Fly Fishing For Peacock Bass In Florida, Part 2

There is an impressive double decker tree house in the back yard of one of the houses that lines one of the small lakes on the canal.  I caught several larger than usual peacock bass here.  

One in particular, I fought for ten or fifteen minutes.  It started out with some acrobatic jumps then each time I brought it close enough to see it would take out line.  Eventually the fly popped out and the fish was gone. 

We then kept fishing the canal which continued on through the other side of the lake.  By now it was starting to get late and I had asked Mark if he would show me other methods of fishing besides fly fishing.  Top water lures are often used to fish for peacock bass.  These are floating plugs with or without propellers.  They are cast out and then “popped” back in with a series of jerks to cause a disturbance on the water to get the fish’s attention.  I didn’t catch any fish on any of the various styles and colors of plugs that I tried. 

Next Capt Mark showed me how to fish with shiners.  Using a circle hook, you hook the shiner through the lips.  With a small amount of weight up a couple of feet from the bait you cast it behind the boat 10 to 20 feet and slowly troll.  This method worked extremely well as we worked our way back to the lake going through several tunnels.  By now the sun was starting to set and it was time to start heading back to the park.  On our way back we swung by the place on the lake where I lost that big peacock bass.  We could see it sulking in the exact same location where I hooked it the first time.  My cast was right on and the bass immediately took the bait.  The fight was on again.  After a shorter fight of maybe 5 to 10 minutes I was able to bring it to the boat.  

What a huge, beautiful fish!  I grabbed it by the lower lip and hefted it up to the boat for pictures.  

It measured 21 ½ inches long and weighed 5.3 pounds, although with its enormous girth, it looked like it should have weighed much more.  I held it in the water as Capt Mark took some underwater pictures before letting this trophy Peacock Bass swim off.  What a glorious way to finish the guided trip.