The hidden gem of urban fishing

Sometimes, fishing feels too far away. We would love nothing more than to pack up our favorite tackle box and head for the most secluded part of the lake every day, but life often gets in the way. Sometimes we only have a few hours to get out, if that. We all love the peace that comes with fishing in a pristine location, but let’s explore the thousands of urban fishing opportunities all over the country. Whether they’re in the local park or in the middle of town, fishing is closer than you think.

Start your search - spots and access 

We recently conducted some important fishing research in South Florida, exploring ponds and canals that we accessed via a busy highway. We found this first piece of public water using the Parks and Government Lands map layer, which showed us how to access it right on the side of a busy highway.

From there, we turned on the catch filter and saw people had fished this area and caught snakehead, which was exactly what we were after.

We had water, access, and our target fish, which was everything we needed to head out.

Next steps - What to cast

Satellite imagery showed us the pond we wanted to fish eventually turned into a canal that we could also fish. We figured we could walk to the canal from the pond and try it out if the pond wasn’t fishing particularly well. We also studied some of the previous catches from the pond to see what other anglers were using for lures.

We saw the standard baits, like minnows, and the usual suspects for lures, like soft plastic shad, spinnerbaits, and Senkos. But what really caught our eye was the topwater action. Snakehead on topwater is as fun as it gets in backwaters.

We opened Fishbrain and could see several topwater frogs were used for different species, like largemouth bass, snakehead, and peacock bass. Now we knew the extent of the area we could fish, what to bring, and how we wanted to fish.

Arrival - First cast to final success 

We mapped out an easy route to the new pond. The route took us just on the outskirts of town. It was the perfect destination, as we didn’t have access to a boat that day, nor did we have all day to get to our favorite spot out of town. Depth charts on Fishbrain helped us pinpoint where we should be focusing at midday, along with log structures and reeds.

We started by working the deeper sections as the Florida midday heat beat down on us and the water. We also tried a series of soft plastics and crankbaits, bouncing them off some of the sunken logs. Our fears about the midday lull seemed verified, however, and the otter swimming in and out of the logs probably didn’t help much either.

We decided to go with Plan B and ventured toward the canal. Cypress trees hung over most of the waterway, creating plenty of midday shade we thought fish would take advantage of. The path along the canal was easy walking, and soon we were in prime-looking water with weeds, shade, and lilies.

We decided this was the best-looking spot to try a topwater frog. A perfectly placed cast landed the frog right into some submerged weeds. The frog barely surfaced when the initial splash from the cast was met by another, more savage blowup. A nice snakehead took the frog and immediately thrashed violently on the line. A quick, yet fierce fight, ensued, but soon we had our goal in hand.

A few more casts led to several more blowups and hooksets. We landed three more snakehead, making for a great day with little travel distance, a limited time schedule, and no boat at our disposal.

We immediately started planning a more ambitious all-day fishing trip when we returned home, but we cherished the fact that when all else fails, we could find quality fishing a stone’s throw away.

We still (and always will) dream of fishing exotic, far-off waters, where the only sounds are our reel and the water. For the days we can’t fish like that, however, we’ll always choose fishing the local spot instead of not fishing at all.

Now let's go fishing.

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