Slagle’s Ditch and House Ditch (some of us know this one as “Third Ditch”) make their way north into the marl prairie of the southern everglades. Both ditches were dug back in the early ‘20s in an effort to “drain the swamp”.
The South Florida land boom was underway and a dentist named Slagle operated with the Model Land Company, selling land – or attempting to – to northern tourists. He even had a clubhouse built on what is now known as Clubhouse Beach. He would bring tourists there and in the dry months, drive them in his vehicle to Cape Sable. Over the years following, the land boom panned out, and now the club house is a distant historical memory. There is no trace of it left.
The ditches themselves were home to a variety of people over the next twenty years, with a boat rental business operating on Slagle's Ditch for a time. It was from here that my father began fishing Florida Bay in the '30s.
The ditches have been plugged to prevent the outflow of fresh water from the everglades, thereby stopping the saltwater intrusion. But, the tidal flow that was present for a number of years carved out a channel of sorts from the mouth of both ditches out to water four or five feet in depth. These channels have become more like long depressions and they aren’t marked, But experienced guides and anglers know exactly where they are and can position their boats to make the best of a travel route for fish.
A number of years ago we fished the mouth of Slagle’s Ditch early one morning. As the sun broke the horizon to the east, we positioned the boat close enough to the mouth of the ditch to make a cast into it.
Three of us fished that morning, and by 9AM we had caught over thirty snook, many of them in the twenty pound range. I had caught snook there before, but usually only one or two that made the mouth of the creek their ambush point for feeding. This morning, there were more snook than we could count!
Triple hook-ups turned the boat into a three ring circus at times as the three fish went three different directions, and ended up tangling and crossing all three lines. More than a few times, we netted three snook at once! As we fished, we began to allow smaller snook to jump and throw the hook – we were after the bigger fish!
We were fishing with a dark red butterbean head bucktail jig. The whole jig was dark red, and the vertical jigging motion we used drew a strike literally on every cast. Three vertical snaps of the rod to one crank of the spinning reel handle provided a slow retrieve with lots of vertical action. We began the morning using a live shrimp on the hook of the jig, but it soon became apparent that we needed only the plain red bucktail.
Other trips to Slagle’s and Third Ditches produced some great fish, but never did we have a day as good as this one. Usually we could count on at least one snook, and if the tide was high and outgoing, there was likely to be several redfish coming out of the ditch.
On out from the shoreline several hundred yards and following the curve of the unmarked tidal channel, we would anchor and work the channel with bucktails and grubs. It seemed to be a favorite route for the bigger bull reds, and we caught our share of them in a place that other anglers never fished.
As I said, today those channels have become more like depressions, and the tidal flow has all but ceased. Storms over the years washed mud and sand into the channels, and the park service has re-plugged the canals. But the mouth of both ditches is still home to feeding fish on a high tide.
And here’s a secret I seldom reveal. The spring equinox flood tide will run over the plugs in both canals, and the outgoing tide brings a tidal current loaded with crabs and food fish for the predators! Amazingly, the fish seem to recognize a flood tide, and they will congregate at the mouth of both canals. But, be aware, you may have to wait in line behind other anglers – particularly the older guides!
