Help Needed With Canal Fishing

[rvadog]

I just moved to South Florida and have moved in to a house in Miramar. A block from my house is a 20' wide canal. I've seen fish in there but Ive been out twice so far and got skunked. I'm fishing a green topwater frog at abour 7:30 am.

Any suggestions? What would you guys do if approaching a small canal you've never fished in?

[BP10]

they might of not been bitting frogs that day but i would try flukes worms spinnerbaits maybe a crank bait 

[CountBassula]

1/8oz weight + zoom swim fluke shad color on a 5/0 EWG hook :-)

 

the closer to the bank's edge, the better :-) same with frogs, work them 1-2 ft from the water's edge.

 

Good luck!

[BassinLou]

Keep it simple when canal fishing. All of the above baits will catch you fish. Also, there is an array of other soft plastics that will work also. For ex, trickworms, centipedes, finesses worms, flukes were mentioned, buzzing frogs, the options are endless. What I found in my experience,canal fishing is all about the gear and the approach you use. Use the lightest weight and line you can get away with, and your approach must be stealth like. Bass vision is unbelievable, and if you stomp your way to the bank and cast in front of you, game over. Keep your casts to the sides, walk slowly, and keep your rod tip down. Keep the color of your clothes to earth tones. Some may disagree to these extremes but these fish aren't dumb. Lastly, do not leave home without polarized glasses. Bass will be right in front of you and you will miss them.

[xbacksideslider]

Keep it simple when canal fishing. All of the above baits will catch you fish. Also, there is an array of other soft plastics that will work also. For ex, trickworms, centipedes, finesses worms, flukes were mentioned, buzzing frogs, the options are endless. What I found in my experience,canal fishing is all about the gear and the approach you use. Use the lightest weight and line you can get away with, and your approach must be stealth like. Bass vision is unbelievable, and if you stomp your way to the bank and cast in front of you, game over. Keep your casts to the sides, walk slowly, and keep your rod tip down. Keep the color of your clothes to earth tones. Some may disagree to these extremes but these fish aren't dumb. Lastly, do not leave home without polarized glasses. Bass will be right in front of you and you will miss them.

 

Ditto that on stealth; soft step, sneak, keep low, throw the bait so it soft lands even slides into the water.

 

Several times I caught a big bass that lived under a particular dock.  Wary fish.  It got to the point where I had to walk in from an entirely different direction and then only a perfect skip cast of a new and different plastic bait that went deep under that dock from forty or fifty feet away would get a bite.  I could swear, that bass could feel or hear my foot steps and was looking for me too.

[SirSnookalot]

Miramar is peacock country, just about every canal and lake has them there, I would check out some of the parks in the area.  Lures I would be using would be dependent on 2 variables, high or low banked canal and how much vegetation or floating grass there is.  My first choice would always be lures with exposed hooks simply because I have a better chance at the peacocks.  For me it's spinnerbaits, spoons, flashy jerkbaits, inline spinners and the sleeper bait is a crappie jig.  I use a saltwater flats jig for them, bass will hit them too.

[rvadog]

I learned to fish crappie with crickets and minnows in Virginia and spent the last 4 years fishing LMB occasionally in NYC. I've never even seen a peacock bass. I would love to catch one. Those guys get more active in hotter weather than LMB right? 

[BassinLou]

Pea's are active in the summer months. I think however, that OP question was geared more towards canal fishing in general.

[rvadog]

I am the op

[derekxec]

I am the op

 

lol! try a white buzzbait or a fluke with no weight

[BassinLou]

Duh! you are absolutely right, you are the OP. my mistake.

[FishingFLA]

Top water frogs have been working good. I've used the Boo-yah small frog and large popper frog. both work great

[rvadog]

I have some zoom horny toad's that I will rig up weightless. 

 

What time of day do you guys go out fishing? I've been going around 7:30am and have had no luck.

[derekxec]

for peacocks it doesnt really matter what time most of mine have been caught in the middle of the day while stupid me is on fire from the sun lol

[CountBassula]

I have some zoom horny toad's that I will rig up weightless. 

