Best Fishing Spots in the Everglades Ten Thousand Islands

Best Fishing Spots in the Everglades, Flamingo and 10,000 Islands Area

The Everglades, Flamingo and 10,000 Island area of South Florida are some of the last near pristine waters left in the state of Florida. Yes, run off from urban centers have caused red tides and there have been huge sea grass die offs in recent years.

BUT this area of Florida is about as good as it gets for inshore fishing enthusiasts like me. You can catch your personal best fish by coming down to this area of Florida and enjoy some of the best natural wonders that the state has to offer too.

I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida and I have been addicted to inshore fishing for more than 40 years. I travel all over the state of Florida fishing the grass flats, mangroves and oyster bars searching for my favorite inshore species of fish to catch.

In the article below, I will teach you how to and where to target your favorite fish species like permit, snook, redfish, tarpon, flounder and speckled trout. I will also talk about where to find those fish species and what baits and lures to use to catch them.

Let's get started.

Watch the video below to see a recent trip to the Northern Everglades area.

Best Fishing Spots in Flamingo

When you launch your boat at the boat ramp in Everglades National Park you have to choose whether to go right into Flamingo or left into the heart of the park. To the right are miles and miles of grass flats and super skinny water and to the left are miles and miles of mangroves, oyster bars, channels, river mouths......

Flamingo requires a boat that can get in super skinny water. Much of the area is a no motor zone and you can only fish there with a paddle or pedal powered boat.

This area is perfect for sight fishing enthusiasts. When the wind is calm you can see schools or redfish and permit as they forage among the lush grass for shrimp, crabs and small fish. There are big snook haunting the mangrove islands and grass flats too.

PERMIT

Permit are notorious for being one of the most finicky fish in the sea. Their big eyes let them see very well and too much leader will lead you to getting no bites. You will often be able to see their dorsal fins sticking out of the water as they cruise the flats looking for food.

Stealth is your absolute key to catching permit in the waters of Flamingo. A knock on the side of your boat might ruin your chance to get on one of these magnificent game fish.

The best bait to catch trophy permit is the crab. A nice silver dollar sized crab offering will usually be accepted if you can get it to the fish without spooking it with the splash of the bait. The key is to get the crab in the path of the fish and let if swim and send out its delicious smell into the water so the permit can find it.

Permit have 4 nostrils and have a keen sense of smell to help them find crustaceans that are buried in the sand and grass around Flamingo. You will be surprised how well they will be able to sniff out a well placed crab hiding in the grass.

Another great bait if you don't have any crabs is a live shrimp. They like juicy shrimp too but they are harder to cast and you might have to add a split shot to the rig to get the distance that you need to get to the fish.

You can catch permit with lures but it is very challenging. Fly fishermen do it the best because the small profile of their lures don't make a big splash when they get it close to a permit.

When you are fishing with a spinning rod and reel a scented jig set up like a 1/8 ounce jig head with a Berkeley Gulp or some other scented bait can work well sometimes. A jig head with a 3 inch paddle tail like a DOA CAL shad in white can catch permit too BUT live bait is the way to go when you are targeting permit in Flamingo.

SNOOK

There are tons of snook in Flamingo and any structure in Florida Bay. The grass flats are dotted with small mangrove islands that have lots of snook hunting in and around the roots of the Red Mangrove Trees.

The roots of the red mangrove tree are a haven for many marine creatures like small fish, crabs and shrimp. Predatory fish like snook know this and when the tide gets high enough they will swim among the roots to find some lunch.

During the higher parts of the tide the snook with be in the roots or within a foot or two of the roots so your casts have to be precise to catch them. You will lose a lot of baits and lures fishing the mangroves in Flamingo but it is worth it.

A live white bait of some kind is a great choice for catching snook around the mangroves. I like to use a bobber to help me catch them.

The bobber brings 3 really good fish catching qualities with it:

You can cast the bait farther because of the extra weight of the cork. This means that you are less apt to scare the snook with your boat.
The cork will actually slow the bait down making it easier for the snook to eat your hook. I am always amazed how often snook miss a live bait.
The cork will help you keep track of your bait to make sure it doesn't get wrapped in the roots of the mangrove.

My favorite baits in this scenario are white baits of some sort. They can be a scaled sardine, thread fin herring, menhaden or anything similar to those fish species. They are all shiny and soft so the snook just love to gobble them up. Finger mullet and pin fish are also great choices but the white baits are my favorite.

The key to fishing with live bait around mangrove roots is to get the bait as close to the roots as you can without letting them get tangled on the roots. The strike zone around mangrove roots during the higher parts of the tide is maybe 24 inches tops. If your bait is further out from that you chances of getting a snook drop dramatically.

I created a FREE ONLINE SNOOK FISHING COURSE that you can get on this website. You can check out the snook fishing course by clicking right here.

