Peacock Bass Fishing

[bigbassin']

I'll be doing a peacock trip with a couple of buddies some time in the next month down in South Florida.  Not looking for any spots, but I was wondering what the go to lures to catch them are? Also, what types of cover do they typically hang out around, is the morning/night/midday bite the best for them, seasonal patterns you can expect to see in May/June, preferred water clarity for them, etc.

[South FLA]

Clear water is your friend for spotting'em!  Fast and erratic retrieves work best for blind casting lures (jerk bait, spinner-baits, rattle traps)  I like purple hued lures with my favorite being a Rapala Shadow Rap or Scatter Rap, make sure you change trebles out for at least 2x hooks they bend them pretty bad .  You can always cheat and use live bait (shiners, shad) and post pics to Instagram with monster peas. Most canals south of Lake Worth have them, just cover water, you can start to see some bedding now!   Where are you coming down to?

[bigbassin']

We're still up in the air, but we're leaning towards putting in kayaks at Lake Ida and fishing the canals connected to it.

[geo g]

If your coming down now with a kayak be aware its breeding season and the bull gators get territorial.  Ida and the entire chain have a health population of decent size gators.  Ida/Osbourne chain is a great choice for Peacock bass.

[bigbassin']

3 hours ago, geo g said:

If your coming down now with a kayak be aware its breeding season and the bull gators get territorial.  Ida and the entire chain have a health population of decent size gators.  Ida/Osbourne chain is a great choice for Peacock bass.

I figured we'd probably need to keep our eyes open for gators down there. Thanks for the heads up.

[geo g]

55 minutes ago, bigbassin' said:

I figured we'd probably need to keep our eyes open for gators down there. Thanks for the heads up.

Some of the territorial gators have been shadowing our bass boats in the everglades.  Getting within 5 feet of the boat and then following.  I would not want to be at water level in a kayak. 

[bigbassin']

8 minutes ago, geo g said:

Some of the territorial gators have been shadowing our bass boats in the everglades.  Getting within 5 feet of the boat and then following.  I would not want to be at water level in a kayak. 

Do you think it will be that bad on Ida? I've never had gators mess with me while kayaking before, they typically swim away from me, but I've also never fished near an area called "Alligator Alley."

[geo g]

10 minutes ago, bigbassin' said:

Do you think it will be that bad on Ida? I've never had gators mess with me while kayaking before, they typically swim away from me, but I've also never fished near an area called "Alligator Alley."

In lake Eden I saw one try to climb a sea wall to get at a dog behind a fence.  Eden flows into Ida.  If it wasn't breeding season there wouldn't be a problem.  Let us know how you make out!  Probably better chance of being struck by lightning.  I don't stay out in lightning either.

[Bluebasser86]

Jerkbaits were far and away the best thing for them when I went last year. Peacocks were at the top of my bucket list and thanks to suggestions from a couple of members from the area, I got to cross them off the list. They weren't giants, but a fish is a fish when you've never caught one before and are dying to get one. All of them were from a public park with canals that ran through it. Had some nice bass in it as well. 

 

[bigbassin']

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Jerkbaits were far and away the best thing for them when I went last year. Peacocks were at the top of my bucket list and thanks to suggestions from a couple of members from the area, I got to cross them off the list. They weren't giants, but a fish is a fish when you've never caught one before and are dying to get one. All of them were from a public park with canals that ran through it. Had some nice bass in it as well. 

 

I'd be pretty happy with a couple like that, especially if a couple nice largemouth are caught as well.  Were you using hard jerkbaits like South FLA recommended,or soft plastic jerkbaits like flukes? 

[Bluebasser86]

15 hours ago, bigbassin' said:

I'd be pretty happy with a couple like that, especially if a couple nice largemouth are caught as well.  Were you using hard jerkbaits like South FLA recommended,or soft plastic jerkbaits like flukes? 

Hard jerkbaits, a white Xrap number 10 and a Luck E Strike STX Jr in purple green apple. Couldn't fish them too fast.

[bigbassin']

Looks like I'll have to buy some jerk baits then, I don't ever throw them in the heavily stained waters around me. Thanks for the tips y'all, I'll make sure to let you know how the trip goes.

[South FLA]

Lake Ida

Jerk Baits

Peacock in S FLA

Gators that follow you

 

 

[soflabasser]

All the places mentioned above are good places to fish for Peacock Bass.Another good place is the canal next to Red Road in Hialeah and the canals/lakes in the Kendall area.

[bigbassin']

Well my buddy got one 3.5 pound peacock, but the rest of us were unable to land any.  I missed one that absolutely blew up on my jerkbait, I've never seen anything like it in freshwater.  Basically charged at me from the back of a dock slashing back and forth on the surface.  Unfortunately this put a ton of slack in my line so I wasn't able to get a good hook set. Also caught about 20 largemouth between everyone, with 4 over 4 pounds.  My best 5 coming at 16 pounds, and the average being around 2 pounds.  Didn't see as many gators as we were expecting, as we only saw one, but it was a good 8 footer or so.  While we didn't get as many peacocks as we were hoping for, it was still a great trip.  Thanks for the all the tips.