It’s no doubt that Capt. Mark Hall is the man when we’re wanting some light fly rod Peacock Bass action. For my friend Dave Teper and me it’s a 2-hour ride from Naples, Florida to Miami Florida’s Coconut Grove area and just after the full moon, the Peaccoks are bedding and aggressive, perfect!We met Mark at a public park landing at 12 noon with mostly sunny skies and little wind. Mark’s boat is a flats skiff with a remote-controlled trolling motor, excellent for this unique type of fly fishing. The game is simple, and terrific fun. Six-weight fly rod, floating line, 7-foot leader and 12-lb. tippet. The fly of choice is a Clouser fly (Mark learned to tie Clousers from Bob Clouser himself) lwith lead eyes, orange and olive bucktail with 2 strands of K-Flash along the sides. The technique is the same as for all Florida gamefish flats boat fishing, but miniturized. That is, the angler stands in the bow with Mark directly behind him. Mark spots fish along the bank of the narrow canals, positions the boat with the trolling motor so the angler can cast, and the angler often roll casts the Clouser directly on the head of a Peacock Bass. The fish are so aggressive, they will often charge the fly immediately. Other fish might have to be tempted several times, but they won’t spook or give up chasing. Once hooked, the Peacock Bass are very strong for a fish their size. And, they are gorgeously colored, each with it’s own unique markings in orange and yellow.Dave and I traded positions all afternoon and couldn’t have been happier to have had such great fly fishing and then Mark jumped everything up a notch. He asked me if I’d ever caught a Grass Carp on a fly. Of course, I said “No, but I’d like to try”. Grass Carp are periodically introduced into Florida waters by the fisheries service because they eat grass. The Carp are said to be sterile, but often reach weights in the high teens. To think I could catch one on a fly was pumping me up. A dry fly? Yup. Mark positioned the boat near a Ficus Tree overhanging the canal. Every minute or so a berry would fall and plop into the water and sure enough, the Carp would eat the berry just like a Trout taking a dun. Mark picked out a fly from boxfull of red deer hair berry flies, tied it on my leader and said, “Go ahead, plop the fly on the head of that Grass Carp in the shade.”The take was just what you think it would be. It’s a berry, so the fish rises, opens his mouth takes it in, and turns down. The fight is what you’d expect from a Carp, it’s a hard-headed battle of downward surges until the fish tires, but they are very strong fish.Consider adding Capt. Mark Hall to your to-do list if you’re planning on being in the Miami area. I guarentee you’ll have a ball and a berry, berry good time!
Marsh – You and dave are always up to something cool down there … Tarpon, bonefish, permit, snook, peacocks and now carp on berry flies .. Lot’s of great fly fishing opportunities down there in southern Florida for sure! An amazing fishery. Those peacocks have such killer colors. Those “Grass Carp” as you call them look a bit different from the carp I see in trout waters. The mouth looks different and the coloring and profile looks a bit different too? Is it just me or is there a difference between a “Grass Carp” in Florida and the Carp that dwell in many of the east and west coast river systems. Great read and yet another new species and new adventure from Florida .. I am sure it won’t be the last.
Crass carp are a different species than those common carp Jeremy.
There is also another species, the silver carp which is also present in the USA.
It seems like Dave and Marsh have a blast every time they meet up with Mark Hall.
It is obvious why…
Cool story Marsh. I love the colors on those peacocks.
Great photos, Peacock bass are the most colorful fish I’ve ever seen and I understand why people fish for them. The carp look huge! never fished for those either. The Miami area seems to be a really diverse fishery, that I have always driven by. I am going to try it out next time I come down. Jeremy said it was a great fishery that most of us just drive by to the more heavily marketed areas.
Great story Marshall. Mark Hall is definitely worth hiring for Florida canal fishing. Peacock bass are one of my favorite freshwater species to go after with fly. I’ve always wanted to hit those grass carp but they’re vegetarians so nothing in my fly box ever matched. Time to find some berry flies. The take sounds worth it.
I can second the recommendation for Mark Hall. We were in from Texas and fished out of Jupiter and Everglades City. I had always wanted to try peacock bass so we booked a half day with Mark and it was as fun a trip as anything we did that week. Peacocks are very plentiful as well as some largemouth, carp and other types of exotics.
hi greg,
thanks for the compliments. dave t knows another guide that fishes Flamingo-Biscayne Bay and also Islamorada….all withing a short radius of the South Miami area. Ask dave about Raoul. I’m back in Clinton and ready to do battle with Trout and Salmon again.
definately! Seeing a 15 lb. Grass Crp rise and sip in a dry berry fly, then dog it deep…
It was a fun light tackle big pull.
I hope your season is great!!
thanks joey,
I hope we get a shot at some EO Salmon together sometime this season.
Good times for sure Marsh. I think we used an 8′ 5wt when dave and i did that. did he land the carp on a 5?
Hi Dave,
I think Dave used a 6-weight that dayand I used Mark’s rod, also a six, I think. We both landed a Carp that day. We had a terrific dinner in Coral Gables at a sports bar with yet another guide friend of dave’s…Raoul.
Teppah’s da man alright.
I hope your season goes real good for you.
Great story Marshall.
One more thing I have to do and one more place to visit, when visiting USA next time.
As I arrived in Florida the other day, I had hopes of fly fishing for bones and permit with perfect sunny skies…but somehow I brought a cold front out here with me from the West Coast. So instead, today I was out messing around in the Ft Lauderdale area in hopes to find a stray tarpon and ended up running into giant grass carp. After being basically laughed at for a couple of hours long with refusals, I obviously liked the abuse and am heading back tomorrow for some more punishment. I was looking for some Carp information online and got linked to your site almost immediately. I should have known! Great read!
We’re from Texas also and looking at a Miami trip. I’d love feedback on Mark Hall or another guide you would recommend for a Peacock bass trip.