MIAMI PEACOCK BASS REPORT
Capt. Tony Fowler
May 20, 2014
Miami - Freshwater Fishing Report
Sorry folks it's been a while since my last report. Ya, know things get crazy sometimes. Ok, back to fish'n. After all the wind,and rain we've been having down here the canal systems remind me more of raging rivers. Making the fishing very challenging, even for the most seasoned anglers. You have to find areas that have current, but not too much. Look for clear, and slower moving waters if you want to hook up with Miami Peacock bass.
The bait of choice right now are minnow, look for schools of them and fish that area with your bottom finder. We're also getting them on DOA jerk baits, and plugs that match the hatch. The predators will show up below the schools. There's also Snook and Tarpon in the area so make sure you use at least 30lb test flour leader..just in case. We've had multiple Tarpon hook up's on some of our recent trips. It's always cool to get hit by one of these Tarpon while casting a shoreline while fishing for Peacocks.
I was fortunate enough to take a couple of charters out recently for some Miami Peacock bass action. The first trip was with a father and son duo from Italy, visiting Miami for vacation. Massimo and his 8yr old son Andrea wanted to do a half day trip for Peacock bass, and were very motivated for the experience of fighting these freshwater bruisers. With all this wind we've been plagued with recently I made the executive decision to head straight into the canal systems to avoid the wind. Good decision!
Both anglers were rewarded with multiple fish and caught many different species as well. Eight year old Andrea, a very good angler in his own rite even earned a new nick name....Senorito Boom. For the way he kept saying the way the Peacock Bass hit...BOOM! His dad Massimo and I were amazed at the numbers of fish the little guy was catching. Funny, how it always works out like that. Either the little kid, or the wife/girl friend out fishes the guy in the front of the boat. Anyways I was lucky enough to witness so many memories made that day. Ya gotta love days like these. Here's some pics of that trip.
Ok, onto the next trip that's worth note. A couple of buddies from California reserved a day of Miami Peacock bass with me recently. Oscar, and Brandon couldn't have picked a worse weather day to fish for Peacock bass. But with only a couple of days in town, It was now or never, so we headed out determined to scratch Peacock bass off their Bucket list. With overcast skies, and heavy rain predicted for the afternoon. I knew it was gonna be a challenging day to say the least.
These two anglers were hardcore! We fished and fished even while the rain was falling. The bite was slow but we had action in the deeper waters while fishing live baits. Brandon also got to fight a freshie Tarpon in the 30lb class for a few jumps before it wore through the leader and swam away. They managed to land a couple of Lg. mouth bass, and a couple of different chiclid species as well. The best action was towards the end of the day once the skies cleared up a bit. We were rewarded with non stop action and double Peacock bass catches too. Here's a shot of that trip.
Target Species:
Peacock Bass Tarpon Bass Snook
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