fishing planet how to catch florida peacock bass

When Prieto’s record peacock bass tried running into some rocks and drainage pipes in the lake, the angler decided it was time to get wet. They are that strong, and I love that about them. You have to use top-notch gear or you won’t land them. They are very, very aggressive hitters and very hard fighters. They’re basically a largemouth bass on steroids,” he says. Prieto, who has been chasing peacock bass for more than 20 years, concurs: “One of the reasons I fish for them so much is the thrill of the fight. “They are very colorful and most people who fish for both largemouth bass and peacocks consider the peacock to be a harder fighter.” “We don’t have recent economic numbers, but I can tell you that people travel from all over the country to fish for them, and they contribute millions of dollars to the South Florida fishing economy,” says Cimbaro. The flamboyant, aggressive South American fish has also proved popular with anglers. According to FWC biologist John Cimbaro, stomach-content analysis has shown that spotted tilapia can make up over 75 percent of the peacock bass diet. They thrived in the region’s warm, slow-flowing freshwater canals, lakes, and ponds-and they’ve done their job keeping a lid on the exotic species released into Florida waters by aquarium owners. They were introduced to coastal southeast Florida by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in 1984 to help reduce the number of undesirable nonnative fish like spotted tilapia. When I set the hook, I could feel that I had a really big fish on.”īutterfly peacock bass are the only species of nonnative freshwater fish to ever be legally established in Florida waters. “I didn’t see any, so I just pitched to a random spot and the line started peeling out of my hands at a hundred miles an hour. “I had caught three or four and was walking around looking over the bank ledge to see if I could spot any free swimmers I could pitch at,” says Prieto, who was using a live shiner for bait. Prieto was fishing a Broward County pond on October 8 when he hooked the fish around 5:30 p.m. After Felipe Prieto waded waist-deep into a Florida pond to keep the biggest bass of his life from breaking his line, then endured a sleepless night before officials could weigh his catch, the devoted peacock bass angler came away with a new state record-a 9.11-pound monster.

Fishing planet how to catch florida peacock bass