richg99 said:
I've pretty much completed my bucket list of fish needed to be caught before I die.
However, lately, I have considered adding a Peacock bass to my "Got to catch" list.
Peacock Bass. Never caught one.
Too old and cheap to fly to South American to do it right. Understand that they also live in the Miami canals. I saw this adv. on Facebook. https://flpeacockbass.com/
What do you say? Should I fly down and do it? What are the best months to catch one? Is it worth it?
Richg99
Rich, the three counties, Dade, Broward, and southern Palm beach are all gifted with Peacocks.
The best most productive months are the (unfortunately for northeners) the warmest. The fish are biggest and the morning start fishing time is earliest.
Remember Peacocks are tropical fish and inhabit the warmer shallows, so when the water cools overnight, the shallows warm up fastest. Unlike LMB that we can catch at dawn, Peas are not ready yet in my experiences till after 9:00 or even later. Some will take a lure before then but I catch mostly LMB till the peas turn on.
I've never fished Dade but since that county has never (that I know of in recent years anyway) had a fish kill from cold weather water the peas might be larger there. But, they grow fast so Dade may be a moot point, then again fishing pressure is likely highest because of population density and they may be more lure shy than up here in Broward.
If you get up to north Broward gimme a holler. Oh, if you do make up here, before you do PM me with your Email addy and I'll send you a pic of the four lures I use most successfully on peas. I even stopped taking other lures in my vest with me.
PS, there's a guy down in Dade with videos of him catching peas with a chartreuse and white surge eel lure, it's not gonna happen, but it DOES happen that he sells those lures and he's lucky to catch the SAME fish over and over all day long. Yeah right.