Everglades Holiday Park fishing report

[Wormweight]

Sorry for the late posts. I had some time off from work and fished during the week.

Monday, Sept 23, 2019

See sttached map. Late start. Headed South from Holiday Park and stopped before the Miami canal. The wind was strong from the NE and pushed me straight down the canal. I used the trolling motor as a rudder with only minor bumps to keep me straight. The first line was in the water around 11am. This is too late because the bass stopped biting. I caught two small bass, one on a Gambler black/blue ACE stick worm and the second on another green pumpkin work. No bites on crankbaits. The traffic was light with only a few boats on the water. Still a relaxing day.

[Wormweight]

Thursday, Sept 26, 2019

See attached maps. Another late start but a better day. Headed North from Holiday Park to Alligator Alley and fished the North side of the East-West canal. The wind was N-NE so the sawgrass blocked the wind and trolling to the right was easy. The first line was in the water around 10:00am but the bass were biting. I caught 11 bass and missed two more. The biggest was maybe 2 - 2.5 pounds. All were caught on the Gambler ACE black/blue stick worm. I ran out of worms and had to keep rehooking the broken ones. Trim the top about 1/4 inch and keep going. The bites slowed around 11:30am. I turned around and let the wind and water push me South. There were no bites under the bridge because the water flow was too strong. Also, there were no bites from crankbaits around the corners where bass could hide from the current and ambush prey. I did not try the other bridges. Two more bass drifting South by flipping a worm. The best part was nobody else around. No trailers in the lot and no boats on the water. Just me and miles of canals lined with sawgrass and lily pads.

[Wormweight]

Saturday, October 5, 2019

GREAT MORNING !!! I usually don't launch from Holiday Park on the weekends because it is packed with boats and people but I gave it a chance. It was not too crowded early morning. See attached maps. Headed North from Holiday Park to the alley and started trolling to the East. The wind was light from E-NE around 8am and the bass were biting. The wind was getting stronger around 9:30am. I had to keep bumping the trolling motor left and right to keep straight going into the wind. Around 10:30am, the wind was strong so I turned around and let the wind push me to the West. The only negative was the wind was non-stop. After catching a fish, or needing to reset the worm, I drifted passed the area and needed to circle around. The bass were still biting until around 11:30am when things slowed and I had enough. The total was 19 bass and one big mudfish maybe 24". No, I did not kill the mudfish. Most bass were small but three or four were 2 - 3 pounds. All were caught on the Gambler black/blue ACE stick worms. I didn't even try a crankbait or something else. I started with a new package of eight worms and I had one left when finished. Note, the bass are biting from the sawgrass and lily pad lines over the slope. See picture. Good luck everyone.

[GTB]

Now that is a fishing report! I won’t be going out there but kudos for giving such a good report!

[Mickstix]

Nice report!

[cwilt]

I will give you some tips to try out. The pads that line the canals...try throwing big EZ's in copperfield or cane toads. Pull them through the pads from cast to boat side. Also try other variations of colors. Also got word 13 inch worms same technique. You can also flip in the sawgrass. I like beaver type baits.

[ScottOz]

Also got word 13 inch worms same technique.

That is where the Bruiser Big Nasty was born.

[Wormweight]

Saturday, October 12, 2019

FDOT is building a gravel road on the East side of the pumping station to US 27 which is making the water dirty. The pumping station is pumping the water to the West side right by Holiday Park and the boat ramps which makes the water look milky white. The dirty water is flowing South.

Awesome day. 20 bass. #1-19 on worms and #20 on a crankbait. Most caught with worms were small. Four were about 2lbs. #20 was the largest and maybe 3 lbs. See the attached map.

I went North to the Alley and started at my usual spot on the North side of the North East-West canal across from the first bridge. The wind was from the NE and I decided to let the wind push me West instead of trolling East into the wind. I caught the first bass just after 8am, 10 by 9am, and 15 by 9:30am. I missed two in a row, but it took 20 minutes to get #16. Another 20 minutes to get #17,18, and another 20 minutes to get #19. The bass are around the lily pads and the slope. The further West I was pushed, the less lily pads there were. I was not getting hits by the sawgrass.

