Turf Posted May 29, 2017 Posted May 29, 2017 Went out to Loxahatchee for the first time this Saturday morning on my kayak. There was a local tournament out there so the ramps were quite busy. Armed with 5 rods I fished from first light through 9:30 (had to come home early unfortunately). Wind was almost non-existent at times (<5mph) which was great for fishing from the kayak. Started directly east from the Lox road boat ramps fishing a HB frog along the way. Nothing going early on so I decided to head across the deeper water into the flats almost directly north of the boat ramp and try some of the shallower areas, less boats, less traffic. I also decided to switch away from the frog and started throwing a grass pig swim bait. The first strike I had was so subtle I didn't feel anything but a bit of extra weight. After realizing it might have been a strike and setting the hook (or trying to) it confirmed my thoughts that i was snagged. As I was reeling myself toward the snag and about 10 feet from the spot, what would've easily been my personal best LM jumps entirely out of the water and throws my swim bait out of it's mouth. Had to be 6+ easy by the size of her... Once I came out of my brief depression I kept pushing forward and fishing around the shallows and found some really nice fish. Ended the morning with 10 fish total with a couple of dinks and the majority in the 1-2 pound range. The best two I caught (likely both around the 4 marker, sorry no scale) came within 10 minutes from one another in the same shallow. Also both on a junebug uvibe (credit to Geo g for turning me onto this bait). Had what I believed to be a chain pickerel on as well at one point but it cut me off. Spoke with a bunch of the boat anglers that said that they were out fishing the main canal and the general consensus was that they weren't having any luck. Sounds like the majority of the fish were tucked back up in the shallows. Also I was throwing fairly light rigs with 15lb pp braid with a 10lb flouro leader on all my setups, with the exception of my frog setup. Although that was only 20lb braid with the same 10lb flouro leader. Not sure if that made a difference but worth noting. These were the two chunks I was able to nab. All in all, I had a really fun first outing to Lox and looking forward to getting back out there in the near future. Hope everyone is having a great memorial day weekend! Good luck out there! 2 Quote
Wurming67 Posted May 29, 2017 Posted May 29, 2017 I was out there Saturday also the main canal was tough I only got about 10 total but landed this nice one on a jerkbait in North canal 2 Quote
Super User geo g Posted May 30, 2017 Super User Posted May 30, 2017 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. 1 Quote
Turf Posted May 30, 2017 Author Posted May 30, 2017 Thanks Geo, Honestly I was a bit overwhelmed. Realize I just need more experience and time on Lox but there were seemingly endless options. Now I just need need to explore and figure it out. Beautiful place though. And luckily the Alligators have left me alone pretty much everywhere I go (knock on wood). But I certainly dont test or mess with them either. I'll stay as far away as possible. Looking forward to going back as soon as possible! Quote
Wurming67 Posted May 30, 2017 Posted May 30, 2017 Ive been very apprehensive about going in the flats because I have an old fiberking bomber bass boat it's very heavy and I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get plane to get out of the flats so I've stayed in the main canal.ive done pretty good at but the flats are calling me lol. 1 Quote
Super User geo g Posted May 30, 2017 Super User Posted May 30, 2017 16 hours ago, Turf said: Thanks Geo, Honestly I was a bit overwhelmed. Realize I just need more experience and time on Lox but there were seemingly endless options. Now I just need need to explore and figure it out. Beautiful place though. And luckily the Alligators have left me alone pretty much everywhere I go (knock on wood). But I certainly dont test or mess with them either. I'll stay as far away as possible. Looking forward to going back as soon as possible! 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! 1 Quote
SFL BassHunter Posted May 30, 2017 Posted May 30, 2017 Turf nice job on that kayak! Wurming that is a heck of a good fish you caught out there! Quote
Turf Posted May 30, 2017 Author Posted May 30, 2017 12 minutes ago, SFL BassHunter said: Turf nice job on that kayak! Thank you sir! A little more exhausting but a heck of fun time. Quote
