Markham Park Canals

Markham Park's canals fish like classic snakehead water: a steady, non-tidal system where fish set up along the grassy margins, pads, laydowns, and any shaded wood they can ambush from. Because there's no tide to plan around, focus on light and wind instead. Early and late in the day, when the light is low and the surface is calm, snakehead push shallow and get aggressive near cover. Through the heat of midday, look for shade lines under overhanging brush or wherever wind has pushed grass and debris into a seam — that wind-blown edge concentrates baitfish and gives snakehead a reason to hold tight.

Shore access is solid here, with mapped parking as close as about 0.18 mi from the water, so you can walk the bank and work multiple stretches of grass and pads without much hassle. If you'd rather cover more canal, a boat ramp about 0.35 mi away makes launching a kayak or small boat easy, letting you slide quietly along the edges and hit cover shorebound anglers can't reach.

Gear up heavy for this — 40-65 lb braid is non-negotiable around the grass and wood. Walk a weedless topwater frog or buzzbait over matted vegetation early and late, switch to a chatterbait or weedless soft plastic worked along shaded edges when the sun gets high, and be ready for a violent strike right at the boat or bank.