Alligators in the Florida Everglades

Okay, while the Everglades is not actually on fire…the large-mouth bass in the Everglades are in every sense of the word biting like they are.

I had out the Leung family all the way from Pasadena, Ca. It was Raymond, Monica and there daughter Melissa all here for a family wedding, Christmas, New Years and fun family time. One of the things on there list was to better understand the Everglades, it’s history, it’s future and what’s being done to help the vast ecosystem.

I really enjoyed the task at hand, being a big part of the conservation efforts here in South Florida it was my pleasure to answer all of there questions. We did also bass fish for several hours catching over 30 fish and taking plenty of pictures. Raymond had an amazing camera, it stopped birds in there track at full speed. A zoom len that was capable of almost anything you could imagine.

We had a great time, discovering over 25 different birds. Having an up close and personal conversation with a Florida alligator. We had discussions that exposed the flaws in life, as we see it of coarse. As well as the perfections that are commonly overlooked, these are not only things that the Everglades seems to stand for but more importantly make you think about!

Everglades Holiday Park Bass

Everglades Holiday Park – Florida: Located in Ft. Lauderdale, Everglades Holiday Park is a place you cannot afford to miss while on vacation! It has great fishing and airboat rides for the whole family to enjoy a fresh look at the South Florida everglades. After your fishing trip, go see the live Gator shows which will inform and entertain everyone in the family. Who hasn’t wanted to experience the Everglades?

There are more than 100 RV hookups, so feel free to stay for a while and enjoy the beauty of an American treasure. There are alligators, rare birds, breathtaking scenery and big bass to make every visit unique and amazing.

What To Expect
Be sure to make your reservations (888-629-BASS) for everything you wish to do before you arrive – spots fill up quickly and you must reserve ahead of time. The fishing trips allow you to meet the alligators up close and personal if you prefer not to ride the airboats.

Alligators are most always seen when taking a fishing trip, so make sure you bring a camera along, if not all of our fishing guides have on on board. Plan to stay for about two hours to enjoy the Airboats and some wandering before and after the tour, we offer two hour trips and as well as 5 day trips.

Hours of Operation
For Air boat rides: 9am-5pm, Monday through Friday. Our fishing trips are available 7 days a week and are built around your schedule and vacation.

How To Get There
Visit our detailed map on our website at Everglades Holiday Park map - Go North or South: I-95 or Florida Turnpike to I-595 West. Turn South onto I-75 South to exit 13B (Griffin Road), and take Griffin Road until it dead ends at the entrance. If you are coming from the North, you can also take the Sawgrass Expressway (869) South instead of the Turnpike or I-95. You will then take I-75 South and follow the rest of the above directions. It is located at 1940 Griffin Road, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33332; for more information call (954) 771-3682 or 1-888-628-2277.

Good fishing,

Capt Todd Kersey
todd@bassonline.com

If you are visiting South Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached @ (888) 629-BASS or by email.

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www.lakeokeechobeebassfishing.com

  Florida officials have agreed to new terms for a land deal with the largest U.S. producer of cane sugar to increase the availability of water storage and flow to the vast Everglades wetland. The new agreement, subject to approval by the South Florida Water Management District, includes the purchase of more than 180,000 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp. at a price of $1.34 billion. The agreement is a step down from terms announced in June, which included transfer to public ownership of 187,000 acres and all the sugar company’s assets, including 200 miles of railroad, a state-of-the-art sugar mill, sugar refinery and citrus processing plant for $1.75 billion.

…The new terms include a lease-back of the land for $50 per acre, for a period covering seven crop cycles. The sugar mill, refinery and citrus processing facilities, railroads, office buildings, equipment and the Gilchrist County citrus nursery will remain the property of U.S. Sugar.

…The 180,000 acres, one of the largest environmental land acquisitions in U.S. history, are needed by the South Florida Water Management District to protect Florida’s coastal estuaries and better revive, restore and preserve the Everglades. The land will be used to reestablish a part of the historic connection between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades through a managed system of storage and treatment areas. This is expected to reduce the potential for harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee to Florida’s coastal rivers and estuaries when lake levels are high.

  Recreational stakeholders and Environmentalists were pleased with the outcome of negotiations. … “This is just the shot in the arm we need to improve the health of one of America’s most treasured, but troubled ecosystems. Floridians on both coasts will be able to say goodbye to damaging freshwater releases that foul up the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries, and the continuous abuse of Lake Okeechobee. Which has sat idled in the middle of all of this with a silent voice taking all of the abuse.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….

From Staff and Wire Reports

BassOnline.com

 Southwest Florida, at first glance, doesn’t sound like a fresh water angler’s paradise. The region only has a handful of natural lakes and only one, Lake Trafford in the farming community of Immokalee is accessible to the public. There are many other lakes in the region but, they are all made-made rock pits or water retention areas for the numerous housing and golf course developments. Most of them are stocked and offer excellent largemouth bass, catfish and panfish fishing. But, some of these are located on private property, fishing can be restricted to residents and their guests. If in doubt, assume the lake is private and ask for permission before wetting your line.

Don’t construe the shortage of natural lakes and the restricted use man-made lakes with a lack of places to fresh water fish. Southwest Florida has hundreds of miles of drainage canals containing tons of fish. There region has three major canal systems: Lehigh Acres, Cape Coral and Golden Gate. Certain parts of each system are locally famous for good bass and panfish fishing. Each system has a few boat ramps, some bridges to fish from and plenty of areas where you can fish from the banks.