In the winter months, snook feed predominantly upon shrimp so switch to shrimp in the winter if you can't find any fish to pitch up to the mangroves.

My favorite lures to use are 3 inch paddle tail shad like a DOA CAL in white. This is a great lure to skip up to the mangrove roots and bounce on the sand or mud to get a big snook to eat it.

Weedless gold and silver spoons are another great choice for this scenario.

I recently found a 5.5 inch jerk bait by DOA that you can rig weedless with a bass worm hook. This also works very well for snook around the mangroves. The weedless set up really helps keep you from getting snagged. You will still get snagged if you are fishing in the 24 inch strike zone but you will lose a lot fewer lures.

Watch the video below to see the best technique to use with jerk baits.

Another great place to catch snook in Flamingo is out on the grass flats. Every grass flat that I have ever seen has sandy pot holes in it. These are areas that are usually white sand in a circular pattern surrounded by grass.

Snook and other predatory species love to ambush shrimp, crabs and small fish that the current washes over these sandy potholes. That is why you need to learn how to fish them.

My favorite technique with live bait is to use a bobber and keep the boat up current of the pothole. You want to let the current bring the bait over the pothole that you think might have a fish in it. This is a stealthy way to get your bait to those spooky snook in the shallow water potholes.

You want to make sure that your bait is just a few inches above the grass as the current takes it to the sandy pothole. You don't want your bait to wrap up in the grass and ruin your presentation.

Most predators will face into the current and snook are no exception to that rules. Nine out of ten times the snook will be facing the current hoping to detect some food coming its way.

How does a snook detect its prey?

They will use their lateral line to feel the low frequency vibrations that their prey makes as they move through the water.
They will use their sense of smell to figure out what direction their prey items are coming from.
AND lastly they will use their sense of sight when the prey item gets close enough for them to see it.

When you are fishing with artificial lures you will have to be down current of the potholes for best results. You will cast past the pothole and bring your lures in with the current through the pothole.

In my opinion, snook are pretty easy to catch. They will hit just about any bait and lure that you toss to them if you work it properly. You can use any swim bait with a paddle tail; you can catch them with gold and silver spoons; you can catch them with top water lures if the water is less than 4 feet deep; you can even catch them with bass lures like spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Snook are not usually very picky eaters.

REDFISH

There are lots of redfish in the grass flats and mangroves in Flamingo. Redfish are a lot like a snook when you are trying to catch them so I won't be too redundant, hopefully.

The main difference between a snook are a redfish is that the redfish relies upon its sense of smell much more than a snook does. In other words, all that you have to do to catch a redfish in Flamingo is get a stinky bait close enough for them to smell it to catch a ton of redfish.

There are large schools of redfish that will cruise Flamingo in search of shrimp, crabs and small fish. If you are lucky enough to spot one of these schools, then you will have to get your stinky bait in front of the school without spooking them. They are real spooky in shallow water.

The best baits are shrimp, crabs and small fish. All that you need to do is keep them pinned to the bottom so the redfish can smell them and eat your hook. A big split shot or a small egg sinker will do the trick.

The best lures for this are a scented soft plastic on a jig head. A 1/8 or 1/4 ounce jig head with a Berkeley GULP shrimp is probably your best bet. Color doesn't matter too much when using this fishing technique. Just get it in front of the school and let it sit on the bottom. You usually don't even have to move it. Just let it sit there and stink.

I created a FREE ONLINE REDFISH COURSE that you can find on this website. You can see the course by clicking on this link right here.

Best Fishing Spots in Everglades National Park

If you have never been to Everglades National Park then you are missing out on one of the most amazing natural places on the planet. There are birds and animals that are found nowhere else and the place is magical during certain times of the year. You should visit whether you fish or not.

HOWEVER, this is the buggiest place in Florida. Be prepared to wear a mosquito net over your head if you are fishing anywhere near the land. The dawn and dusk bugs are unbearable for some people. There are times when you can't take a breath without eating a few mosquitoes and sand gnats.

I personally believe that the bugs are the only reason that the Everglades are not just a bunch of condominiums. The bugs are the last line of defense to keep the few natural places that are left in Florida protected from development. So I am okay with a few bug bites if it keeps beautiful places like the Everglades protected.

OKAY. LET'S GET FISHING!

WHITEWATER BAY

Whitewater Bay is the largest bay in the Everglades National Park and it has some great fishing in and around it during certain times. It is called Whitewater Bay because when the wind is strong enough the bay is all white caps and foam. It can be a very bumpy ride when the wind is strong.

TARPON

Whitewater Bay is known for its tarpon fishing. There are some monster tarpon that frequent the bay all year long. They are there to feast upon the shrimp, crabs and fish that live in the bay or are swept into the bay by the tides.

