Florida Bass Fishing

M

muskyman01

New Member
I am pondering the idea of taking my boat to Florida for a month and doing some bass fishing.
Looking for information and tips from some one who has done that
Is my boat registration and number valid in the USA ?
The licence plate and ownership for my boat trailer is all I need for the US ?
Are there any special insurance needs or boat gear that I need other than what is needed in Canada.
Any special requirements for crossing the border.
Any information at all could be helpful.
Thank you .
 
muskyman01 said:
I am pondering the idea of taking my boat to Florida for a month and doing some bass fishing.
Looking for information and tips from some one who has done that
Is my boat registration and number valid in the USA ?
The licence plate and ownership for my boat trailer is all I need for the US ?
Are there any special insurance needs or boat gear that I need other than what is needed in Canada.
Any special requirements for crossing the border.
Any information at all could be helpful.
Thank you .
Click to expand...
I don't have much info for you but that's the dream my friend!!! Bass fish year round !!...I hope it works out for you ...very jealous
 
Looking at a place on the St John's River near Lake George. Honestly I think once I am there it will be great, but the licences and insurance part is not something to learn by trial and error. Hoping to find someone who has done it to school me. Thank you for allowing me to post on your site.
 
muskyman01 said:
I am pondering the idea of taking my boat to Florida for a month and doing some bass fishing.
Looking for information and tips from some one who has done that
Is my boat registration and number valid in the USA ?
The licence plate and ownership for my boat trailer is all I need for the US ?
Are there any special insurance needs or boat gear that I need other than what is needed in Canada.
Any special requirements for crossing the border.
Any information at all could be helpful.
Thank you .
Click to expand...
@muskyman01 welcome onboard on @stomp website,👍👍 and my suggestion,( if I was doing this ),would be to talk to Cole Bailey,(owner),at Angling Sports here in London,Ontario,for he has fished bass for pleasure & in bass tournaments in the past in Florida,and perhaps he still does,so at least he would know what is involved on what you are asking for. Good luck & Tight Lines & Bass ON!! 🚤🎣🐟🐟😉👍🙂
 
You will need to talk to your insurance agent. My coverage for example extends a certain distance into USA so I can fish US waters of Lake Erie and Lake O and have coverage. But I do not have coverage to haul down to Florida. I can get it added, but dont currently have it. As far as registration, etc, you wont have issues. Just make sure you have all of your registration and insurance documents with you. Proof of purchase wouldnt hurt either. Its more about getting it back into Canada when you are done vs taking it into USA. They wont ask for anything or at least never bothered me. Coming back the Canucks may ask for proof you didnt buy it in USA and are attempting to haul it across.

Good luck, Ive fished around Kissimmee and Orlando with great success. Its been many years however.
 
You might have to grab yourself a Beer because this is a long one. My wife and I and another couple went down and fished Lake Kissimmee a few years back. My buddy and I hired a guide the first time down there and we caught some bass on live bait ( Shiners ) that the guide supplied along with all the tackle. Then we travelled down to the north side of Lake Okeechobee and hired a guide again and fished a spot they called the Monkey Box but it was the same kind of fishing just throwing out the shiner on a float and waiting for a bite. The next day we went to Rowland Martins Marina and stayed in a mobile home that they rent and again we hired a guide and all we did was go out and fish with shiners and a float and we caught fish and watched the Gators swim around. I said to my buddy the next time we come here I'm towing my bass boat down so the next year we went to Roland Martins Marina in Clewiston again but this time we stayed in one of the condo's they rent. They have docking if you have your own boat and a tackle shop and a Tiki Bar and as for fishing all we did was follow the local's out each morning and we stopped at different fishing spots and we fished just like we fish up here in Long Point. As for taking my boat down there I had no problem at the Border I did take all the paperwork like ownership and insurance and trailer ownership and safety equipment. The safety equipment I took for the boat was the same as we use here. At the border they just said have a good time and waved me through they didn't check for anything. The biggest bass I caught was a 8.20 lb. on an 7 inch purple worm plunking in the open spot of weed beds and another thing when we were at the Tiki Bar at Roland Martins for just 1ish I asked for a Caesar and they didn't know what I was talking about so I told them how to make them and hopefully they are making then now.
 
