The Thrill of a Peacock

By Ed Snyder/Outdoors

Bolivar Peninsula, TX.

“Bloop, Bloop, KASPLOOSH! The torpedo suddenly vanished in an explosion of water and fins, arching my rod to the run of a strong fish! It was dark/30am when the unseen fish slammed my top-water lure, almost jerking the rod from my hands. I could only sense the violence of the hit and the powerful run of fish as it continued jumping and just plain tearing up the water not 20 feet from the boat. After several crazy moments the subdued critter finally slid into the net, where under the soft glow of the boats light, a bullish, brightly colored fish stared back at me. I had just hooked and landed my very first Peacock Bass.

Like most red blooded indoor anglers, I often watch those morning TV fishing videos especially those that show anglers fishing the tropical waters of the Amazon in search Peacock bass, a hard-hitting battler that smashes tackle and egos alike. My sporting blood always gets worked up seeing anglers fighting “toe-to-toe” battles with those awesome colored jungle denizen’s as I “fight the fight“ right along with them. However, limited finances kept my passions at bay, allowing for only the watching instead of the “doing” of those far off adventures.

But, one day, after reading a fishing article about Florida Fish & Wildlife stocking of peacock bass into Miami’s freshwater canal systems, well, those far off hungers were about to become a reality meal.

Run of the mill peacock fishing trips to South America cost over $5,000, plus the time , expense, and frustrations of passports and medical injections. While a local trip to Miami, Florida cost far less, with less hassle, and no passport or medical injections, but most important of all, a fishing trip to Miami was well within my financial budget.

WELCOME TO MIAMI!!!

Florida fishing guide, Mark Hall, an experienced pro-angler of some 30 years experiences fishing the Miami/Dade area, including Peacock bass, picked me up at Ramada Inn. On our short drive to the fishing area Mark began to inform me of the remarkable fishery that Miami offers within, and around its miles fresh and brackish waterways. Most sport anglers are already aware of Miami’s famous saltwater options such as marlin, sailfish, and Wahoo fishery, but few know of the unique and exotic adventures that lay within Miami’s countless freshwater canal systems snaking throughout its entire Metroplex.

The drive took only 15 minutes before launching Mark’s 17 ft Dolphin Super Skiff into darkened, predawn waters that took only minutes to run to where the peacock were. We immediately began casting tiny-torpedoes across the darkened surface. My "very first" cast resulted in an unseen "explosion" of water, clacking gill plates, and empty hooks as the fish quickly threw the hooks. In fact, my first three casts were all "Torpedoed" by these ghostly fish "blowing up" on the plug and just as quickly “jumping off” my hooks.

Friendly chuckles preceded Marks personal instructions on how to catch and land these incredible acrobats, and after calming my nerves, setting my jaw, and using this new knowledge, my fourth cast resulted in the landing of my very first peacock of about 4lbs. Holding its brilliant colors up against the dawning light, I found the peacock to be just as exciting and colorful a catch as those I watched in those Amazonian fishing videos!

Our tackle involved using light action Shimano spinning rigs spooled with 10 lb test Suffix braid and 2 ft flouro-carbon leaders, with tiny Torpedo’s for top water action and Rapala’s in clear, frog, and shad colors for our sub-surface reaction bites. Temple Fork Outfitter Fly-rods added the other exciting option rigged with streamers for the extreme action of catching Tarpon, Snook, and Skip-Jack that swim these same waters.

The common name of Peacock Bass actually umbrellas several species of this tropical genus called Cichla. Indigenous to the Amazon River area of South America, these tropical fish are not true basses, but members of the cichlid family. They are also found in the tropical waters of Colombia, Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Panama, Singapore, Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and now Miami, Florida.

Although there are 6 species, the 3 most popular peacock bass are;
1-Speckled Peacock (a 20plus lb brute is the largest of the species)
2-Butterfly Peacock (at 14plus lbs is the mid-size of the species)
3-Royal Peacock (at 5plus lbs are smallest of the species)

Speckled peacock, the largest at over 3 feet in length with the royal being the smallest at just over one foot, but all display three wide vertical stripes on their bodies with a spot on their tail that resembles the eye on a peacock’s tail feathers, which is why they refer to them as peacock bass. The Butterfly Peacock, the midsized species of the three, was the FFW pick for stocking due to it having more manageable qualities. Adult males exhibit a noticeable bullish hump on their foreheads. Other colorful traits vary greatly depending on the species. These include dark rosettes instead of stripes, light speckles and very colorful shades of bright green, orange, blue and gold’s.

