Florida Peacock Bass

[jocko755]

Took a mini vacation to Miami so my son and friends could go to the rolling loud music festival. I saw it as an opportunity to do some fishing. Our rental house had a great canal right out back. I caught peacocks, Oscar’s, snakeheads, and snook. Saw many other species - such a diverse ecosystem- much like fishing in an aquarium.

Got to go back again. It was so much fun.

 

[oldfella1962]

Took a mini vacation to Miami so my son and friends could go to the rolling loud music festival. I saw it as an opportunity to do some fishing. Our rental house had a great canal right out back. I caught peacocks, Oscar’s, snakeheads, and snook. Saw many other species - such a diverse ecosystem- much like fishing in an aquarium.

Got to go back again. It was so much fun.

Nice pics! They are very unique fish no doubt.

 

[antharper]

Cool looking fish ! Congrats

 

[Big7]

Took a mini vacation to Miami so my son and friends could go to the rolling loud music festival. I saw it as an opportunity to do some fishing. Our rental house had a great canal right out back. I caught peacocks, Oscar’s, snakeheads, and snook. Saw many other species - such a diverse ecosystem- much like fishing in an aquarium.

Got to go back again. It was so much fun.

Looks like you tore them up.

Them Peacocks sure pretty and fun to catch on a top water bait.

Hope you killed all those invasive species.

 

[Ruger#3]

Gosh, I’d love a crack at that type of fishing. Congrats on your catch.

 

[Geffellz18]

Good deal there-Love hooking into those peacocks!
My brother was stationed down there for a few years, but literally flew out this afternoon to report overseas to finish his time out in the service.
Gonna have ti find other reasons to head down there I suppose!
Looks like you got a Mayan cichlid too in that bottom pic!

 

[cowhornedspike]

And now they got Pythons in the Glades big enough to eat Alligators, fawns and all the other mammals because some idiots got tired of playing with pet snakes and turned them loose.

Same thing with Peacocks and many other non native fish. That stuff has completely changed/ruined the ecosystem.

Won't be long before they make it to the Okefenokee Swamp. Covering 440,000 acres or 630 square miles, the Okefenokee is the largest blackwater swamp in North America and one of the world's largest intact freshwater ecosystems.

The state of FL stocked the peacocks FYI.

 

[jocko755]

Yeah - I didn’t kill any of my catch. There’s no pictures for the snakehead because he was hard to handle and it was dusk - bad lighting.

The snook would cruise the canal busting on baitfish / fry. I sight fished them. But also no pictures. I was greatly out gunned for the snook. 2 were as big as my arm. I fought them all the way to the sea wall but didn’t have a landing net. And 8lb mono was no match for their abrasive mouth and last surge when I attempted to grab them. Heart breakers. I want another crack at them with beefier gear. Beautiful fish. All very aggressive attacking baits and strong fights.

It’s 9.5 hours drive - but for a 4 day trip - we’ll worth it for the fishing.

 

[Big7]

The state of FL stocked the peacocks FYI.

They will learn one day. I hope.
Peacock Bass are Amazon River fish and don't belong here.

Just because Florida did it, don't make it right.

They are beautiful fish, a top predator and probably would be good to eat if the didn't come from anywhere near the Glades. They are thick with a lot of meat.

 

[cowhornedspike]

They will learn one day. I hope.
Peacock Bass are Amazon River fish and don't belong here.

Just because Florida did it, don't make it right.

They are beautiful fish, a top predator and probably would be good to eat if the didn't come from anywhere near the Glades. They are thick with a lot of meat.

We have kept a few and ate them. They are good but I'll probably release them all in the future.

 

[Nicodemus]

They will learn one day. I hope.
Peacock Bass are Amazon River fish and don't belong here.

Just because Florida did it, don't make it right.

They are beautiful fish, a top predator and probably would be good to eat if the didn't come from anywhere near the Glades. They are thick with a lot of meat.

Earlier you mentioned pythons and the Okefenokee. Even though our winters would be considered mild it is still to cold for pythons. They can`t tolerate our winters here in Georgia or north Floorida.

 

[jNick]

Earlier you mentioned pythons and the Okefenokee. Even though our winters would be considered mild it is still to cold for pythons. They can`t tolerate our winters here in Georgia or north Floorida.

Yet. They say with each winter that they survive it makes the newborns more cold tolerant. Much like the booming snook population we have here in cedar key/Chrystal river. University of Florida has started classifying them as a different species of snook because they’re more cold tolerant.