JDHoss

Thanks for the suggestions. I talked to a guy today who also recommended slapping the side of the kayak to "announce" myself if there were visible gators in the immediate area. He also said that while he had never been bothered by any, he'd had a few small ones swim fairly close to check him out. He said the only time he had been really worried was in the Loxahatchee preserve because they were everywhere and he kept running the scenario in his mind of what would happen if he rolled over. Personally, I've never had an issue with them while bank fishing, but this evening at our neighborhood pond there was a little guy, maybe 2 ft long who kept following me around. I was catching a lot of small bass on a fluke. Maybe he was expecting me to save some for him. While they're more plentiful, "Florida man" doesn't have anything on "East Tennessee man".

Just bought (2) 10 ft Pelicans for the Mrs and myself. Right now, we're sticking to the mangrove areas around Fort Pierce on the Indian River until we get more comfortable operating them. I eventually want to go into places like the McCarty Ranch Preserve or maybe the Loxahatchee Preserve, and I'm just looking for advice when it comes to dealing with gators, aside from being sure to not roll the kayak over. I've never had them bother me while bank fishing or in a boat, but the prospect of being down that low is a little unnerving. Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Has anyone here fished the pond/lake and/or canal at the St Lucie Tradition shopping area? Pre Covid-19, we've been to a few of the food truck events, and shopping a few times there. Last winter (just before Covid), I decided to walk around and take a look at the canal while my wife went into a few places. Looks like good water, but I saw a "No Fishing" sign posted. Is all of the water posted in that area? I've also noticed on Google Earth that there is a pond or two across the road at the business park. I may have to check those out as well, unless they're posted too.

Has anyone fished the ponds on Green River Drive just as you leave PSL and enter Martin Co? We went there late this afternoon and although we didn't catch anything, they hold several gators, if not fish. We fished spinnerbaits, topwaters and Flukes, but didn't get the first bite. We didn't get around to fishing the pump house side, but may try that next time. We left there and stopped by the Savannah Preserve park off of Midway Rd for about an hour. Several people were fishing there and I lost three fish on a pearl Fluke. That was our first time there and I'd like to explore that a little more. I also saw an article from 2015 about a pond in the Treasure Coast Research Park that was stocked, but drove out there and didn't see any way to get to the pond that you can see from I-95, assuming that is the same pond in the article. Any other suggestions for St Lucie or Martin Co fishing without a boat? We just retired here in January, and the only other place I've tried is the Indian Hills recreation area in Ft Pierce, but with no luck.

.....has anyone fished this? It's a large, really nice looking pond, but I've fished it a couple of times without as much as a strike, and I've seen next to zero fish activity. Yesterday evening was overcast and relatively calm winds, so I was hoping for some topwater action, but came up empty. We have brought our dog out here a couple of times for walks, and have seen maybe 3 people fishing. I was just wondering if maybe I'm wasting my time there.

.....and would greatly appreciate any recommendations on bank fishing in the area. We are retired and moved down here in January from Tennessee. I used to fish some with my dad on Okeechobee when I was a teenager and we'd come down to Clewiston to visit and fish with a friend he had there. Does anyone fish the canal off of Okeechobee Road between Fort Pierce and Okeechobee? Told my wife that we should hit that up, but I've never seen anyone fishing it the couple of times we've been over to Okeechobee to hike on the lake levee. She's pretty apprehensive about gators too, but I've told her we'd keep a good eye out on the surroundings. Any tips on a spot(s) to try would be greatly appreciated. I also plan on using mostly weedless jerk baits, spinnerbaits, and top water.