Tarpon like deep channels that are adjacent to shallows. The shallows might be a mud flat or a grass flat but tarpon like to be able to run up on the flats to eat and then come back to a deeper channel. Tarpon will eat fresh dead baits on the bottom; live baits and lures of all kinds.

I like to anchor over a shallow flat within casting distance to a deeper channel or drop off to catch tarpon. This technique works where ever you are in Florida.

The video below shows the technique using fresh dead mullet to catch tarpon.

The tarpon in Whitewater Bay can get to over 100 pounds. You will need your 5500 or 6500 series reels to catch a tarpon of that size without killing it. A tarpon will literally fight to the death so get them in as quickly as you can and make sure to revive them fully before releasing them.

If you just unhook them once you get them to the boat, then they will most likely just sink to the bottom and die or get eaten by a shark. Please revive your tarpon if you are going to target this species.

It takes them 50 years to get to weigh 100 plus pounds, so let's keep those old ones going as long as possible.

Tarpon love to eat a live pin fish under a bobber. If you can find out what part of the bay that the tarpon are in, then you can catch them all day long with this set up.

You will want to have about 5 or 6 feet of 80 to 100 pound leader for the bigger tarpon. You can use monofilament or fluorocarbon leaders depending upon your personal preference. Fluorocarbon is more abrasion resistent but I usually use monofilament because it is so much cheaper.

You will want to have a stout 6/0 to an 8/0 circle hook and hook it in the back of the pin fish. Cast the bait up current and let the current bring the bait to the tarpon and get ready. If you don't see the tarpon gulping, then you can just drift the deeper drop offs until you find the tarpon.

You can use a mullet or a ladyfish too but those species will tend to stay in the top of the water column. The pin fish will try and swim down the whole time so it is a better presentation for covering the mid water part of the water column.

EAST CAPE TO SHARK RIVER

The river mouths from East Cape to the Shark River are great places to catch grouper, snook, redfish, tarpon and speckled trout. The outer land masses facing into the Gulf often have an underwater topography of hard clay and sand. There are all sorts of crabs, fish and shrimp for predators to eat in these areas.

The tides in the Everglades can be very strong. Those strong tides carve out deep channels and steep banks along the river banks and river mouths. Those steep banks along the rivers are great places to catch inshore grouper like gag grouper and goliathe grouper.

GROUPER

My favorite way to target grouper is to drift with the tide and jig vertically in the water column right next to the steep banks of the river. A grouper will have a hole of some sort that they sit in and wait for prey items to come within striking distance of their hole.

It might be under a fallen tree or some other sort of structure so you will lose a lot of lures bouncing or swimming your lures near the bottom but it is definitely worth it for a big inshore grouper fight.

There are all sorts of lures that will do the job but a simple feather jig is what I like to use. You can use a jig from 1 1/2 ounce to 2 1/2 ounce jigs to get the lure down in the current.

Flair hawk jigs that the snook fishermen use or a grouper and snapper jig that the offshore guys use are all good choices. I like to use chartreuse and pink for dirty water like the Everglades always has but white will work just fine too.

The key to catching big inshore grouper is a tight drag on your reel. The grouper has the uncanny ability to grab your hook and swim back into its hole and wedge itself in. It is incredibly hard to get a grouper out of its hole so you have to be able to stop it from getting back there after it eats your hook.

This type of fishing requires quick action after you feel the hit. The good news is that groupers get tired very quickly so you just have to keep them out of their holes for a couple of minutes then you have won the fight and get to land them.

The goliathe groupers are protected so make sure that you do not land a goliathe grouper. You have to do your best to get them unhooked or cut the hook or line without lifting them out of the water.

Those big groupers will often sustain internal injuries from being exposed to the gravity out of the water and die. The Florida Wildlife Commission officers consider a landed goliathe grouper a poached goliathe grouper even if you let it go. They can give you fines and put you in prison for catching a goliathe grouper.

DON'T MESS WITH THE FWC. They are there to protect our marine environment and keep our fishing resources healthy and abundant.

SNOOK AND REDFISH

The snook and redfish congregate around the mouths of the rivers in the Everglades up to Ten Thousand Islands so smart fishermen congregate there too. Any river mouth or creek mouth with some current is a great place to target snook and redfish.

Live bait under a bobber is your best bet. Any white bait, finger mullet or shrimp are a great choice for snook and redfish. All that you have to do is pitch your bait up current or let the current take your bait to where the fish are.

A jig and swim bait with a paddle tail is my go to search lure combination. You might have to fish a lot of creek mouths and the adjacent shore lines to find the fish but once you do there are probably a lot more fish in the area.

DON'T FISH DEAD ZONES. Many fishermen fall into the trap of fishing a spot just because it looks fishy. You have to figure out where the bait is to find out where the predatory fish are.

