. Also wanted to get the fish released and back in the water of course. Never a dull moment out there. Just glad I went with the 65 lb braid, as with my previous line choices this one would've been over before it started.

Sounds like I might have a month or two of bank fishing in my future. lol. Yikes, scary stuff for sure.

Absolutely. I'm always extra cautious, especially during mating season. And yes I have definitely noticed a change in aggression on their part lately, which quite honestly will keep me off Alligator Alley for a little bit until things calm down. Safety first though for sure!

Thank you sir! A little more exhausting but a heck of fun time.

Thanks Geo, Honestly I was a bit overwhelmed. Realize I just need more experience and time on Lox but there were seemingly endless options. Now I just need need to explore and figure it out. Beautiful place though. And luckily the Alligators have left me alone pretty much everywhere I go (knock on wood). But I certainly dont test or mess with them either. I'll stay as far away as possible. Looking forward to going back as soon as possible!

Pretty fish Wurming!

Went out to Loxahatchee for the first time this Saturday morning on my kayak. There was a local tournament out there so the ramps were quite busy. Armed with 5 rods I fished from first light through 9:30 (had to come home early unfortunately). Wind was almost non-existent at times (<5mph) which was great for fishing from the kayak. Started directly east from the Lox road boat ramps fishing a HB frog along the way. Nothing going early on so I decided to head across the deeper water into the flats almost directly north of the boat ramp and try some of the shallower areas, less boats, less traffic. I also decided to switch away from the frog and started throwing a grass pig swim bait. The first strike I had was so subtle I didn't feel anything but a bit of extra weight. After realizing it might have been a strike and setting the hook (or trying to) it confirmed my thoughts that i was snagged. As I was reeling myself toward the snag and about 10 feet from the spot, what would've easily been my personal best LM jumps entirely out of the water and throws my swim bait out of it's mouth. Had to be 6+ easy by the size of her... Once I came out of my brief depression I kept pushing forward and fishing around the shallows and found some really nice fish. Ended the morning with 10 fish total with a couple of dinks and the majority in the 1-2 pound range. The best two I caught (likely both around the 4 marker, sorry no scale) came within 10 minutes from one another in the same shallow. Also both on a junebug uvibe (credit to Geo g for turning me onto this bait). Had what I believed to be a chain pickerel on as well at one point but it cut me off. Spoke with a bunch of the boat anglers that said that they were out fishing the main canal and the general consensus was that they weren't having any luck. Sounds like the majority of the fish were tucked back up in the shallows. Also I was throwing fairly light rigs with 15lb pp braid with a 10lb flouro leader on all my setups, with the exception of my frog setup. Although that was only 20lb braid with the same 10lb flouro leader. Not sure if that made a difference but worth noting. These were the two chunks I was able to nab. All in all, I had a really fun first outing to Lox and looking forward to getting back out there in the near future. Hope everyone is having a great memorial day weekend! Good luck out there!

Thanks Geo, Going to be heading up to Lox this Saturday morning and trying my luck. Will be armed with the usual suspects are you noted. Good luck this weekend!

Thanks Geo. Much appreciated.

Been out there 6 time myself, all bank fishing however. If bank fishing just make sure you are looking around for no fishing signs. Specifically if you cross the pedestrian bridge out west where the larger parking lot / ramp is located. I didn't realize it at the time but the canals north of those ramps are protected sanctuarys of the everglades and are off limits. I found this out the hard way since I sincerely missed the signs which are difficult to see especially when you arent expecting to have to look for them. As many others have said Ive seen FWC out there about 50 percent of the time ive been there. Including the time I ventured a bit far to the NW and they very politely tracked me down and walked me back to the bridge and showed me the signs along the way. Apart from feeling dumb/blind they were kind and educated me along the way. Lesson learned. Otherwise have had some success up and down the canal that runs east east as you turn into the entry road from 27. There is a bunch of spots accessible throughtout that stretch from the bank. Havent been out on a boat there yet but hope to get out there sometime in the near future.

Hey Geo, Great report! Seems like you frequent Lox. Ive never been but have heard good things. Know of any bank fishing or possible kayak drops that dont require a super long paddle to get in front of some fish? Would like to take a little road trip here in the near future and was curious if iy would be worth the effort without a boat. Thanks sir.

Weston has a load of areas where you can get some nice fish from the bank. The canals and small lakes around there are all seemingly loaded with Peacocks as well as Largies, in addition to many others. I've had some success at Markham Park as well, there are a bunch of places to bank fish however they mostly contain Largies in those lakes. I've seen fewer peakcocks in there but they are there. There is however a canal to the west of Markham that usually has quite a few peacocks in it. Otherwise Holiday Park and Alligator Alley have some good spots for bank fishing as well. Just completely depends on where you are staying and how far you are willing to travel. Barring that you aren't staying on the beach you likely will have canals / lakes around you that will be holding both bass you are after.

Unfortunately that sounds like exactly what is happening here. Grrrr. Frustrating. In any case I very much appreciate the update. Will be staying clear of that stretch for sure. Appreciate it guys.