mallard83 wrote:cavdad45 wrote:I just discovered a fun fish in South Florida that I really fell in love with. It's a Mayan Cichlid. No joke! They are everywhere in the canals from Miami up to Palm Beach. They are like a big mean bluegill juiced on steroids. They fight like crazy and there is no limit and they taste great! I've been catching bunches of them while fishing for Peacock Bass with medium sized Golden Shiners. They average about a pound and are beautiful. Also am having fun with Spotted Tilapia. Even caught one on a 6" plastic worm.
Too bad they are so far away from home. I will definitely come back for more.
Are those native to Florida, or are they a transplant like the Peacocks? And a little off subject, but how are the Peacocks doing in Florida? I heard about them being there awhile back and haven't really heard much since.
They are not native fish to Florida. They ended up in the waterways because of illegal dumping of aquarium fish. The South Florida canals have over a dozen exotics that have established themselves and effectively displaced the majority of native fish like bluegill, warmouth, redear sunfish, crappie, etc.
Most of these fish I have seen in aquarium stores myself but obviously smaller versions. They include African Jewelfish, Black Acara, Blue Tilapia, Brown Hoplo, Bullseye Snakehead (I caught one of these about 22" long), Clown Knifefish, Jaguar Guapote, Mayan Cichlid, Midas Cichlid, Mozambique Tilapia, Oscar, Pike Killifish, Redstriped Eartheater, Spotted Tilapia, Sailfin Catfish, Swamp Eel, and of course Walking Catfish and Grass Carp.
The only authorized introduction of exotic fish was the Peacock Bass or Butterfly Peacock which was introduced to control the populations of the other exotic fish. The Peacocks are well established in Dade and Broward Counties. North of Pompano Beach they are sporadic because they frequently winterkill. They will die if water temps fall below 60 degrees. The average size is 2- or 3-pounds, with many that exceed 8-pounds. Their maximum size is 12-15 pounds. Fishing for them is fairly consistent, just check with local tackle shops for latest info.
This time of year, they are the best fishery available because the regular black bass is hunkered down most of the time because of the hot water. Peacocks love the heat and feed all day long on topwaters and fast crankbaits. They are extremely vulnerable to medium sized shiners. They don't feed at night, at all.
Sounds good, doesn't it?