Sometimes you can see the bait so that makes it easy but other times you can't. That is when you have to use nature to tell you where the bait is.

You will want to look for birds diving like terns and pelicans. You will also want to look for wading birds like herons and egrets along the shore line. These are nature's tells that there are bait fish in the area.

Always pitch a bait to where the birds are because they are not just sun bathing. It's been my experience that most of the inshore fish are in the same spot so if you catch one predator like a ladyfish or a jack then there are probably snook, redfish, speckled trout, tarpon and other predators there too.

Best Fishing Spots in 10,000 Islands

As you get out of Everglades National Park and into 10,000 Islands you will have to share the water with more fishermen. One of my favorite things about the Everglades is that you can fish all day and only see one or two boats after you launch. That is not the case in the Ten Thousand Islands region of the state.

There are lots of easy access points that are close to developed areas so you will definitely have some company when you are out on the water. There are a lot more police boats and FWC boats that will check your boats for safety equipment, poached fish and drunk boat drivers too. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

NORTH EVERGLADES AND TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS

The northern parts of the Everglades National Park into the Ten Thousand Islands area are different from the southern parts of the park. The main difference is that there are more oyster bars, rock ledges and hard bottoms as you head north from the Shark River.

This video shows a day of snook, flounder and spotted sea trout fishing in 10,000 Islands.

SNOOK

The snook in 10,000 Islands like to hang out on the outer islands that open up to the Gulf of Mexico. At least in all the times that I have fished there, that is where 90 percent of them were.

What you are looking for is a decent currrent, baitfish and a rock ledge or a channel adjacent to mangroves. That is where the snook in this area are mostly found. You can catch them way up in the rivers too but most of them are near the Gulf of Mexico.

So what lures should you bring to 10,000 Islands?

There are 4 day fishing trips to 10,000 Islands where I only toss one lure. Wait for it...... Yes, if you have read this article to this point you know that I like to fish with a DOA CAL 3 inch shad with a paddle tail. This lure catches every fish in the 10,000 Islands area of Florida.

A 3 inch paddle tail shad with a jig head will catch pompano, permit, whiting, sheepshead, mangrove snapper, black drum, snook, redfish, tarpon, speckled trout, flounder, grouper, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jacks, bluefish, barracuda...........

I think that you get the idea. When in doubt bring a big bag of white ones and a big bag of root beer colored ones and see which one works the best on any given day. Some days one will work better than the other so try both.

You really only need two different jig head sizes depending upon the current and depth that you are fishing in. You will want to have a few packs of 1/8 ounce jig heads and a few packs of 1/4 ounce jig heads. I like the red ones but I really don't think the color matters as much as working the jig properly.

The key to catching snook and redfish with the jig and paddle tail combo is bouncing it off of the bottom or keeping it within a foot or so of the bottom if there are lots of snags.

The poof of sand and the sound that the jig makes when it hits a rock or something attracts snook and redfish. It can be tricky to bounce a jig without getting it stuff on the underwater structure but it is worth losing a bunch of lures for a big snook.

SPECKLED TROUT

There are lots of spotted sea trout in Ten Thousand Islands and you can easily find them by drifting the open bays leading into the Gulf of Mexico with a search bait like the 3 inch paddle tails. I like to fan cast around the boat testing different water depths until I figure out where the trout are holding.

Once you figure out where the fish are you can catch a dozen fish real fast until the school moves and you have to find it again or find another one.

There are lots of different lures that will catch a speckled trout. The best way is a popping cork with a jig or live shrimp under it. That technique will work very well when you find a school of trout.

There is really no better bait that a live shrimp under a popping cork for catching speckled trout but you sometimes can't get shrimp or don't want to have to worry about keeping them alive all day.

When the trout bite is hot soft plastics are a very fun way to catch them. There are many different sizes, colors and shapes of soft plastic lures that speckled trout will eat.

Watch the video below to learn more about catching spotted sea trout with soft plastic baits.

Conclusion:

The Everglades National Park up to Ten Thousand Islands is one of the fishiest parts of Florida for inshore fishermen. The surroundings are beautiful so even if you don't catch as many fish as you wanted to you will still have a great day in nature.

In the winter months, this is about the best place to catch species that are not cold water tolerant like tarpon. The big tarpon can be caught in this area all year long. The permit can be caught in this area all year long too so don't quit fishing just because where you live in Florida is too cold for tropical fish species. Head south if you want to catch these two species any time of the year.

Just about every species of inshore fish that you would want to catch can be found in this southwest fishing jewel in Florida's fishing crown. I hope that you enjoyed this article and it helps you catch a ton more fish.

Do you want more helpful articles like this to be emailed to you every week? If so, sign up for our email list below to get more fishing related articles sent to you once a week.

Catch Fish Like the Pros!