Driving around the region you will also notice that there are drainage canals along many of the major roads. Don’t overlook these as possible fishing spots. If there is a safe place to pull off the road, stop and give it a try. You will see people doing this every day and they usually are catching fish.

This part of the state has year-round largemouth bass and panfish fishing. Most of the bigger bass are caught during the cooler months when the fish are more actively feeding and at their peak bedding time. Panfish, including bluegills and redear sunfish will almost always bite a worm, cricket or small minnow.

Black crappie, preferring colder waters, aren’t as prevalent in this part of the state. Lake Trafford has the best crappie fishing in the region with the winter month being best. Oscars, exotic fish that are working their way into southwest Florida from the Miami area, can be very abundant in the freshwater canals, particularly along the US 41 canal in eastern Collier County. Catfish, mudfish and several species of gar are also common freshwater residents.

From Staff and Wire Reports
BassOnline.com
888-629-BASS (2277)
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com

 The bass fishing in the Florida Everglades is probably one of the most consistent fisheries in the state, even though the Fish and Wildlife Commission has given it the #1 fishery stats when it comes to catch per hour you still need to fish to believe it. Like most fisheries, knowing how and when to fish the Everglades is key.

The key for us is being the largest and busiest, although we would like to think we are the most productive guide service in Florida. Which we always say, comes from knowing where the fish are going to bite before the fish even know it! We use cycles, trends, moon phases, water levels and simply our years of experience still continue to separate us from all of the others and today was just another example as we had out long time return customer Wade Weadows  and his friends for a day of fishing in the Everglades.

The day went well with lots of fish being caught on artificial lures as well as live bait, several in the 4 to 5 pound class. Always great to have these guides fishing with us, look forward to having you back in March.

If you are visiting South or Central Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best bass fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached at (888) 629-BASS or email us fishing@bassonline.com

 Tight lines,

Capt Todd
todd@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
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www.basson-line.com

  Law enforcement officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) cited a Sawgrass Recreation Park airboat captain, Charles W. Riley, D.O.B 10-28-47, of Tamarac, Florida with failing to report a boating accident, a misdemeanor, and careless operation, an infraction.
The FWC filed the charges after the airboat Riley was driving, a 28-foot Diamondback, took on water and sank in an Everglades marsh Oct. 4. The incident was not reported to the FWC until Oct. 7.

 FWC investigators determined the airboat’s capacity is 23 people. There were 37 people (cruise ship passengers) on board the vessel when water came over the bow. The boat sank in 6-8 feet of alligator-infested water 100 yards north of Sawgrass Recreation Parkin western Broward County.

Other airboat captains in the area rescued the tourists, among them young children. Some suffered minor injuries. Approximately $5,000 in personal items was destroyed, including cameras and cellular phones.

FWC investigators concluded the airboat was overloaded with people, which caused the boat to sink.

Media Contact
Gabriella Ferraro (772) 215-9459

From Staff and Wire Reports
BassOnline.com
888-629-BASS (2277)
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com

 Today I took out Hale White and his wife from Thompson, Tenn., what a great young couple. The day started off with a monster explosion that got away, I would say it was 8 to 9 pounds by the look of it. After that loss, it took a bit to re-group and start fishing again.

Every spot we hit produced a couple of good fish. We only spent 4 hours on the water, we boated around 15 fish total with a 5 pound kicker bass.

It was a very exiting morning to say the least, even when I was loading up the boat Hale caught a 3 pounder at the boat ramp. Great job guys, hope to see you again real soon!

Tight Lines,
Capt Tony (954) 205-2535
tonym@bassonline.com

If you are visiting South Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached @ (888) 629-BASS or by email.
www.bassonline.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.basson-line.com
www.bassauthority.com

  Today I had a little break on the sunrise to sunset trips and changed out with Capt Tony another one of our guides.  I took out Casey and Allison from St Paul, MN  which were down on there honeymoon…Congratulations!

So we went out in the Everglades to catch a big Florida largemouth bass, with the bass being a little sluggish on the back side of the summer moon we had to work a little harder at fishing but we managed to catch a Florida trophy bass a little over 5 pounds for the honeymooners.

Hope they enjoyed it as much as I did…thanks guys!

If you are visiting South or Central Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best bass fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached at (888) 629-BASS or email me…

Capt Brett
bretti@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com

 Well all I can say for this day Phillip and I went out to search for new water and had another excellent day of fishing for large mouth bass on this day. I managed to get Phillip his largest bass ever, it weighed in at 6 pounds on this day as we caught more largemouth then he had ever caught.

  Most of the areas were good fishing, but water management has recently sprayed some areas so we had to move around to other locations. We found everything had to do with water conditions and the fish could be caught!

 If you are visiting South or Central Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best bass fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached at (888) 629-BASS or email me…

Capt Brett
bretti@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com

 Today was anther good day of fishing in South Florida, it was may turn to take out Phillip from Switzerland. He is fishing with us for the next six days and is coming back a week later for another four days, what a die hard fishermen this guy is!

I will tell you something, this man can fish like a pro…he never sits down, just pounding away at the bank line. Phillip fishing trips are not just 4 to 6 hours, he is fishing from sunrise to sunset…very long days of fishing. By the end of our trip on this day we caught over 80 largemouth bass up 4 pounds.

Now that’s a good day!

Check out our Florida Peacock bass website for more additional information.

Tight Lines,

Capt Brett (954) 445-4516 cell
(888) 629-BASS
bretti@bassonline.com
www.bassonline.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.basson-line.com
www.bassauthority.com