Miami florida trip in december, location ideas?

[elowejr51]

My grandson & I will be in the miami area the first week of December,  we would love to catch some peacock bass and maybe other fish specific to the area.  We would probably be bank fishing unless we can find a place to rent boats.  Any suggestions tips locations would be great appreciated,  thanks. 

[Topwaterdude]

I'm pretty sure holiday park and sawgrass recreation in Broward off of US27 still rents Jon boats,if you go to holiday park fish L67 canal,if you go to sawgrass recreation fish the canal that runs to the east both spots can't go wrong using a  uvibe speed worm June bug Texas rigged 1/8 oz- 3/16 oz buzz it on top,swim it,worm it, would be your safest bet.

[bigbassin']

A couple of the guys that actively post here are from down there and they may be able to chime in with more, but I'll give you what I've learned from the few trips I've taken for them:

 

First, the farther south the better.  Another 30-45 minutes south of Miami and from the looks of it every single body of water had schools of peacocks in them.  The canals are popular and that's where I got my first from (I think the c-8 but not totally sure without looking at a map) however the man-made ponds with clear water and predominantly rock bottom seemed to be the ticket.  The one problem with the ponds is that probably 9/10 where private property so if you try the ponds, you'll want to find an area on the map that has several within a small area so you won't have to go far to find somewhere you are actually allowed to fish.

 

For lures, an x-rap worked as fast as possible was our most productive.  A perch-type color was the best, and the 9cm size outfished the 7 and 11.  I've only gone for them a handful of times so I don't know if this is a consistent size/color pattern or just how its worked out.  The x-raps were a good search bait as well because they'll chase them all the way back to the bank even if they won't hit them.  This lets you cover a lot of water quickly and if there are peacocks there you'll know within a few casts.

 

Once you find them, they typically just chase your lure for a couple of casts but will eventually slam it on the 5th or 6th cast.  Once you get one in the school, it becomes every cast until you pick off the willing fish.  We were getting triple-hookups going once the first fish would finally commit.  If you can't get them to commit to lures, you at least know where they are so you can always go to a bait shop and get live shiners and come back to the spot.  They'll hit a shiner just about as soon as it hit the water it seemed.

[soflabasser]

On 11/8/2018 at 4:55 PM, elowejr51 said:

My grandson & I will be in the miami area the first week of December,  we would love to catch some peacock bass and maybe other fish specific to the area.  We would probably be bank fishing unless we can find a place to rent boats.  Any suggestions tips locations would be great appreciated,  thanks. 

Welcome to the forum @elowejr51. Almost any canal in South Florida is loaded with peacock bass so you should have a great time fishing for peacock bass. There is no need to hire a guide for peacock bass since our canals have a thriving peacock bass fishery and these fish can be caught from the shore. The easiest way to catch peacock bass is with live bait such as shiners. I suggest you buy some shiners, put them in a bucket with an air pump, and you will have a good chance at catching peacock bass. Good lures to use for peacock bass are poppers, propbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits, and jigs. Let me know if you need more help and I hope you and your grandson have a good time.

[geo g]

Behind the Falls Shopping Center is a canal with some big peacock.  Wear a good pair of leather boots when walking the bank.  Keep an eye on the vehicle.  #9 Rapala jerk baits in gold is a great lure.  Don't have to go early Peas love the sun and the heat of the day.  Keep it moving they love to chase the bait down.