Sport anglers established the peacock as one of the most sought after trophy game fish for its colorful markings and extreme fighting abilities, which are well-known for being "freshwater bullies" due to their fierce temperaments, and mean dispositions that often demolish fishing gear and fishermen alike when smashing into anglers lures.

Similar techniques used for catching largemouth black bass, such as top water lures and jerk baits, are employed for attracting the bite of peacocks. Fly fishing techniques are also a favorite method for catching them on poppers or streamers. Live shiner minnows, are also very productive incentives for the peacock bite. Light tackle maximizes the action and adrenalin when fishing for these unique, very strong, and colorful fish.

No longer an "out of reach" fishing fantasy for anglers who dream of tangling with these brightly colored brutes, the peacock, thanks to Florida fish & game, who, "by design" introduced the mid-sized butterfly peacock into the waters of south Florida in 1984. This was done to hopefully offset other non-native and problematic species such as the Oscar, Midas Cichlids, and Spotted Tilapia, which were being illegally dumped into those waters by aquarium buffs. The introduction of butterfly peacocks into the canals of south Florida not only brought the invasive species under control, but also provided additional sport fishing adventures for anglers by creating a rather unique and exotic world fishery.

Butterfly peacock, which now flourish in south Florida waters, are one of the most sought after fresh water sport fish in Florida. But due to their tropical genesis, peacock bass don’t tolerate water temps below 60 degrees. This prevents them from flourishing outside of Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties of Florida’s most southerly climates.

Their eating quality is excellent, white and sweet when cooked having a similar taste to snapper or grouper. However, most American sport-anglers recommend practicing catch & release for these trophy fish to protect their numbers in the United States. To help ensure this, Florida’s Wildlife & Game Commission strictly enforces daily creel limits to protect these species. I would do my part by releasing ALL my peacock on this trip, opting to treasure the photo memories rather than the fading bragging rights on the wall.

One of the most exciting times enjoyed were spotting these colorful fish along the banks of the canal then tossing torpedo’s over to them. You could see the peacock slowly rose up to investigate the lure, then, after jiggling the line to make the lure active, the peacock would explode on the torpedo clearing the surface by at least 3feet before landing back with a loud splash. The ensuing battle was just as exciting and aggressive as the hit before losing or landing these stunning and exciting battlers.

"The peacocks are very active feeders all year long, advised Mark, and will spawn multiple times a year. The male is the largest with the female being the smaller and both will guard their nests from predators.We witnessed this while fishing along the banks spotting several peacocks on their nests, which made for some excellent sight fishing.

Our two days of fishing up and down Miami’s winding waterways, passing the colorful Casa’s of its inhabitants and fishing under it’s towering sky scrapers and business dwellings, we managed to catch 35 peacock bass, and losing just as many to thrown hooks. The action slowed only to reenergize our batteries for lunch, but only for quick bites as the excitement of catching peacock far outweighed any hunger.

I found these Butterfly Peacock to be the hardest biters and toughest fighters of any sport-fish of its type I’ve ever tangled with. And, along the way, we enjoyed several scrapes with "the other" species that lurk within these same canal waters.

When entering a small canal lake we began fly-casting several rippling rises when a sudden and violent hit occurred. What the "BLEEP" was that!! I yelled after being slammed, breaking my line with a loud "thawap". My expleted inquiry was quickly solved after Mark’s rod arched to a similar "BLEEP" when the flashing silver of a leaping tarpon broke water in front of us, tail-walking several feet before torpedoing back with a tsunami like splash. It took 45 minutes, and several tail walking jumps, to wrestle that fish to the boat, which turned out to be a "baby tarpon" of about 20 lbs.

We also experienced the powerful line-burning runs of Snook and frantic silvery jumps of lady fish (skip-jack) on our roundabouts thru Miami’s maze of canals, spotting a submerged alligator here, seeing flocks of colorful feathered wildlife there, and eyeballing Iguanas who were eyeballing back at us from the bank. It was like being on an exotic treasure hunt with the peacock bass providing our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I was absolutely in awe with the bright colorations of these Florida peacock bass and found the action superb, exciting, and very memorable. I also found my guide to be very knowledgeable and skilled about "his" peacock, which made for an exceptional and very interesting fishing trip. Several times during our fishing we were bombarded with south Florida’s tropical squalls, but I never felt the sting of rain, nor gust of wind, looking only forward to the next strike of a peacock…This was an Incredible fishing adventure folks!!

For more information on Peacock fishing in south Florida contact Capt. Mike Hall at-786-317-4777 -or- Google- the Fly Fishing Peacock websites.

Prices and expenses may vary from my trip but if you decide to give it a try I can guarantee the outcome as being one of the most exciting fishing adventures you will ever experience. A MUST DO on your bucket list!