 

What time of day do you guys go out fishing? I've been going around 7:30am and have had no luck.

 

good question, i usually have some luck between 6-8am when i'm on a boat with LgMouthGambler working the canals in coral springs.

 

now it's 5:40pm, i'm about to go fishing, but i'm still waiting a bit.. the canal where i'm about to go to is 2 block from me, but i know that anything before 7pm will be an exercise in futility and casting, nothing else. i've noticed that where i fish around my house, the bite is most active between 7pm-7:30/45pm... unless I'm after snakeheads, then it don't matter, the brighter the better :-) last 5-6lbs snakehead i caught few days ago at 1:30pm in the worse possible FL heat and sun, on a top water Booyah Jr. frog.

[mg4u2nv]

Horny toads are great baits.  This time of year i like them in lower light conditions or overcast and around pads or any other type of cover.  Getting out at dawn would be a good idea.  Dawn tomorrow is at 605.  So you can have almost 30 mins before the sun comes up.  I caught a 3lber the other night at my lake in pines at about 830pm.  Just before total dark.  good luck!

 

Matt

[juan_LMB]

I just got out of the Army and moved down here myself back in May and I finally found someone that pointed me on the right direction for LMB. I mean you see and pass canals on just about every road down here but which ones are going to actually produce, produce big, and which end of the canal that does produce were the big questions. Oh yea, and what bait haha. So I finally got out yesterday to see if the end of this canal really produced and I caught my FIRST LMB (I just started fishing last fall)! I was beyond excited. I was using a YUM worm but don't know which one. I think it was a watermelon with some JJs magic on the end. He snatched it on the fall so I wasnt 100% sure if it was a bite or me tripping. so I reeled in the slack real quick, waited about 3secs...nudge the line a little and I felt it was tight...then he started swimming with it a little and BAM! Hooked him, reeled that monster in. That's him on my photo <<< I'm looking forward to this South FL bass fishing. OAN, I read the thread and received a lot of great tips that I didn't know. Thanks guys

[BassinLou]

Welcome Juan. Down here in S.FL, there are canals galore. Now fishing them and catching from them is a totally different ballgame. Nice catch,  btw.

[AK-Jax86]

I just got out of the Army and moved down here myself back in May and I finally found someone that pointed me on the right direction for LMB. I mean you see and pass canals on just about every road down here but which ones are going to actually produce, produce big, and which end of the canal that does produce were the big questions. Oh yea, and what bait haha. So I finally got out yesterday to see if the end of this canal really produced and I caught my FIRST LMB (I just started fishing last fall)! I was beyond excited. I was using a YUM worm but don't know which one. I think it was a watermelon with some JJs magic on the end. He snatched it on the fall so I wasnt 100% sure if it was a bite or me tripping. so I reeled in the slack real quick, waited about 3secs...nudge the line a little and I felt it was tight...then he started swimming with it a little and BAM! Hooked him, reeled that monster in. That's him on my photo <<< I'm looking forward to this South FL bass fishing. OAN, I read the thread and received a lot of great tips that I didn't know. Thanks guys

 

Welcome to FL bass fishing!  My cousin and his wife moved here from NY, my cousin is originally from London moved to NY to play basketball and college.  He only fished once before with his boss and he was out for 5 hours and caught nothing, not a good first fishing experience.  He came down here and I got him hooked off of one 2 hour trip.  The fishing up north holds no comparison to the fishing here in FL.  I absolutely love it, I am going to take a trip to South FL and check out these canals, snake heads, and peacock bass you guys got down there.

[rvadog]

The topic that won't die!

 

Skunked again today! I can catch those d**n Mayan Cichlids all day long but I can't catch a bass to save my life.

