I was in Bass Pro shops this morning to get the contact info for the local fishing clubs.

Anyway, I ask the guy in the freshwater dept what he recommends to fish the urban canals with.

"Today?"  he says.  I confirm.

He responds with "Dynamite"

Apparently when it gets cold here in So FL the fish quit biting.

I stopped at the canal along SR 84 at the break in the guard rail between Weston Rd and Bonoventure.  I threw in a 5" wacky rigged watermelon seed colored Senko.

I was using a meium action spinning outfit with 8lb test mono.

The water was clear,  the bank appeared to be shallow and flat for about 4 feet before it got deeper.  How much deeper I don't know.  It appeared to be a rocky bottom although I did drag in some grass on one of my casts.

The way I fished the Senko was typical for it I guess.  I casted it out about 10-15' from the bank, let it hit bottom, and waited about 20-30 seconds before i did anything.  I popped it up about 12-24", let it fall, wait about 5 seconds, popped it again.  Repeat until it was back on the bank.  I did this in a fan pattern from the bank along a stretch of about 100 yards.

No bites.

I went to a buzz bait lure because one of the guys at BP said that he would reccomend a topwater.  So I basically repeated the fan pattern but on the other side of my truck for 100 yards. 

No bites, this was especially disappointing because there was an inlet drain on this side and I expected it often brought food in for the game fish.

I will try a canal along Hwy 27 tomorrow, it's fairly close to Everglades Holiday park and it appeared to have a lot of surface vegetation.

Any suggestions?

Today is a tough day to fish down here. Tough week actually. If you just want to get bit throw a four inch straight tail worm with a light weight or fish that senko even slower. Fish sllllllooooowwww. Put that buzz bait away. There will be a time for it......but it isnt now.

So you think I should stick with the Senko?  I see that alot of people swear by them. 

I simply refuse to believe it's me.  It must be the weather! LOL.

But seriously, I will fish it even slower next time and bag the buzz

try just lettin the senko sit their for a minute or maybe more then give it a twitch. Its called deadsticking.

Do you keep tension on the line.  It was windy today so after I cast, the wind would cause a bow in the line, I would reel in the slack but I think that might move the bait a bit.

did you try the dynomite? i really think thatll work

I hit the pond behind my house the only way i was getting hits was with deadsticking a 5" shaky head worm unweighted, just throw the bait, let it sink wait a min, then slowly pick up slack the just sit there and twich the worm and let it sit for another 30 secs to a min or so then pick up slowly let it sit and twich , both decent fish i got hit it when i was picking up the rod. but cause you do it slowly you gotta watch your line for the hits cause they dont really hit it they just kinda put it in their mouhts and sit there

Brujo,

on the casts where you caught the fish, how long did you go through that routine you just described?

And did you T rig your shaky head?

did you try the dynomite? i really think thatll work

I ran out from fishing last wsek 8-)

Brujo,

on the casts where you caught the fish, how long did you go through that routine you just described?

And did you T rig your shaky head?

well that technique prob about 10 mins i tried a few different things and that is what produced i was out there for an hour before i caught the fish, the second time i was out for about 30-40 mins it took about 15-20 mins between fish

and yes i t-rigged the shaky head but wieghless i was letting the weight of the hook make the worm stand up, but my spond has pretty still water if there was any current in it i woul prob use a tiny weight something like 1/16oz

I don't know about down in Florida, but the water up here will not see a buzzbait of mine for some months. I would stick with a senko if all else fails. Also try jigs at multiple sizes, at whatever color usually woirks in your waters. If that fails, get that senko out, and fish slow. When you think you're slow enough, slow it down even more (someone told me the same thing, and it worked)you'll get bit.  Fishing in wind is tricky, keep your rod tip close to the water and WATCH YOUR LINE, especially if you're cheap like me and don't have expensive rods. Good luck

Put some HUGE shiners on a bobber and be done with it man! Next week will be better i think.

I did well yesterday. Went out in the morning for about 90 minutes caught about 6 or 7 on a senko, a bait I would only use in cold weather. No knock on the senko it really produces but I prefer fishing faster.

In the afternoon at a different location I caught another 10 or so 5 in very rapid succession, including a peacock using a gold redfish spoon, the key was heat. I fished off heat absorbing rocks.

I did well yesterday. Went out in the morning for about 90 minutes caught about 6 or 7 on a senko, a bait I would only use in cold weather. No knock on the senko it really produces but I prefer fishing faster.

In the afternoon at a different location I caught another 10 or so 5 in very rapid succession, including a peacock using a gold redfish spoon, the key was heat. I fished off heat absorbing rocks.

You must know something I don't.  Maybe the rocks thing but I fished another senko today in the neighborhood pond and didn't get as much as a nibble.