Saturday 2/13/16, Loxahatchee Preserve, 7:00-noon, wind WNW 6 to 20 MPH, water stained, levels high, partly sunny.
Went out in the morning with friend Steve Johnson. We were one of the first at the ramp and ran west for several miles until we hit the cuts and grass islands. The morning bite was tough for the first hour. It was a cool night and morning and it took the sun a while to warm up the flats. We started throwing a Hollow body and buzzbait but they were not chasing stuff. I switched to a horney todad and Steve to a Beaver. When I went to a Stick-o, the bite started . The wind was low out of the west and we drifted a mile along the spoil bank in stealth mode off the trolling motor. We caught bass all along this path. Around 10:00 the wind changed to a north wind and went up to a steady 20. We put out the wind sock and slowed the drift to a fishable level. The bite got tougher as the cloud cover moved in.
We ended up catching 25 with the big fish being over 8 pounds. All were caught on the flat and along the spoil bank. We could not get a bite in deeper water. It was a fun day of fishing and above expectations for the amount of water in the swamp.
Everything went without a hitch until we made it back to the ramp. Then I found out my truck was attacked by a flock of turkey vultures that make a habit of tearing up peoples rubber molding off the wiper, windows and doors. This is a learned behavior they do all the time. Some people have had considerable damage from these birds. They didn't tear up anything except one wiper blade, but they did scratch the hood and crapped on every inch of the body. There must have been a lot of birds. A 22 would be a perfect answer to the problem, but I don't think the FWL officer would agree. Great fishing but the danger of damage might not be worth it.
