Florida Everglades Guide??

godshippy · Post by **godshippy** » Thu May 10, 2012 6:56 am

Hey guys, I'm headed down to Miami at the end of the month and wanted to take the opportunity to fish the Everglades while I'm down in the sunshine state. Any tips/advice/ideas on finding a guide??? I'll be staying at Miami beach with some friends; do I need to rent a car to meet up with the guide???

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

drew · Post by **drew** » Fri May 11, 2012 6:46 am

I grew up there, but it has been many years since I have been back. You will need to rent a car since you will be fairly far from the better LMB fishing. I would go to the Bass Pro Shops in Dania which is not far from where you will be and ask them about guides. Right next to BPS is the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum which might be worth checking out. BTW Any canal , pond or lake east of I95 will have LMB and there are a lot of them. It seems like every 10ft is body of water.

BPS
200 Gulf Stream Way
Dania Beach , Florida 33004 U.S.A.

IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum
300 Gulf Stream Way
Dania Beach , Florida 33004 U.S.A.

crawdaddy · Post by **crawdaddy** » Fri May 11, 2012 7:09 am

What type of fish do you want to catch? If you have never fished the mangroves for snook, redfish, grouper, snapper, jacks, and sharks you should consider it. Our bass fishing here is world class but we have no comparison to the saltwater species. If you want to do it rent a car and drive to Islamorada in the upper Keys (about 1 hour from Miami beach). Go to the Outdoor Sportsman there (or call ahead) and arrange for a guide to take you to the mangroves in that area. The fishing is second to none and the variety of species is amazing. It is also a situation where you can use light rods. Also being a bass fisherman is handy since you can pitch baits to pockets easily! I have done this twice and each time has been memorable, I have hooked 2 small tarpon doing this (about 20-30lbs each) but didn't land either one.

TeamBeefmaster · Post by **TeamBeefmaster** » Fri May 11, 2012 7:45 am

My gparents live near palm beach. If LMB is your deal, i would drive up to Clewiston and fish Okeechobee. Its a good ride but its the mecca of Florida. There are a number of FLW pros who serve as guides there. Call up the Roland Martin marina for details.

You can also rent your own bass boat there for not a lot of money. They have a number of legit glass bass boats with full trolling motor, gps, and graphs.

If $$$ is tight, bring a travel rod and some senkos and fish any canal, golf course pond, fountain pond, etc, you can find.

A bit closer to Miami is than Oke is the Loxahatchee reserve which has some awesome LMB fishing. You will likley need a guide as fishing from the bank may get you eaten by a gator.

There are a number of guides who will take you out to the flats of biscayne bay for some awesome seatrout, bonefish, tarpon, snook, jack, shark, etc. goodluck

Takedown · Post by **Takedown** » Fri May 11, 2012 7:17 pm

godshippy wrote:Hey guys, I'm headed down to Miami at the end of the month and wanted to take the opportunity to fish the Everglades while I'm down in the sunshine state. Any tips/advice/ideas on finding a guide??? I'll be staying at Miami beach with some friends; do I need to rent a car to meet up with the guide???

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Give me a call, I have a Bass Pro on our pro staff that can get you on fish.
You can view some of his videos on utube at Mikeybalzz Fishing

GW · Post by GW » Fri May 11, 2012 7:55 pm

I think if you get far enough south you can find peacock bass....I may be worng but I heard it was the only place in the continental US to get them.

godshippy · Post by **godshippy** » Mon May 14, 2012 6:56 am

Hey guys, thanks for all the great info!

I'm looking to target bass on this trip because it will be short and mostly for leisure on the beach. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to get back and do some more fishing for other species. But...if you end up catching other types out there while looking for bass in the Everglades that wouldn't be bad either!

So it sounds like I'll need to rent a car to get down towards the area that I want to fish. Any specific guides that you guys would recommend for bass in the Everglades?