No screaming monkeys, no shrieking jungle birds, and no, well, almost no pythons slithering fish infested waters while landing my first peacock bass under the shadow of Miami skyscrapers. With jets thundering overhead from Miami International, we fished for, and landed, not only colorful peacock bass, but line stretching snook and tail walking tarpon as well. Far from the steamy Amazon for sure but a highly affordable option today from within an economy that’s bleeding our pockets from seeking our dreams.
After watching videos of anglers catching peacock bass within the tropical waters of the Amazon I harbored strong interests in fishing for those sporty multi-colored denizens. Only thing, I didn’t have the finances to accommodate that dream. But after I reading somewhere that Florida Fish & Wildlife had stocked peacocks in and around Miami’s freshwater canal system, and they were thriving.. My dreams began to rekindle.
A typical peacock fishing trip to South America costs around $5,000, plus passport and shots. My trip to Miami cost me under $480, when using cut rate vacation packages offered, which included round trip air fare and 3 nights lodging. My guide for a day and a half of peacock fishing cost me less than $500. So, for under $1,000 I was able to fulfill my dream of fishing for, and catching peacock bass. No passport, no jungle shots, and no jet lag. If I decided to cut my trip to only one day of fishing, my actual costs for the trip would’ve been markedly less. And decreased even more if I were on a business trip to Miami and opted for only 1/2 day of fishing….. My decision was sealed.
I was fishing today with Florida fishing guide, Captain Mark Hall, a 20 year veteran who fishes mostly for Peacock bass but other exciting sport-fish as well. Our two days of fishing Miami’s canals, and lake systems, awakened me to the tremendous fishery that Miami offers within and around its fresh and salt waterways. Most anglers are already aware of Miami’s saltwater fishery, but very few know of the sporty, unique and exotic fishery that lies within its countless freshwater canal systems.
Our tack for today involved light action Shimano spinning rigs spooled with 10 lb test Suffix braid and 2 ft flouro/leaders, the 10 lb braid had a 2 lb diameter for maximum casting distance. We threw tiny Torpedo’s for top water bites and Rappala’s for our reaction bites in clear, froggy, and shad colors. Also, Temple Fork Outfitter Fly-rods tipped with feathered streamers were used for the extreme action of fly fishing.
After loading gear, we launched into pre-dawn waters in Mark’s 17 ft Dolphin Super Skiff. It took only 5 minutes for my “very first” Florida peacock to hit a top-water. In fact, the first 3 peacocks that hit my torpedo managed to jump the hooks without me even landing one. Chuckles from Mark preceded his teaching the techniques of catching and landing these multi-colored critters, and after calming down and slowing down, my next cast produced my first “boated” peacock. Holding it up to admire in the rising light, it was everything that I had heard or read about the fish…. AWESOME!
The common name of peacock bass actually umbrellas several species of this tropical freshwater genus called Cichlids. Indigenous to the Amazon River area of South America, these tropical fish are not true basses, but members of the cichlid family. They are also found in the tropical waters of Colombia, Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Panama, Singapore, Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Although there are 6 species, the 3 most popular peacock bass are;
1-Speckled Peacock (largest of the species)
2-Butterfly Peacock (mid-size species)
3-Royal Peacock (smallest of the species)
Speckled peacock grow over 3 feet in length and the royal peacock are the smallest at just over one foot, but all display three wide vertical stripes on their bodies and a spot on their tail that resembles the eye on a peacock’s tail feathers — which resulted in their being called peacock bass. Adult males exhibit a noticeable hump on their foreheads. Other colorful traits vary greatly depending on the species. These include, but not limited to, dark rosettes instead of stripes, light speckles and very colorful shades of bright green, orange, blue and gold.
Sport anglers have established the peacock bass as one of the most sought after trophy game fish for its colorful markings and extreme fighting abilities. Well-known for being “freshwater bullies” due to their fierce temperaments and mean dispositions, the peacock often wrecks or demolishes fishing gear when smashing into anglers lures.
Similar techniques used for catching largemouth black bass, such as top water lures and jerk baits, with the exception of artificial worms, are employed for attracting peacocks. Fly fishing techniques are also a favorite method of catching them when using poppers or streamers. Live minnows, such as shiners, are also productive incentives for the peacock bite. And Light tackle maximizes the action for there unique, and very colorful acrobatics.
Thanks to Florida Wildlife & Game, Peacock bass are longer an “out of reach” fantasy for most anglers who dream of tangling with them. When in 1984, Florida, “by design” introduced butterfly peacock and speckled peacock bass into the waters of south Florida. This was done to “hopefully” offset other non-native and problematic species such as the Oscar, Midas Cichlids, and Spotted Tilapia, which were being illegally dumped into those waters by aquarium buffs. The introduction of peacocks into the canals of south Florida not only brought these invasive species under control, but also provided additional sport fishing adventures for anglers by creating another rather unique and exotic fishery not found anywhere else in U.S. waterways.
