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The canals are loaded with bass, peacock, and other exotics. The problem with the canals are there is often no access. Don't forget to try Heritage Park in Plantation. It has bass in it, I have fished it several times.

Turf, their are loads of big bass in Loxahatchee. Many back in the out of way places that the normal guy can't get too. My personal best came from Lox in 1992. 11.4 lbs. I'm sure there are loads of bigger bass way back in those flats among the thick vegetation, that have never seen a boat or a lure.. Good luck!

Holey Land, 6:30-12:30, Mostly sunny, Temp 93*, wind switched direction several times, water clear, water temp 83*, little current east, smoke and fog early. Went to the H/L with Steve Johnson. As soon as we turned west from US 27, a combination of fog, and smoke from everglades fires, brought the visibility to 20 yards or less. Upon getting the boat in the water we headed up the north canal all the way to the reduction in the canal. We ran as slow as possible and still on plane. Steve caught two nice bass on a jig and craw combination. I just bought some swing head football jigs and put on a Rage Craw plastic. This set up worked perfectly with an easy hook set. I really like this new set up. We caught fish at a good rate for the first couple of hours. When the wind changed, we ran to the east canal, and the pump stations. There was no current here, and no water releases at the flood gates. We caught fish on both sides of the canal. The only down side was a couple of guys shooting guns out there, and every once in a while you could hear a bullet whistle bye. We could not see them but we certainly heard them. This and the heat had us out of there, at 12:30. We caught them on senkos, u-vibes, jig and craws, flukes and wacky trick worms. We finished with 34 bass, the biggest in the 3.5 range. On the way home there was a big gator on US 27 run over by a 16 wheeler. The gators are out there looking for love, and wandering from place to place. Not smart crossing a major highway. Happy Memorial Day to all!

Turf, great job and you did it all in a short period of time. When you have a little more time to explore, you will find many places that the big bass boats can't go. Just be careful out there, since it a Federal Preserve Alligator hunting has always been band. There are a bunch of big ones in there that have never seen a Kayak, or a boat.

Let us know how you do as you go along your trip. Many of us will be following. Good luck!

Congrats, cool story. Stay after them.

My thoughts, gratitude, and appreciation go out to everyone that served this great country throughout the years. Without your service and sacrifice we would not enjoy the life we do today, or in the future. You guys and girls are the best, and will always be the best. God bless to you all!!!!!!

The real mystery is: A month ago you could not cast a bait without getting hit by an Oscar that filled the canal. Some of the Oscars were the biggest I have ever seen. The last two trips to the Alley not a single Oscar caught on both trips. So where do a million Oscars go in a short period of time, without any cold water to make a massive kill????? The million dollar question!!!!!!! Any answers???????????

Its hard to tell when you don't give us enough information, like where you live, and the condition of the waters you fish. In general when things get tough, SLOW DOWN. Key in on a likely target area and then just let it sit. If that doesn't work I would then jerk and sit. Change up the time in between jerks. If that doesn't work I would go weightless and swim the worm through the area, looking for a predatory response, or reaction bite. Color is an overrated variable, but a general rule in our area is: In clear water use a natural color like watermelon, or green pumpkin. In dirty water use a dark color like Junebug, black, or black and blue. To me a change in technique, or targeting different structure, is more important then a change of color.

Texas rigged weightless works great on the shallow, weedy, Loxahatchee flats. The bait will slowly flutter down and then come right over the thick weed beds. Pause in the holes in the vegetation, and let it slowly fall in the hole.

Turf, we caught the majority of them on W/R stick-o, W/R u-vibe, W/R flukes, and junebug and morning dawn stick-o's. Action was pretty constant until 10:00 AM.

Most of my bites come on the initial fall, or the slow walk along the bottom and the length of pause in between the jerks. Its a strong jerk and immediate slack in the line. How long you wait in between jerks makes a big difference. It will walk just like a zara spook, but along the bottom. Use as little weight as necessary, with wind being the main factor. The less weight the better the walk. Technique is everything. Great to practice in a swimming pool. Watch Major League Fishing, most of the pros are thrilled to just be catching bass of any size. The only thing worse then not catching big bass, is not catching any bass!

