By: Capt Roan zumFelde
Hope all had a great start to the New Year!
I always get a lot of questions about Freshwater Tackle for the Everglades Canals; well here are my thoughts on it: the fish in our canal systems are plentiful and on average tend to run on the smaller size spectrum. Not to say they do not fight hard as heck, but they just do not usually run big. Now don’t be surprised if you get a 6 to 10 pound largemouth or a sizeable peacock or even an extra-large cichlid in the canals; you fish them long enough, you will. For this reason and also that we tend to use downsized baits to fish them, I always recommend going lighter than most would think, usually spinning not bait-casting. Ok, you Tournament Bass Fisherman this rule does not apply to you. I understand that many of you are using the canals as practice for flipping and pitching and other techniques for when the tourneys roll around and the heavier 7 and 7’5 in. pitching and flipping sticks work perfectly well. My point is, you might as well have some fun with the smaller outfits and get a real fight out of the fish out there.
My favorite outfit is an ultralight 6 to 6’6 spinning rod with a 1000 or 2000 series reel on it and 15lb. braid. TFO makes one called the Trout Panfish series which works well and then all of your reel companies make a light reel; we carry The Florida Fishing Products 1000 series Osprey. This combo works great for throwing light soft plastics, like a jighead with a paddle tail grub or a small Texas rigged worm in 4 inch or any small soft plastic. Another favorite lure is small top water plugs like a Tiny Torpedo or Rapala, which I almost always replace the treble hooks with single hooks or single hook. Bass are easy to remove hooks from but the cichlids are famous for putting a hook in you when you are trying to remove them, so the least amount of sharp points and barbs the better. You haven’t lived until you get a 3 or 4 pound bass on an ultralight or a big cichlid or peacock bass. When I rig up these baits I usually tie a 6 ft. trace of 15lb. fluorocarbon leader to my braid; this keeps some abrasion resistance and if the water is clear you will get more strikes.
Hope you all get out and fish, fishing tends to be a little slower due to colder water temps this month. If we have fair weather like we have been experiencing in January the fish will still be there and hungry in all the lakes and canals in South Florida. Downsize and slow down your presentation-that should help entice some nice action and fish the second half of the day when water temps are rising.
Come visit Mike and me at Mike’s Bait house and Indian Pass Outfitters on Danford Street, next to Bayview Park in Naples and we can talk fishing. We carry a full line of tackle including: fly fishing needs and both saltwater and freshwater gear, food, drink, and bait. Thanks and good fishing. Roan z