Although the butterfly peacock flourished, the speckled peacock did not. Therefore, it is now illegal to kill or possess speckled peacock bass in Florida. Due to their tropical nature, peacock bass do not tolerate water temperatures below 60 degrees, which prevents them from flourishing outside of Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties of Florida?s most southerly climates.
Their eating quality is excellent, white and sweet when cooked and are similar in taste to snapper or grouper. However, most sport-anglers recommend practicing catch & release for these species to protect their numbers in the United States. To help ensure this, Florida’s Wildlife & Game Commission now strictly enforces daily creel limits of one under 17″ and one over. We would release ALL on this trip, opting to treasure the memories rather than the bragging rights on the wall.
“I’ve had the experience of growing up with Peacocks in my back yard, stated fishing guide Mark Hall, as a guide we were already in pretty good shape in the late 80s fishing for largemouth bass. Then there was the hydrilla problem that began to clog our canals and waterways bringing in grass carp to eradicate the choking vegetation. Then heavy fishing pressure on bass, followed by the need to control non native cichlids being dumped into our waterways by aquarium buffs, created quite a problem. So Florida Fish & Game decided to experiment by stocking Peacock bass within our freshwater system and “WALLAH” a new and unique fishing industry was born.
“Peacocks feed almost exclusively on non native species, Mark educated, and the canals became their playground. I started the “flyfishpeacocks” guide service in Miami about 5 years ago to enable people to catch a variety of sport-fish that they normally wouldn’t have a chance to see if they did not travel from the United States, and my guide business grew primarily because no one else was really looking at it from the guide’s angle.
“One of the things that drove me was my growing up on the streams of Pennsylvania, catching small mouth bass and trout and I think this is a little off shoot of that. My customers and I have been able to catch peacocks up to about 8lbs fishing amongst a big population within a huge metropolitan area. My young angler clients do pretty good too with a 4 year old customer catching a 4 1/2 lb peacock last year. In any case, stated Mark, this is becoming a pretty active fishery so far and I think it’s only becoming better each and every day. I plan to stay involved with this important program and help my fishing areas that are progressing NOT to digress, keeping a tight line on the issues. That’s a big job for a guide, but the guides feel the pulse of this fishery along with the reflections of the tourists who come here to enjoy this most unusual sport.
One of the tools that Mark employs on his guide boat is a saltwater series (remote control) MotorGuide troll-motor. This unique tool enables Mark to control the movement of his craft from anywhere on the boat. This important feature proved its worth many times over when hooking up to the fish by maneuvering the boat out of the way to avoid lines tangling with the props or other structure.
“The peacocks are very active feeders all year long, advised Mark, and will spawn multiple times a year. The male is the largest with the female being the smaller and both will guard their nests from predators. We witnessed that while fishing along the banks spotting several peacocks on their nests, which made for some excellent sight fishing.
Our two days of fishing up and down Miami’s winding waterways, passing the colorful Casa’s of its inhabitants and fishing under its towering sky scrapers and business dwellings, we managed to catch 25 to 30 peacock bass that I found to be the hardest biters and tuffest fighters of any sport-fish of its type I’ve ever encountered. And along the way we had several scrapes with “the other” species that roam these same waters.
What the “BLEEP” was that!! I expleted, when something slammed my lure before heading under our boat, breaking the line. My answer was immediately forthcoming after Mark’s rod arched to another hit and a Silver King exploded out of the water, flashing its majestic ego before torpedoing back with a splash. TARPON!! We both chortled at the same time and the fight was on. It took us 45 minutes to wrestle that fish to the boat, which turned out to be a “baby tarpon” of about 20 lbs. We also experienced the silver streaks of snook and lady fish (skip-jack) while meandering thru Miami’s maze of canals, spotting a submerged alligator here, seeing hordes of feathered wildlife there, and watching “muy” Iguanas eyeballing us as they sunned themselves along the bank.
I was in absolute awe with the bright colorations of these Florida peacock bass and found the action superb and memorable. I also found the guide to be very knowledgeable and skilled about “his” peacock, which made for an exceptional and very enjoyable fishing trip. Several times during our fishing we were bombarded with some of south Florida’s tropical squalls, but I never felt the sting of rain or gust of wind, looking only for the next bite of the peacock…….Incredible!!
“There’s Gold in them canals around Miami and the prospecting is mighty good.” For more information on Peacock fishing in south Florida contact Capt. M Hall at-786-317-4777 -or- < the flyfishpeacocks website> I highly recommend his services.
This article dedicated to the memory of my amigo, fellow veteran, family man, and outstanding outdoorsman, George Cook -1937 – 2009-By: Ed Snyder / Ed Snyder Outdoors
