Miami Slamming..Peacock Bass and more!!
Capt. Tony Fowler
September 26, 2013
Miami - Freshwater Fishing Report
Wow...What a day! I had the honor and pleasure to take a young couple out for a awesome day in the Miami canal systems. I met Tim and his wife Jess at the ramp around 7 a.m for a day of Peacock Bass fishing. Neither had ever fished for them before and wanted to scratch them off their Bucket List....I was happy to oblige. Both are U.S Marine pilots who are transitioning back to the states after serving our country with honor.
So, after a quick rundown on where the safety equipment was kept, and a short chat about the plan for the day. We were off with high hopes of a good day of Peacock Bass fishing. My only concern was the weather. Predictions of rain were high, with a stalled front in the middle of the state wreaking havoc on the weather. But the fishing gods were smiling on us. We only had a light drizzle for about 15 minutes at the end of the day...AHH...it was pretty refreshing after a long day in the hot S. Florida sun.
OK, back to the fishing. No sooner than we leave the dock, than we run into a huge school of small Jack Crevalle busting minnows at the surface. We quickly set up on them and made a few cast with top waters...They didn't want to play with us . Preferring the 1" minnows the had balled up at the surface. Sometimes it's pretty hard to match the hatch when your dealing with such small forage. So we headed to some shore lines that usually have a decent top water bite early in the day. My two anglers both got their first Peacock Bass in quick succession. Being that it was still early in the morning I decided to go try for some Tarpon...Hmmm..dare I say try for a Slam.
"LET'S GOR FOR IT!!" Is the reply I received when the suggestion was made for the Slam...Music to my ears! Now we're on a mission, and we headed off for the Tarpon bite. After setting up current of the Tarpon and a quick talk about their fighting habits. We start the drift into the hot spot. Within a couple of minutes we get a hit,but it popped loose at the surface. A few minutes later Tim hooks up with a nice Sword Spine Snook!...Species #2 down. Not to be out done Jess" reel starts singing and a typical Miami fresh water Tarpon comes flying out of the water. Seven acrobatic jumps later it comes aboard for a quick pic,and release.... Species #3 Slam achieved, and it's only 8:30 in the morning.
The rest of the day was spent going after the Peacock Bass with a few nice Lg. Mouth Bass thrown in for good measure...Opps..That makes species #4..Making it a Grand Slam for the day. Needless to say my clients seemed very happy achieving this feat. We worked our way back to the ramp and landed a few more Peacock Bass and Largies before the rain started. I thanked them for their service and wished them well. With hope of doing it again in the future. Any ways we took some pics of the day for memories. Thanks for reading our report.
Capt. Tony Fowler
(305) 775-1136
http://www.miamibackcountrycharters.com/
Target Species:
Peacock Bass Snook Tarpon Jacks Redfish
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