A Three Week Hunt for a South Florida Peacock Bass
This is one of my favorite South Florida peacock bass catches. I was dropping my daughter at a music lesson and there was a freshwater canal next to the parking lot. Her lessons were far enough from the house that if I drove home, I’d only be there for a few minutes and would need to turn right back around; so I grabbed the fly rod to see if I could pass the time a little more enjoyably.
It was midday. Sun was right overhead, and it was hot. As I approached the canal, I realized it had a very steep bank. There was a small block of concrete at the bottom, with a pipe that emptied on to a small flat- a flat with a nice rocky bottom that was stacked with several decent peacocks, and one potential beast. As soon as I could see over the edge, I was nearly directly over the fish, and they spooked, and the largest was like a ghost. By the time I could see over the edge, he had already apparently predicted my approach and all I saw was a large tail disappearing into the darker, deeper water. I wasn’t even sure it was a big fish- I just caught a glimpse and once it was gone, my brain questioned what I had seen.
There was really no way to make a decent cast at this flat without walking up on it, and I left, frustrated. A week later, and it was time for another music lesson. After sitting in the car for a while as it was again, HOT, I decided to wander over to that same canal and see what I could see. Again, as I peeked over, the fish moved away, and AGAIN, I saw what appeared to be a very large tail disappearing into the abyss.
I had to try and catch him, and at a minimum I had to get a LOOK at him. I waited a few minutes hoping he would return to the flat, and approached from further down the canal, where I was blocked by some bushes and water plants. There was no way to make a decent cast from this vantage point, but that has never stopped me from attempting to make an INDECENT cast- I put a LOT of line in the air, and did my best to land my cichlid imitation somewhere in the general vicinity of this fish. Amazingly, my first cast somehow landed in the water, but about ten feet shy of where I though this big male was usually hiding. I was wrong about his location, and apparently dropped in right in his immediate vicinity, as he immediately either swiped at the fly or turned to get a better look. In either case, there was a huge swirl. I tried again and again to make the same cast, but I was literally trying to cast about 20 feet further than my rod and line were designed for, and the plants between me and the water were more than happy to grab my fly. Eventually I had to get closer to get my fly back, and the big fish was gone.
Week three, and I had a plan. This steep canal bank and fishy flat were adjacent to the parking lot as I mentioned, but they were also adjacent to a large bridge. This bridge had 8 lanes of traffic, so it was a significant structure. It was also unusual in that there was no room underneath it to walk upright. I crossed the road, climbed down the bank on the other side of the road, then bent over and waddled my way under those 8 lanes of traffic. I was now approaching that same flat, but now the fish were unaware of my approach. I had to make a sidearm cast because I literally had no room over my head. I was still in a crouch, and inches above my head was concrete. (And spiders!)
From the first cast, I knew that not only was this big fish around, but he was either territorial or hungry. (Or just a mean old bastard.) Every cast, a wave would follow my retrieve. And finally, after three weeks of obsessing over this fish, he ate. It was a long fight, with very strong runs into that deep water, several jumps followed by heavy splashes, some scary moments as my line rubbed the concrete bridge piling in the center of the canal, and eventually some tense moments as I attempted to reach down into the canal and grab his mouth. I’m guessing she weighed about 6 and a half pounds- not a world record or anything, but definitely a personal favorite.
For those interested, I use a 5 weight Sage fly rod, with a 5 weight, weight forward floating (WFF) warm water fly line from Rio. (Rio Bonefish Quikshooter) Fly lines designated warm water or tropical are essential in South Florida. If you bring your trout rod from Montana or Colorado and don’t change the line, you’ll find that the heat turns it to spaghetti. Seriously, it just turns into a sloppy mess. You can certainly get away with a 6 or 7 weight instead of a 5. A lot of folks use a 6, and a 7 might have allowed me to make those longer casts necessary in week 2 of this saga, but I like to walk long distances along these canals looking for fish, and I find the lighter weight rod just lets me go a little longer without fatigue. It’s also rare to need to make long casts for these fish, so heavier rods are overkill.
My fly in this case was an Everglades Special, size 1, non-floating. This is my favorite go-to fly, as it pretty accurately imitates some of the cichlids these guys like to eat, and it also has a weed guard that works well with most of the vegetation you encounter. I don’t use a tippet, instead opting for about 5 or 6 feet of 15 pound Seaguar Gold fluorocarbon.
I hope you enjoyed this story, and welcome any questions or comments. Good luck out there.