SFL BassHunter Posted June 1, 2017 Posted June 1, 2017 On 5/30/2017 at 2:58 PM, Turf said: Thank you sir! A little more exhausting but a heck of fun time. Be careful on it though, this time of the year the gators are not happy campers. They are VERY aggressive. Quote
Turf Posted June 1, 2017 Author Posted June 1, 2017 50 minutes ago, SFL BassHunter said: Be careful on it though, this time of the year the gators are not happy campers. They are VERY aggressive. Absolutely. I'm always extra cautious, especially during mating season. And yes I have definitely noticed a change in aggression on their part lately, which quite honestly will keep me off Alligator Alley for a little bit until things calm down. Safety first though for sure! Quote
SFL BassHunter Posted June 1, 2017 Posted June 1, 2017 1 hour ago, Turf said: Absolutely. I'm always extra cautious, especially during mating season. And yes I have definitely noticed a change in aggression on their part lately, which quite honestly will keep me off Alligator Alley for a little bit until things calm down. Safety first though for sure! Was on US 27 in my small jon boat which has a deck. Had one come out from under, the head creeping up slowly next to the gunwale with its mouth wide open. I started to slowly move back as much as I could and it snapped at me then dove into the water. Scary stuff. 1 Quote
Turf Posted June 1, 2017 Author Posted June 1, 2017 2 minutes ago, SFL BassHunter said: Was on US 27 in my small jon boat which has a deck. Had one come out from under, the head creeping up slowly next to the gunwale with its mouth wide open. I started to slowly move back as much as I could and it snapped at me then dove into the water. Scary stuff. Sounds like I might have a month or two of bank fishing in my future. lol. Yikes, scary stuff for sure. 1 Quote
Turf Posted June 5, 2017 Author Posted June 5, 2017 Got back out to Loxahatchee this morning but was only able to fish from 6:30 to 9. Another good day however at least as far as I'm concerned. Also managed to avoid the rain that seemingly showed up as I was leaving around 9:30 or so. Wind was <5 mph again so cruising around wasn't an issue. Found a decent sized body of water tucked up behind a load of heavy pad cover. As soon as I got past the pads and through some really narrow areas it opened up quite nicely. Ended with 7 fish on the morning, all caught back up in that flat. Lost one that felt decent as well due to a bad knot, opps, shame on me... Two were decent, one likely around the 3 marker and one that may have been closer to 4, not entirely sure. I mentioned earlier last time out I was fishing light line (15 lb PP) with a 10 lb flouro leader, but decided to change that up this time out to see the differences. Kept the 15 lb PP on my soft plastic rigs but upgraded the flouro to a 17lb leader. Didn't notice much of a difference there in terms of strikes changing from 10 up to 17. The 3 lber I caught was once again on the junebug uvibe, fishing it dead on the bottom. I did rig up a another rod this time out with 65lb PP fished straight without a leader with a 3/8 oz swim jig with a rage craw trailer (both black/blue). I threw this most of the morning to try to entice a bigger bite and for the most part, I was able to still catch the smaller fish but was waiting on that big guy to hit. Well I ended up overcasting by accident and ended up looping my line over a tree branch on edge of the cove I was fishing. Well since I've actually seen people in videos try to perform this technique in terms of being able to have your larger bait enter the water without spooking all of the fish around I figured why not try it. Well sure enough I bobbed the jig from the tree one time and then on the second this big fella shoot out of the water and crushed it. Due to the 65PP I was actually able to get a good hook set but even with all of that I was still snagged solid in the tree, only with a large bass on the other end. At one point I had this bass entirely suspended out of the water as I reel myself toward him. I then let him down gently with just his nose out of the water. Pretty sure he was as confused as I was with what was going on. It was pretty cool and would've made for a great picture, if I wasn't scared of losing the fish. Also wanted to get the fish released and back in the water of course. Never a dull moment out there. Just glad I went with the 65 lb braid, as with my previous line choices this one would've been over before it started. Quote
Super User Darren. Posted June 5, 2017 Super User Posted June 5, 2017 Great bass, one and all! 1 Quote
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