Everglades Camping and Fishing Advice

mattgio10

A group of 3 buddies and myself are heading down to the Everglades around March 10th for a week of fishing and camping. We are debating whether to put in at either Everglades City or Flamingo and then following the main channel into Everglades National Park. We are looking for suggestions about where to fish and what route to take to experience the best fishing in the Everglades. We would love to hear from some of you on the forum to get advice for spots as well as techniques while fishing the Glades. Can yall help us out?

Thank you,
Matt

polliwog

Mat ,we need some more info,Are you using a powered skiff>? a kayak,canoe? What size is the skiff and power because it will tell us where you might have sucess getting where you want to go. You probably know the area is challenging,so it willtake some work.

mattgio10

Polliwog,

We are going to be using a 16 foot aluminum jon boat with a 40hp outboard and also a 16ft gheenoe with a 10hp outboard. We have plenty if outdoor experience and have all of our camping gear gathered and organized along with food and storage. Our issue is finding the fish since we have not fished the area before. Let me know if there's any other information you need.

Thanks,
Matt

Bobber

There's good fishing to be had from both ends of the Park. Are you familiar with the Park's camping sites and rules? Are you planning on camping the backcountry for a week or setting up camp at one end or the other and daytripping? Mixture of both?

http://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/backcamp.htm

mattgio10

Bobber,

We are familiar with the park rules and regulations. We plan doing a mixture of camping the backcountry and also establishing camp at Flamingo for the first few days to get our bearings. We would like to spend a few nights at various chickees and we ideally would love to explore Hells Bay and stay at that Chickee

Bobber

Good plan. Hells Bay is worth a visit just to say you did, but you'll find better fishing up north around Oyster, Ponce and Tarpon bays in my experience.

mattgio10

Bobber,

Thank you! What are the best baits? Do you spin fish or fly fish? We are going to be doing both!