BassinLou

Our canals will hold bass, pea's snook,and tarpon. The closer you get to the coasts, these same canals may have jack's. At one point however, the canals will reach a transition zone and your chances of the saltwater fish will increase, while your chances of freshwater fish will decrease.

You can throw a multitude of baits out in the Glades. FrogFlogger covered a good amount them . I would add, jigs, swimbaits, and swimjigs. The primary bait that I throw in the Glades are frogs. As far a getting lost, you have a small chance of that happening the canal systems only go East, West, and North and South. The john boat you are going rent out of there is only going to take you so far. The one area you can get lost however, would be in the flats. But, the jon boats are not equipped properly to maneuver in thos areas. Good luck there, and be safe. As far as the Nile crocodile post, you don't have to worry about those. They have only been sited down south, and they were juveniles. There are plenty of American Alligators that will keep you looking over your shoulder. Best advice: DO NOT FEED THEM!!

Welcome to BR. as far as your question goes, there's no phone # that I'm aware of that will tell you water levels in the Everglades. There is a water mgmt site that will tell you what dams are open. It's a little complicated for me to decipher. Rule of thumb out in the glades are the following: Summer is high water season, Spring is low water season. This year however, due to an unusual amount of rain in the winter, the Glades water levels didn't completely drop and fishing never got ridiculous. Your best bet to follow water levels is to to follow the reports. Good luck out there.

Congratulations, great fish!!

This is a tough one to swallow, my thoughts go to your daughter and the family of the young girl that passed away. So sorry to hear this news.

Saweet fish O!!

A great frog rod has the right amount tip, strong backbone, and light, a parabolic rod would be ideal to handle those surges the fish make at times when nearing the boat. Price points vary by the angler's budget.

Champions are great rods, glad you enjoyed yours.

Stick with the other frogs..

I think I was adopted.....lol!! ..... kidding.... All I know is my Dad who doesn't know a lick of fishing took me once when I was kid and I was hooked ever since. I was self taught up until my mid 20's where I guess you can say I met my bass fishing mentor. I'm in my 40's now and all I can say is that I love this sport, as much now, than that of that little kid 30 something years ago. Was it in my genes? I will never know, all I can say is that my love for bass fishing comes from a place that only a few really understand.

I have a few of these, and I put one through its paces out on the Florida Everglades recently. Caught several quality fish and found there are pro's and con's to this bait when compared to its cousin the Live target HB frog. Pro's: walking this bait is easy, hooks are very sharp and tough, ability to cast easily is good. Con's: takes in water quickly, can't handle abuse, the lip around the counter weight slips over the weight after a fish or two, contributing to even more water intake. Does the bait warrant a $13 price tag? After my experiences so far, imo no. The LiveTarget HB frog is superior to this bait.

Thanks for the reports guys.. Looks like both of you had a good outing.

I can understand your frustration, you are experiencing a huge learning curve. Learning a B/C and learning the vast array of baits available to a bass angler can be very overwhelming. My suggestion to you is to keep it simple. The suggestion was brought up to look up the videos available to you on this site. They are very instructional imho, and you will learn a lot. As far as baits are concerned. A stickworm has never steered me wrong when the bite is slow. Since you don't have buddies to learn from yet, you will have to research and apply what you have studied to become a better angler. Where there's a will there's a way. Best of luck to you.

I was correct with my earlier post from a few weeks ago. The ramp on the Interceptor canal is MM51. It borders Big Cypress. The newer ramps on the West side of the canal were completed in 2012-2013.

I have been wearing Columbia's sun gloves for a while now, don't even know I have them on.

Passed away today. I grew up listening to his music. May he RIP.

^^^ This pretty much sums it for me.. ^^^

Add a split ring to the line tie. There are plenty of videos out for walking a spook. You will be pro in no time. But you have practice alot. Goodluck!!

0119 if its closer to Collier county, then no, this is not the ramp I was talking about. I guess they opened another ramp further WEST. I will keep my eyes open next time I head out to the West Coast. But as far as the other ramps along the alley, they have once again been re-opened. Best of luck to you if you get to go fishing.

I don't know how long ago this was, but a couple of months back the ramps were closed along the alley due to high water. However for the last 4 weeks the ramps have been re-opened and reports are starting to trickle in from this area again. The newish ramp you saw was probably Mm 51 ramp, this ramp has been around and completed for over 4 yrs now.

40lb PP.

Welcome to BR, Google earth will really help you out.

I throw a Big EZ or EZ swimmer on a MH rod and a Scorpion reel all the time. You will be more than fine with your rod setup. I personally wouldn't throw with 12lbs line, but then again you and I fish in different places. I have to throw it on 40lb braid. 12lbs wouldn't last a second in the cover I fish in.

Don't be afraid to throw the HB frog around the vegetation. You might be surprised at what happens.

734 would be perfect for this application.