Current Forecast:
Between October and November 2011, fish in 12 southeast Florida canals were stunned with electricity, netted, weighed, measured, and released unharmed back into the waterway from which they were collected. The overall electrofishing catch rate of largemouth bass was 40 fish over ten-inches-long every hour, higher than the 1997-2010 average of 37 fish/hour. A total of 706 largemouth bass >10 inches were counted from 12 canals.
The populations of butterfly peacock in several well-known Miami-Dade canals are doing extremely well despite cold water temperatures in January 2010 and a great deal of fishing pressure, a testament to the good conservation ethic of catch and release practiced by many urban canal anglers for butterfly peacock and largemouth bass. This year the electrofishing catch rate of butterfly peacock larger than ten-inches-long in nine Miami-Dade and Broward counties averaged 25 fish every hour. This is 25% higher than the 1997-2010 average of 20 fish/hour. A total of 336 butterfly peacock >10 inches were counted and released from these canals. The electrofishing catch rate of bream (bluegill, redear sunfish, Mayan cichlid, and jaguar guapote) was 42 fish over six-inches-long every hour which is also higher than the 1997-2010 average of 37 fish/hr.
These results are from an annual electrofishing survey designed to monitor sportfish populations in urban canals in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Each canal is sampled for approximately eight hours and based on these findings, fisheries biologists at the Non-Native Fish Laboratory in Boca Raton predict that anglers will enjoy excellent catches of largemouth bass, butterfly peacock, and bream this quarter.
The recent survey produced some interesting facts:
--Some of the best canals for largemouth bass were the Aerojet (C-111) and Snapper Creek (C-2) canals in Miami-Dade County, Hillsboro (G-08) and Cypress Creek (C-14) canals in Broward County, and West Palm Beach (C-51), and Boynton (C-16) canals in Palm Beach County.
--Southeast Florida urban canals produce good numbers of quality largemouth bass but have few "lunkers" over 6 pounds.
--One canal yielded largemouth bass over seven pounds, seven canals yielded largemouth bass over five pounds, and seven canals yielded bass over four pounds. The largest largemouth bass collected this year weighed 7.6 pounds and measured 23.0 inches.
--Some of the best canals for butterfly peacock were the Tamiami (C-4), Cutler Drain (C-100), Black Creek (C-1), and Parkline (L-31W) canals.
--Five canals yielded butterfly peacock over four pounds, two canals yielded five pound butterfly peacock, and one canal yielded a butterfly peacock over six pounds. The largest butterfly peacock collected this year weighed 8.7 pounds and measured 23.2 inches.
--The best canals for largemouth bass and butterfly peacock combined were Snake Creek (C-9), and Parkline (L-31W) in Miami-Dade County. Low catches of butterfly peacock in north Broward and Palm Beach counties were likely the result of low water temperature related kills experienced early in January 2009. These periodic kills were predicted and expected when butterfly peacock were originally stocked and a few consecutive mild winters will likely enable them to bounce back to historic levels.
--The highest number of largemouth bass were shocked in the Boynton (C-51) Canal, and the Tamiami (C-4) Canal had the most butterfly peacock.
--Some of the best bream canals were Aerojet (C-111) and Tamiami (C-4) canals in Miami-Dade County, Cypress Creek (C-14) and Hillsboro (G-08) in Broward Canal, and West Palm Beach (C-51) and Boynton (C-16) canals in Palm Beach County.
--Snook and Tarpon are found in many southeast Florida canals and the highest numbers of these sportfish were observed in the Tamiami (C-4), Snake Creek (C-9), and Biscayne (C-8) canals.
January and February are the peak spawning months for largemouth bass in south Florida, and now is the best opportunity for anglers to catch big bass. Butterfly peacock fishing continues to be excellent in Miami-Dade County canals except for temporary slowdowns associated with cold fronts. We strongly encourage anglers to practice catch and release of sportfish at all times but especially for largemouth bass during this season.
Note: As a result of cold winter weather in 2009 and to a lesser extent last December, the non-native fish population is severely reduced. Most exotic fishes were killed by exposure to low water temperatures. This includes butterfly peacock bass, Mayan cichlid, and oscars. Although not totally eradicated, the populations of these popular fish will take some time to recover.
