Alley fishing!

[geo g]

I fished Alligator Alley Friday 6/12/20.  The water is up everywhere but although the fishing has got tougher the last few weeks, there are still plenty of big girls still in the canal.  Fished slow and deep with plastics, U-Vibes, Flukes, trick worms wacky, and senkos.  Most of my fish were caught right at the drop-offs on both sides of the canals.  Lost a monster bass at the bridge cut, but was lucky enough to bring her 30 yards to the boat and with her giant mouth opened wide, and a big head shake, she spit the hook.  I was about a foot away from getting my hand on her lip.  So big girls are there but I had to fish slow and deep.  Caught 19 bass in 4 hours of fishing all in the north side canal.  Several in the 5 pound range, and the monster that came off looked much bigger.  Good luck if you go, this will not last all summer.

[RoLo]

 

You had a good day.

Thanks for the report.

 

Roger

[geo g]

Went back to the Alley, Sunday 6/28/20.  Went to the deep holes in the canal, and targeted bass hanging in the deeper spots and along the vertical limestone walls.  On the depth finder I could see fish deep hanging close to base of the drop-offs.  You had to fish slow to get bit.  They were not chasing baits and the only indication was a slight tick on the line, and then line slowly moving.  Upon setting the hook you could feel the surprising weight of some of these.  The surface water temp was 87* at 7:00 in the morning.  The temps deeper were  considerably less.  I only fished until 11:00 PM and caught 11 bass, 2 were 19" long and a 17".  The bigger fish all came from deeper waters.  If you weren't fishing slow and deep you just wasting your time.  This pattern has been consistent for over a month and five trips to the same area.  I think the aquifer is pumping water into a few of these deep areas and keeping it cooler with oxygenated water.  

[239fish]

Nice job Geo G! 

If live down here you know bass fishing can be tough this time of year, so its nice to hear some reports. My local areas have been fishing about the same, deeper and slow. Geo, what are you throwing down there, weightless or heavy weights to get down? Here it seems to be day-to-day of a slow sink verses just get to the bottom...

[Don51]

Being tough in SWFL is putting it mildly! lol  Bites are few and far between. They must be feeding at night.   ?

[Captain Phil]

9 hours ago, Don51 said:

Being tough in SWFL is putting it mildly! lol  Bites are few and far between. They must be feeding at night.   ?

Bingo!  I fished South Florida for many years.  Night fishing in the summer is way more effective.  The best night fishing is from 12 midnight until dawn.  By 9 AM, you may as well go home.  My favorite night lure was a 9" black worm.  You don't have to worry about hangups or alligators.  Big spinner baits work as well.  The biggest problem is mosquitoes. If you coat yourself with orange label Cutter every 15 minutes, they aren't too bad.  You do what you have to do.  Windy nights are better.  No way would I ever fish on the bank in the Everglades at night!!!   You may find yourself in the middle of an Animal Kingdom episode. ?

[geo g]

By 9:00 in the morning the bite is about done.  Most of the month the bites have been deep hugging the rock walls in the canals.  A few bites back in the pads early in the morning.  Mostly using U-Vibes and senkos.  Tough slow fishing, but still producing a few big old girls deep.

[Captain Phil]

Glad to hear the alley is still producing.  Until 1996, that was my home territory.  Have you ever fished the Chrome Avenue canal?  There are places in South Florida where fish never see a lure.  Some of them have old boat ramps and I have fished a lot of them.   The only thing that worried me was having my truck stolen or vandalized.  

[geo g]

12 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

Glad to hear the alley is still producing.  Until 1996, that was my home territory.  Have you ever fished the Chrome Avenue canal?  There are places in South Florida where fish never see a lure.  Some of them have old boat ramps and I have fished a lot of them.   The only thing that worried me was having my truck stolen or vandalized.  

I have fished L67, Little 67, and L28 many times over the years.  Never fished Chrome because it always had a reputation for break-ins.  Loved fishing the three pines area of L67.  Lots of big bass at the cuts out there.

[RoLo]

55 minutes ago, geo g said:

Never fished Chrome because it always had a reputation for break-ins.  

 

By all means, trust your instincts

 

Roger

[Captain Phil]

Years before Alligator Alley and the expressways were built, we fished all the drainage canals.  Chrome avenue, Highway 84, 27, Tamiami, Macs Camp and the airport.  My first experience with night fishing was in the old bombing range near what is now called Sawgrass.  My first bass on an artificial came in a Carol City canal.  Snake Creek and Maule Lake were favorites. Every ditch in South Florida holds fish, some of them quite large.  Great memories. 

[SC53]

Same for me Phil. I grew up in plantation 1959-84 when I left. Mainly fished from what’s now Holiday park up to Terry Town and on to Loxahatchee. SR 84 canal when the Australian pines were still there, the old bombing range, all the canals in between. Yes those were some fish catching days back then. 

[geo g]

Canals are still producing nice bass most of the year.  It has gotten tougher since the last heavy rains.  A lot of bass are buried back in the sawgrass where the food supply is plentiful.  Still good to live in one of the country’s best fishing areas.

 

 

Usual happening tonight.  I caught a 4 pound black peacock.  Never happened before.  The body was a deep black except for red under the chin and a spot on the tail.  The body shape And mouth was pure peacock.  Has anyone out there ever caught a black peacock?  
I have caught hundreds of peas over the years and nothing like this one.

[Luccon]

Dang G, we should go fishing sometime lol