Last week I had an opportunity to fish for peacock bass in Miami, Florida. Unfortunately, my opportunity coincided with a cold front that seemed to envelope the entire state. The fishing might be tough, my guide told me, not wanting to get my hopes up. But I remembered a saying I’d heard, “The best time to go fishing is whenever you can.” So I hit the water. Well, fishing was tough. In a johnboat we motored around a narrow canal system that wound its way through a few residential communities. We used both a 5w rigged with floating line and a clouser to cast around bridge pilings, and a 6w rigged with 150-grain sink line and an an eat-me to cast in deeper pools and culverts. We landed a few little guys and had a few sluggish follows from bigger fish. In the afternoon, the air began to heat up, and so did the peacocks. We changed tactics and used the sinking rig exclusively, and after a few good hookups, I finally got the fish I’d been hoping for–a sturdy male peacock complete with the requisite forehead ridge. The take felt different, a solid whump. He quickly took me to the reel and made a beeline for some bridge pilings, like a snook. We played that game for a few runs before I finally subdued him. I have to tell you, I absolutely love these fish. They are specifically butterfly peacocks, imported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife in the 80s to take care of all the exotic tank fish people dumped that were overtaking the system. They have thrived to provide a very exciting and accessible freshwater gamefish. (They’re actually chiclids, and not in the bass family.) Now my goal is to achieve the all-exotic “canal slam”, a peacock bass, a jaguar guapote, an oscar, and a spotted tilapia all in the same outing.
pete…
Sweeet… you got your fish. I know you love these fish – especially on the fly – and i hope to someday fly fish with you for them..one of these times our paths will cross – nice looking fish. very colorful — i was surprised to read in your article that they are actully not bass…good luck with your “canal grand slam” — i have a hard enough time pronouncing those fish..hopefully they are a little easier to trick.
PS – pete is a hard core fly fisherman and has been a member of fliesandfins.com for a long time. he also runs a very popular blog called “Fishing Jones” — check out Pete’s Blog if you get a chance – His passion for all things fishing is obvious.
http://fishingjones.blogspot.com/
Wow, Pete, great report!
I caught a small spotted tilapia today…well, I think it was, maybe it was a chiclid …any way, thanks for the pics and report. Tarpon and Sook are taking on the canals in the glades now. ps. I like to read your site.
marshalld
Thanks for the kind words and plug, Jeremy, but I think all you steelhead guys who drive for 10 hours and fish with your fingers frozen to the line are “hardcore.” I’m just a hack who loves to fish.
Thanks Marshall, Isn’t amazing how many different types of fish there are now in Florida? It’s crazy.
yah..i hear yah…but but just think how good it feels to us when we get down to florida and the only thing freezing is our drinks…..man, its kinda funny – 65 degrees down there and all the locals are crying about a “cold front” — while i am thinking to myself “man, it feels good to be in this heat” – 65 degrees, shorts, a t-shirt and a fly-rod.
common – aren’t we all hacks?? after all – it’s only fishin….
You can use that picture several times and write an article on the Amazon, Mexico or other South America destinations and only be an hour or so from home. There a species I would certainly like to try fishing for. Great pic, thanks.
I’m going to go and knock some ice off my guies!
Nice fish, the peacocks are still on my wish list as are some of the other exotics in Florida.
In Naples the Mayan Cichlids seem to be everywhere, those are nice fish also.
Any chance of getting into Snakeheads in Miami ?
I saw on the website of the south florida flyfishing club (Miami/Fort Lauderdale)
some references to a place they called the Snakepit, I hope they mean the fish with that name…
What a great fish. I heard the strike is un-believable. Would love to tangle with one some day.
me too – i was watching a show on tv once and i could not believe how agressive those fish were — looks can be deceiving — the guys on tv were fishing for them with light tackle gear and a floating lure of some sort — man those fish tracked that lure like a lasar guided missle and when the hit it was explosive and they RIPPED!.
i think those guys were in the amazon or something —- pete, did these peacocks in florida react in a similar way to the fly ??
Oh yeah. The first one I ever caught a few years ago, I was amazed at how this little fish just blasted out of nowhere like a missile. That’s what hooked me. They typically like a fast retrieve and they’ll hit the fly like they’re turbocharged. It was a little different this time because of the cooler water temp, but still, when one hits and you don’t see the take, it’s easy to overestimate how big the fish is by the feel of it.
Nice catch on a less than perfect day. I lived on one of the canals used by FFW for their peacock bass pilot study and I always had far better luck with a sinking line for bigger fish.Regards, John
I’ve always wanted to fish for peacocks and didn’t even know the had them in florida. Glad you could share the story because january and febuaries always test my will up here, not much fly fishin goin on up here so it’s nice to read about some good action.
Pete, do those florida peacocks get as large as the south amereican ones?
Hey Kodiak, no they don’t get as big as the giants you see on fishing shows. The Florida peacocks are butterfly peacocks, which typically grow between 4-6 pounds but get up to 9-10 pounds. The giant 20 pounders and such you see on TV are black barred (grande) peacocks or speckled peacocks. All in the same family, just the Florida ones are in the smaller class. I think the Florida FWS did it so the giant ones didn’t completely overtake the canal systems and eat the native largemouth bass, and juvenile snook, etc. I was told that, too, that because the grande ones are so territorial it would become like a muskie fishery.