The BASS online crew wants to extend to you and your family our very best wishes for this holiday season! In the spirit, we created this little piece to help uplift your hearts for the new year. Let’s go fishing!

Happy Holidays

Today I had the pleasure of taking out Phil and Shawn from Wellington, FL.  They are frequent repeat customers of ours, this time they wanted to see what the Everglades bass fishing was all about.

Like most of our clients, these two really enjoyed learning new techniques as well as discovering new artificial lures. They learned about the “Super Spook” today and how to walking the dog. Although they managed to miss a couple of big fish on it, as generally happens with most new users. Shawn did manage to get this nice three pound bass.

They only had a short time to fish today,  but it was a very good time and we look forward to getting them out again real soon.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

  The South Florida area is one of the hottest spots in the country for vacationing and bass fishing. For proof of this, you don’t have to look any further than the amount of bass fishing guides in the area. There are plenty of South Florida bass fishing guides, and each one promises an enjoyable fishing trip.

If you are an experienced angler and know your way around a body of water, chances are you won’t need the services of a fishing guide. There are plenty of prime bass spots that can offer great fishing in South Florida.

South Florida Fishing Guides

The number of South Florida bass fishing guides is due to the popularity of this area as a vacation spot. These services are great for someone who is in the Naples, Ft Myers, Palm Beach, Ft Lauderdale and Miami area for a family getaway or even a business trip. They are also great for people who are not exactly experienced in bass fishing. Hawghunter.net, south Florida’s largest bass fishing guide service offers guaranteed catches with it’s industry trend setting fishing policy, NO FISH, No PAY! Many of the other services will charge you regardless whether you catch fish. That fact alone tells you how confident the guides at Hawghunter.net are that you will catch fish with them.

You don’t have to drain your pocket book to enjoy these fishing trips either. Many of the South Florida bass fishing guides offer trips that are quite affordable. An eight hour trip for two people can be purchased for anywhere from $350-$400. There are various amounts of time that these trips are available in for less money. Some of these guides will also offer lessons and refresher courses in bass fishing. They give you the opportunity to spend a day on the water with a bass fishing expert.

These guided trips are a great addition to any Florida getaway at an affordable price. You can either take the whole family, or split off by yourself instead of going shopping. There are many South Florida bass fishing guides to choose from, we suggested this one because of it’s #1 ranking on Google. They should be able to find a fishing adventure that suits your needs and preferences. There is an abundance of information online about many of these services. Take your time and research them before making your choice. Make sure you book as far in advance as you can, because many of the South Florida bass fishing guides book up quickly, especially during vacation season.

Other great reasons to book a fishing trip in the South Florida area include the weather and the number of other things to do in the area. Not to mention that it is some of the best bass fishing in the country, whether you use a guide or not.

We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us if you would like to help or suggest a body of water in your area. If you have any questions on the videos or if you are interested in a fishing trip in Florida. Our if you would like additional information on the fishing trips or fishing videos please contact us on this form, thanks you and good fishin!.

From Staff and Wire Reports
BassOnline.com
888-629-BASS (2277)

Michael Mayo | News Columnist

9:37 PM EDT, May 28, 2008

Everglades Holiday Park is a funky place, and I mean that as a compliment.

There’s alligator wrestling and airboat rides for tourists, unrestricted 24 /7 boat ramps for local anglers and hunters, a general store and a bait shop that seem closer to Mayberry than Weston.

That’s the way it should be. At the western end of Griffin Road past U.S. 27, it’s old-time Florida, the Everglades in all its unspoiled and swampy glory.

Broward County originally wanted nothing to do with the place. After being given the land by a farmer in the 1960s, the county leased the land to the state. The state has sublet the park to various concessionaires. Since 1982, the Bridges family of Fort Lauderdale has run it. Their lease expires in 2012.

This is one case where privatization seems to work. The public gets free access to bass fishing, frog and duck hunting, and tourists pay the freight with $21 airboat rides. The Bridges turn a profit and give an annual cut to the state. The state’s share ranges from $100,000 to $400,000, according to Chuck Collins, the south regional director for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

There’s just one problem.

It’s the county’s land, but Broward doesn’t get a cent.

I suppose another way of looking at it is the county doesn’t have to spend a cent, either.

“If they have a problem with not getting a cut, I told them we’d work with them,” Clint Bridges said Wednesday. “If they just gave us a lease extension, I’d pay for all the improvements they want. They wouldn’t have to get their hands wet or do a damn thing, other than go to the mailbox and pick up their check.”

But Broward has something more involved in mind.

The county has explored getting the park back from the state. It has hired consultants and held public workshops. There’s talk of expensive refurbishments, new boat ramps and docks. There’s also talk of a $10 million Everglades museum and replica 1880′s village, seeded by developer Ron Bergeron and run by a nonprofit organization.

“A public-private venture,” Bergeron said Wednesday. “Obviously we’d need a certain amount of participation from the county.”

I hear talk like this, and I get a little clammy.

Especially when you consider the planning firm working on this is URS Corp., the same people who’ve done such a bang-up job with the airport expansion.

Especially when you consider Bergeron sits on the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which might have to approve the county takeover.

“I probably would recuse myself [from voting],” Bergeron said.

Especially when you consider the county is dealing with $100 million in budget cuts and may close other parks one day a week.

Is this really the time to get ambitious?

“That’s why everybody’s been screaming, ‘It ain’t broke, so don’t fix it,’” said Paul Schmitz, of Pembroke Pines, a frequent duck hunter. “It’s just an unencumbered, ideal place for hunting and fishing. It sounds like they want to turn this from a money-maker into a money loser.”

On Wednesday, the county unveiled the revamp plan at a public forum. Among the recommendations: getting rid of on-site camping, doubling the parking from 150 to 300 spots, and building the museum to educate locals and visitors about the Everglades’ history.

“We want to make it a showplace,” Bob Harbin, the county’s director of parks and recreation, told me earlier in the day. “The theme would be the same, but the facilities need to be brought up from 1930. What we’d build would still have a rustic appearance.”

Harbin said the park would remain open round-the-clock, the No. 1 priority for local hunters and anglers who came to workshops.

“We’re skeptical about that,” said Rick Persson, a bass fisherman and vice-president of the South Florida Anglers for Everglades Restoration. He cited a park in Loxahatchee run by Palm Beach County that now closes at dusk. “We’d like to see improvements, but if it’s going to lead to people getting shut out of the park, then what’s the point?”

Michael Mayo’s column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Read him online weekdays at Sun-Sentinel.com/mayoblog. Reach him at mmayo@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4508.