People love to blame it on that 4" senko. The truth is if you put that 4" in front of a big bass she will hit it with a vengeance. You need to change up where you are fishing, some places don;t have a large number of bigger bass. Small bass don't often hang with big bass, they are in danger of becoming a meal. Don't blame it on the bait, that is an easy cop out. You have obviously lost confience and that is not a good thing with any bait. Change location, and change technique. I caught two 20 inch bass last night with a 4 inch stick-o, and loads more on other trips. Its either location, or technique! Remember a senko does not provide action by itself, you provide the action with your rod tip. If one technique doesn't work, change up. It will drag, hop up off the bottom and fall back, walk along the bottom with a jerk and slack, and dead stick. They don't always want it the same, and work the whole water column by changing weights or just slowing down. Good luck, its not the bait.

In our areas snakes are one of the favorite foods of gators. Over the years I have had to out run one, with the trolling motor, that had its mind made up to seek the shelter of my boat. I don't see them very often in the glades, during the day time, because of the number of gators. I do see snakes on the bank, especially in Weston.

I took both of my kids out fishing when they were young. They are now in their 30's and still talk about those early trips. First rule is keep the trip short. They will be bored quickly. Rule Two, don't fish yourself, be the bait keeper and Mr. encouragement. Rule three, use live bait and a bobber. I have used maggots, worms, bugs and tiny fish. You both can see the bite, and respond to it. Rule four, bring plently of their favorite food, drinks, and always stop for ice cream on the way home. Rule Five, bring sunscreen and bug spray. The skeeters will go after them, more then older tougher skin. Rule Six, never get upset, they will make mistakes, make them feel they are the best thing since sliced bread, regardless of what they catch! These trips can set the tone for a life long love of the outdoor, and memories of Dad forever!

Look around for the latest stuff out there. Talk to some guys a BPS or a good tackle store. The ones I have are thirty years old and still work. Check out the new stuff.

If you really are a beginner, don't underestimate a Quality close faced spinner reel. I have several for beginners that come to fish with me. They cast a mile with light baits and seldom have problems as long as you keep good line on the reel. Don't buy a cheap one, go for a quality one. My son's girlfriend was casting like a pro in about 10 minutes and she never fished before. The push button really makes them easy to use. Spinning reel would be my next choice. I personally only use only casting reels, but they can be a problem for beginners.

Read as much as possible from this site and any other site out there. Spend time on the water from the bank or boat, you will learn something from every trip to a lake or canal. South Florida is loaded with bass so catching is not that difficult. If things get tough slow down. You have to have patients, so if its slow, slow down.

Congrats, it sounds like a great trip. Get some senkos in watermelon red color, add a #3 Gama EWG hook and some bullet weights and you can catch large and small mouth anywhere they live. Fish it slow, fish it fast, and everything in between, this is a fish catching little bait. Magical little bait.

Yes, but great for the boat rental people. The lake has big fish in it.

In the search box punch in (Turkey Lake, Orlando), lots of information will come up. I have been there many times and always do the rental thing. I have caught lots of bass up to 6.5 lbs. Best rental deal in the country. There is a topo map on line, I printed it and laminated it. Senko's, trick worms, flukes, and Gambler E-Z swimmers have done well for me in watermelon red. In the north pad field snapping a wacky trick worm off the bottom was exceptionally good. Weightless flukes have done well in the pad fields south of the ramps. Senko's have caught the biggest ones by the dock across the lake by the apartments. E-Z swimmers have done well in the pad fields with a light swimbait hook.

In deeper lake situations I would use a rattle trap, crankbait, suspending jerkbait. In our weedy shallow Florida lakes, I would use a fluke, plastic swimbait, a topwater early, and a spinnerbait, or buzzbait.

I have found the smaller fish are quicker to the bait then the bigger ones. Sometimes Ill up the weight on my plastics to get it down through the water column before its hit by another dink. Sometimes this works, and you'll pick up a bigger one deep and slow on the bottom. This works along drop-offs and in 10 to 20 feet of water. Usually bass hang out with bass of similar size. Small bass with hawgs sometimes end up as lunch.

I have fished Florida for over 45 years almost 300 days a year the last 10 years. Never go out on a trip without checking the weather if for nothing else but taking extra water because of the lack of cloud cover. You can learn a lot from some simple preparation. Learn something new everyday!

I have seen many kayaks at Lox. From the ramps just go 100 yards east and around the spoil bank. You have lots of skinny water to fish and some trails into the marsh. You can get into the water that the big boats can't go. Good luck! Go to the Lox road ramps...............