I got no hits with worms under the second bridge or the sides. I moved to the South side of the South East-West canal and let the wind push West again. There are much more lily pads on the South East-West canal but the bottom is different. There is no defined bank on the South side and I don't have luck with worms so I was throwing a crankbait parallel to the lily pads. I caught #20 around 11am. There were some hits by Warmouth and Shellcracker sunfish but they were not hooked. I am thinking the bass are either further in the lily pads or near the bottom because of the sun and heat. I quit at 11:30am and headed back to the ramp.

Next time, I think I will try crankbaits earlier in the morning on the South side of the South East-West canal. They should be closer to the edge of the lily pads.

Many thanks, Cwilt. I have big EZ swimbaits and large worms. I will try them also.

Good luck everyone.

[cwilt]

I almost went to Holliday pk today. But figured i left early enough, might as well go to south bay. After reading your post, i am glad i didn't. I wanted to check out the lake since its been a couple/few months since i was out there. Lots of scattered emerging Kissimmee grass where the hay fields were. Most of my fish (caught 7) were caught around pads located next to sawgrass. In the few hrs i was there i could not come up with a solid pattern.

[Wormweight]

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Not a good day at Holiday Park. There was no wind around 7:30am and the pumping station was off. I started fishing with Big EZ swimbaits around the edges of the flats next to patches of lily pads, sawgrass, and pencil grass. No hits at all and I tried three different colors. I also tried poppers, zara spooks, and shallow crankbaits but no hits. Top water at Holiday Park is not the same as say Okeechobee.

The wind started to pick up from the SE around 8:30am. I moved up to Alligator Alley and continued with Big EZ through the lily pads on the South side. I would see swirls in the lily pads but no hits. Also no hits with medium crankbaits parallel to the lily pads. I switched to a 12" worm but still no hits. I tried under the third bridge with the big worm and got one hit, but the fish seemed small because it was not hooked.

I changed to a small stick worm on the North side of the Alley and started getting hits. The sky was completely overcast from horizon to horizon and I could not see the sun. I know it's up there, I've seen it before. This made the conditions darker. The wind picked up even more from the South which kept pushing the boat into the lily pads and sawgrass. The sky started to clear around 11am but by 11:30 I was done. The total was two bass caught, two bass lost, and more hits that were not hooked.

The sun was out on Sunday which makes the day brighter, but the wind was the same so I can't say if Sunday would have been better. Weekends are so crowded. I may try Sawgrass Recreation Area next time.

Good luck everyone.

[SwampNinja]

You need to fish mm41 area this time of year. Much better.

[cwilt]

You need to fish mm41 area this time of year. Much better.

Yup, and sawgrass turns on around dec/jan.

[Lou22]

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Not a good day at Holiday Park. There was no wind around 7:30am and the pumping station was off. I started fishing with Big EZ swimbaits around the edges of the flats next to patches of lily pads, sawgrass, and pencil grass. No hits at all and I tried three different colors. I also tried poppers, zara spooks, and shallow crankbaits but no hits. Top water at Holiday Park is not the same as say Okeechobee.

The wind started to pick up from the SE around 8:30am. I moved up to Alligator Alley and continued with Big EZ through the lily pads on the South side. I would see swirls in the lily pads but no hits. Also no hits with medium crankbaits parallel to the lily pads. I switched to a 12" worm but still no hits. I tried under the third bridge with the big worm and got one hit, but the fish seemed small because it was not hooked.

I changed to a small stick worm on the North side of the Alley and started getting hits. The sky was completely overcast from horizon to horizon and I could not see the sun. I know it's up there, I've seen it before. This made the conditions darker. The wind picked up even more from the South which kept pushing the boat into the lily pads and sawgrass. The sky started to clear around 11am but by 11:30 I was done. The total was two bass caught, two bass lost, and more hits that were not hooked.

The sun was out on Sunday which makes the day brighter, but the wind was the same so I can't say if Sunday would have been better. Weekends are so crowded. I may try Sawgrass Recreation Area next time.

Good luck everyone.

We fished a little West of your location on the alley and the action was non-stop right up until noon and then the bite completely shut down. The bites were few and far between through out the afternoon. Ended up landing over 25 bass, and lost several nicer fish. :(