Thank you all, this is all great stuff and I will try to put it to good use, I will be booking for February and March next year, and I will post pictures for sure (if I can catch em) thx again
 
1676498902898.png
this bumper sticker is probably older than most of you. We rented a fibreglass, but too windy for main lake. Cool free ride in the lock courtesy of oil companies. I didn't take long for Honey to keep her hands off the gunnels, saw more gaters than fish.

And also, you WILL have to have a plan to rinse the saltwater out of your engines and trolling motors.
 
Outdorman said:
View attachment 70328
this bumper sticker is probably older than most of you. We rented a fibreglass, but too windy for main lake. Cool free ride in the lock courtesy of oil companies. I didn't take long for Honey to keep her hands off the gunnels, saw more gaters than fish.

And also, you WILL have to have a plan to rinse the saltwater out of your engines and trolling motors.
Click to expand...
Can someone else comment on this please, I think that the inland rivers and lakes down there are fresh water not salt water. This is the first mention I have seen stating the St John's River is salt water ?
 
sorry my bad, yes it is fresh water, don't know what I was thinking , sorry. We did have ours in the intercoastal waterways years back and that is what I was thinking about.:whistle:
 
The st.johns is huge. Down here now, in Jax it's over it's over a mile wide. Will be fishing the Altamaha in Georgia on the way back up home. The place were at is 30 miles up river and is affected by tide. I am guessing it would be brackish about 15 miles up river finding fresh and salt water fish . St John's could be farther.
 
We went with a friends boat for 3 weeks in and around Okeechobee. Awesome bass fishing. Not even a question at the border regarding the boat in tow.

The ONLY issue that you want to be aware of is you need to yank the boats drain plug. And some lakes, clean all of the weeds off of the trailer and boat. One “pay to play” lake had a power wash station to help in that.

We did see one guy stopped by the feds and issued a warning for not cleaning the weeds off his trailer. It could have been a fine for “transporting invasive species” type thing.

They are pretty serious about that in USA
 
shasang said:
You might have to grab yourself a Beer because this is a long one. My wife and I and another couple went down and fished Lake Kissimmee a few years back. My buddy and I hired a guide the first time down there and we caught some bass on live bait ( Shiners ) that the guide supplied along with all the tackle. Then we travelled down to the north side of Lake Okeechobee and hired a guide again and fished a spot they called the Monkey Box but it was the same kind of fishing just throwing out the shiner on a float and waiting for a bite. The next day we went to Rowland Martins Marina and stayed in a mobile home that they rent and again we hired a guide and all we did was go out and fish with shiners and a float and we caught fish and watched the Gators swim around. I said to my buddy the next time we come here I'm towing my bass boat down so the next year we went to Roland Martins Marina in Clewiston again but this time we stayed in one of the condo's they rent. They have docking if you have your own boat and a tackle shop and a Tiki Bar and as for fishing all we did was follow the local's out each morning and we stopped at different fishing spots and we fished just like we fish up here in Long Point. As for taking my boat down there I had no problem at the Border I did take all the paperwork like ownership and insurance and trailer ownership and safety equipment. The safety equipment I took for the boat was the same as we use here. At the border they just said have a good time and waved me through they didn't check for anything. The biggest bass I caught was a 8.20 lb. on an 7 inch purple worm plunking in the open spot of weed beds and another thing when we were at the Tiki Bar at Roland Martins for just 1ish I asked for a Caesar and they didn't know what I was talking about so I told them how to make them and hopefully they are making then now.
Click to expand...
 
Travel back and forth to fish in New York state carry a copy of my boat registration and insurance the same as you are required to have here.



Hava copy in the glove box of the truck as elle
 
You can text or call me anytime. I pull my Ranger down for the winter, fish around 8-10 weeks. I have done this for about 7 years now.
I fish Kissimmee chain, Okeechobee and Fellsmere. I would avoid the St. Johns as the grass is gone from the hurricane and spraying. five19-860-340zero
 
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