Anyone here ever fish Florida specifically to catch invasive freshwater stuff?
If all goes well, I’ll have the perfect canal boat by the time Spring hits (a 16’ Gheenoe type boat w/4hp outboard), and I’m thinking of taking my son down to catch some “weird stuff”.
I’m not the least interested in catching bass, perch, or cats. I can catch those here.
I’m more interested in things like big oscars, snakeheads, etc. Anything exotic, legal to have in possession (dead/iced), and relatively simple to catch on bass gear or live bait.
You can keep 2 peacocks, only 1 over 17". Outstanding game fish and very abundant in most of the canals in south Fl. Two things about peacocks, 1)the hotter the weather, the better they bite, 2)the louder and faster the lure the stronger the strike. Get some worms and you can catch oscars and chiclids all day. I don’t think there is a limit on them. In Palm Beach County there are several lakes that have knife fish that grow to decent size and can be fun to catch.
In south FL ride along any canal and there will be lots of spots to pull over and fish. A boat is handy but not necessary. I fished both Miami-Dade and Broward counties without a boat and had great success. Any road map will get you started.
Don’t know it for true but had friends that used to go down there and fish for brim to eat and oscars for fun, they said oscars were loaded with mercury, might not hurt to check before fish fry.
I live in Miami, but just fish in the lake behind my apartment. The peacocks start to get active in the spring and as said before, they like it when it’s blistering hot. I seem to catch most of mine between 11am - 3pm or so (If you are outside and sun is shining and you are sweatting your ass off, it’s a good time for peacocks). Also, I use mostly just the fly rod which makes it more of a challenge, but if you want to just go “meat fishing”, then they can’t resist live bait. When I fish with my fly rod (all sight fishing), I usually catch 3-5 peacocks a day and maybe throw in a mayan ciclid or jaguar guapote, but when I have my neice and nephew over, I let them use live bait and they catch 15+ fish a day.
Anyway, make sure you check the regulations. There are a few funny ones that will get you. For instance, if you catch certain invasive species and release them, that is a serious violation. They might put you under the jailhouse for throwing back an oscar or snakehead you just caught as it’s considered releasing an invasive species into the wild. This is not the same for peacocks since florida FWC stocked them here on purpose.
Also, not sure when you are planning on coming, but I haven’t seen any peacocks in several weeks and they even before that there have been slim sightings…
Yeah, I would never release an invasive. At the least I’d hack him up for turtle food if he wasn’t something I’d want to keep.
Yep. But I am not sure that most people know this, so I was pointing it out... For instance, if you decide to go Oscar fishing "for fun" instead of food, I don't think that most people know that you have to kill them and not return them to the water.
April 26 or May 25 full moon. Any waterway below Lake Okeechobee. Bring your own crickets and for added fun use an ultra-light rig, the Oscars will wear you out.
I didn’t make it last year, but my brother and friends brought back 400 bream and oscars. We’ve got a local that fillets them for halves for us. The Oscars are slimy as heck but eat good. Biggest aggravation are the glitter boats running the canals, stay out of their way.
Ask around there are many groups from the lowcountry that get together and make an annual trips specifically for Bream and Oscars.