Find Fast Fishing Action in Coastal Canals

They’re created for waterfront living and the peripheral benefit amplifies that objective for property owners, as well as intrepid anglers. We’re talking about waterfront canals, those deep-water fingers often lined with seawalls and studded with docks, where fish find particularly attractive scenarios during the last part of the year.

Canals certainly hold fish year-round, but fall’s cooling packs a mix of freshwater and saltwater fish into these coastal waterways, where lower salinity and warmer waters create a multi-species buffet of opportunity.

With snook, redfish, jack crevalle, mangrove snapper, tarpon and ladyfish often rubbing fins with largemouth bass, the canals hold a diversity of species. Consistent conditions are a major appeal. 

“One thing I like about them is the shelter,” said Capt. Chris Holleman of Jacksonville, Florida. “That time of year, the wind blows a lot, and those canals give you a place to tuck into, so you’ll be able to fish when the wind is blowing."

The species selection varies by canal, but you can typically expect a multi-species day. As Holleman points out, the Jacksonville snook population may be pushing the upper limits of their geographic boundary, but recent years have seen impressive growth in quality and quantity.

“When I first started fishing for snook several years ago, the average size was (relatively small), but recently, I’ve caught them up to nearly 15 pounds,” Holleman said. “Once you find them, they’re always stacked up.”

And don’t get too locked into the usual species rules. Speckled trout, for example, traditionally favor higher salinities, but Holleman has caught several legit “gator” trout well within the Jacksonville canal systems.

Distances and precise locations, of course, vary by geographic area, but Holleman’s preferences provide a dependable template. For species diversity, he likes the brackish water canals on the outskirts of the Jacksonville downtown area, but he also points to the backs of rivers and major creeks as productive areas.

"Sometimes you’ll find a canal off of a canal,” Holleman said. “Anytime you have something like that, the mouth of that smaller canal is usually a good spot. You’ll want to work those corners and the docks that are at the mouth.

“A lot of times, the dead ends can be very good. I think it’s warmer back there, so baitfish like menhaden and mullet often stack up there.”

As far as fish-friendly features, Holleman said: “I like to see a lot of docks, because the fish are under the docks, on the edges of them. Sometimes they’re on the ends. Sometimes they’re where the dock comes up against the bulkhead.

“I love fishing the bulkheads, especially if there’s a small amount of brush.”

Holleman is particularly fond of bulkheads with rocks flanking this retaining wall. When water level allows, walking a topwater right over the hard stuff can bring a variety of predators bursting forth to unload on the surface bait.

Aside from this scenario, Holleman generally prefers lower tide stages, because it concentrates the fish on fairly predictable locations. Refer to your mapping for the channel swing areas where deeper water hangs closer to the shorelines.

Such spots offer the best of both worlds, where fish can quickly access the safety/comfort of greater depths when fishing pressure, or inclement conditions threaten. Also, docks and rocks closer to deeper water are more likely to reload.

“I like lower water because I throw a lot of shallow divers, and the lower the water, the greater the chance of the fish finding your lure,” Holleman said.

Worth a mention: Holleman acknowledges the simplicity of post-frontal day, when high pressure and bright sunlight find fish hugging a dock’s innermost shadows. However, such conditions tend to slow the bite, so he’d rather have cloudy, overcast days where the fish spread out but feed more aggressively.

For covering water and enticing active fish, Holleman does much of his canal work with lipped plugs like the Cotton Cordell Red Fin and the Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue. Braided line helps maximize casting distance, while improving bait response, but Holleman uses a lighter rod to avoid overpowering these baits and pulling hooks.

Holleman said he finds the snook bite typically intensifies when the first wave of cold weather ensues. Snook seem especially vulnerable to the new BOOYAH Flash Point jerkbait fished around docks, bulkheads and other heat-holding areas.

If the fish need some commotion to flip their feeding switch, Holleman sends the sputtering Heddon Spin’n Image into duty. Matching the hatch is always a good rule of thumb, but in stained water, Holleman likes fire tiger.

“For fishing under docks, I’ll use a 3/16- or 1/4-ounce jig with a YUM Pulse swimbait,” Holleman said. “When you flip it under a dock, as soon as it hits the bottom that’s when you get hit. Sometimes, I’ll bounce it a little, but they usually bite it right on the drop.”

The extreme low tides that occur from late fall through winter occasionally offer bed fishing opportunities for Florida bass anglers. With Sunshine State bass spawning as early as the fall months, those interior canals offer prime locations for shallow, protected water.

“During those super low tides, the water can get so low against the bulkheads that there’s only a few inches of water over a bed,” Holleman said. “Once I learn where those beds are, I’ll go in on low incoming and throw prop baits, like the Cotton Cordell Boy Howdy. Then, I’ll move in closer with a Texas-rigged or wacky-rigged YUM Dinger.”

That outside-in strategy also serves Holleman well for his dock fishing.

“Definitely start out with long casts and then work your way in,” he said. “I’ll use my lipped plugs to sneak up real slowly and then go with soft plastics. The thing about being on top of the fish is it’s easier to horse them out.”

Low trolling motor speed, Power Pole and incrementally work inward.