[CountBassula]

I just got out of the Army and moved down here myself back in May and I finally found someone that pointed me on the right direction for LMB. I mean you see and pass canals on just about every road down here but which ones are going to actually produce, produce big, and which end of the canal that does produce were the big questions. Oh yea, and what bait haha. So I finally got out yesterday to see if the end of this canal really produced and I caught my FIRST LMB (I just started fishing last fall)! I was beyond excited. I was using a YUM worm but don't know which one. I think it was a watermelon with some JJs magic on the end. He snatched it on the fall so I wasnt 100% sure if it was a bite or me tripping. so I reeled in the slack real quick, waited about 3secs...nudge the line a little and I felt it was tight...then he started swimming with it a little and BAM! Hooked him, reeled that monster in. That's him on my photo <<< I'm looking forward to this South FL bass fishing. OAN, I read the thread and received a lot of great tips that I didn't know. Thanks guys

 

Thank you for your service to our great country Sir! And welcome to S.FL.!!! I read about this take-a-vet-fishing program, and perhaps I can show you some spots in Coral Springs that usually produce nice bass :-)

 

The topic that won't die!

 

Skunked again today! I can catch those d**n Mayan Cichlids all day long but I can't catch a bass to save my life.

 

Don't feel bad man, I've fished for 3 hours yesterday and 2 today, and all I got yesterday was a 7-8 inch baby bass, and absolutely NOTHING today. I tried jigs, 12 inch worms, lizards, and baby brush hogs. N!O!T!H!I!N!G!   But I do find comfort in knowing that FL summer is the hardest time to fish for bass, or so I've been told and I believe it :-)

 

Perhaps Juan_LMB and you and me should get together, I know this pond in front of this church that was loaded with bass last I fished there few weeks ago. Most were small, around 1-2lbs, but still fun to catch :-) Hit me up guys, I'll be going tomorrow around 6pm, if you're interested PM me your cell numbers or emails, and we'll coordinate!

 

Martin

[BassinLou]

Rvadog, don't sweat it. This time of year is tough. I have been workin my butt off with this friendly bragging rights tourney we have going and I am hurting. I get home and I am questioning myself.

[juan_LMB]

BassinLou: yea, the canals are connected 4-5 blocks and spread out, it's like a hit or miss on catching them cause they could be anywhere in there.

 

rvadog: trust, you're not the only one having issues. Every since I caught that 5lber the other day, I've only caught two others that were maybe 1-3lbs. I've gotten like 4-5 bites but I didn't like them enough to set the hook. Just nibbles or spitting it out too quick. It be too hot out there to be fishing seewee and grass haha. I fished today in two different spots for a total of about 4hrs. I caught one fish...I was pretty frustrated. It wasn't helping neither with all the cars driving by and starring like they've never seen a fisherman lol. 

 

mvobrodt: I'm about to PM you. 

[SirSnookalot]

I don't fish bass religiously in the summertime but I do get out a 3 or 4 times a week for an hour or 2 at a time. Summers can be tough, I mainly stick to ponds this time of year.  I did do some canal fishing this past week, I was walking feeder canals due to the high water and some of the cleared out slop looking for peacocks, caught a few and some very nice bass.  Yesterday for about an hour I targeted LMB in a tiny canal using flukes then a frog, and bass were there, lots of gar too.  This kind of bass fishing is about as easy as it gets from the standpoint that electronics are not needed to find them, just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, some days you score some days you don't.  Once the water levels drop a bit fish the bigger canals. Dec thru about Feb is a totally reversal in canal bass fishing, it can get very good. 

[juan_LMB]

I don't fish bass religiously in the summertime but I do get out a 3 or 4 times a week for an hour or 2 at a time. Summers can be tough, I mainly stick to ponds this time of year. I did do some canal fishing this past week, I was walking feeder canals due to the high water and some of the cleared out slop looking for peacocks, caught a few and some very nice bass. Yesterday for about an hour I targeted LMB in a tiny canal using flukes then a frog, and bass were there, lots of gar too. This kind of bass fishing is about as easy as it gets from the standpoint that electronics are not needed to find them, just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, some days you score some days you don't. Once the water levels drop a bit fish the bigger canals. Dec thru about Feb is a totally reversal in canal bass fishing, it can get very good.

Thanks for the input on the canals. I guess I start wondering around looking for ponds now. I have a canal right next to my community and I fished it the other day...got about 2 bites and that was it. I know they're in there, just have to time when they're biting and if they're on that end of the canal.