Species hunting adventures in Florida: Part 5.

The halfway point of the holiday had arrived and we headed south from our accommodation in Boca Raton down to a hotel in Homestead. For our first day out from our new base camp we headed west and drove along the Tamiami Trail into the Everglades National Park. We were soon fishing at a spot where I was hoping to catch an oscar. I flicked my red worm out as close as I could to some overhanging branches. After catching a few Mayan cichlid I hooked something bigger that tried its best to get right in under the trees. Applying a bit of pressure I was pleased when an Oscar eventually came out into open water and was soon drawn over my net. 

I concentrated on catching fish whilst Lillian took photos and kept her eyes out for alligators!

I was over the moon to catch my first oscar, a very cool looking fish with its vivid orange markings. 

With lots of spots to visit along the Tamiami Trail, and having caught my intended target at the first, we decided to head off. When we reached the section of road that forms the boundary between the Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area, we stopped at several spots. However, On that stretch of road you have to park on the hard shoulder, and it felt a little bit risky being so close to the road with vehicles flying past at high speeds. We didn’t see many fish either, apart from some that I think were large pleco. They eat algae from rocks, so I knew catching one of them would be virtually impossible. I did try casting a piece of worm in the path of a few of them, but they were very skittish and swam away when disturbed. Keen to get off the side of the road out of harm’s way, we headed further west to a spot where we could safely park the car away from the main road and where there was a small river I could fish that was tucked away from the traffic too. 

While trying different spots next to the main road, we spotted this funky grasshopper. 

Arriving at the next spot, we got quite a surprise when we drove past a very large alligator sitting by the side of the road. It was sunning itself on the bank of the small river I was about to start fishing! Luckily we were going to fish from a small bridge so even if it got back into the river and came upstream towards us, we would be up above it and not in any danger!

It was quite surreal to see such an incredible creature up close. The toothy reptile must have been well over two metres long!

To begin with, I fished from the side of the bridge facing upstream. I caught a few small bluegill, some Mayan cichlid, a warmouth and another small dark fish that I initially misidentified due to its colouration and elongated fins. 

I thought this might be a black acara at first, but it is in fact a male spotted tilapia.

My second warmouth of the trip.

After a while I began fishing from the other side of the bridge. After catching a few more fish, our new cold blooded friend arrived. I didn't even see it approaching and was unhooking a fish with my back partially turned towards the water when I caught it moving out of the corner of my eye. It didn't make any sound at all and just appeared from under the cover of some overhanging trees on the right hand side of the river!

Sneaky devil! Up close and personal and even closer than when we first spotted it relaxing on the bank. Too close for comfort if we hadn't been on the bridge!

After a few minutes, it stopped moving its enormous tail and slowly drifted back down the river, where it held its position.

After I caught a few more fish, including another oscar, the associated noise drew its attention again and back up the river it came, no doubt expecting an easy meal. At this point, Lillian seemed to be a bit freaked out, so we packed up and left.

This oscar was successfully released, much to the disgust of the alligator, who thought it was going to get a fishy snack.

The following day we visited a small park where fishing was permitted in a few small areas. The main target species there was zebra tilapia, which I caught fairly quickly after catching a few bluegill and spotted tilapia. I also caught a terrapin! We did see two of them when we arrived, but both vanished below the surface. A few minutes later, I lifted my rod after a subtle bite, only to feel a dead weight. I guessed immediately what had gobbled my worm! Thankfully, I managed to wind it in without too much trouble, it was successfully netted by Lillian, and I was able to easily unhook and released it again. I fished on for a while, hoping to catch a Salvini cichlid, another exotic non-native species found in the pond, but didn't have any luck.

Another nice example of the coppernose bluegill.

I also caught this spotted tilapia. This one doesn't have spots, as it is in between its juvenile and adult colouration.

A small zebra tilapia. Mission accomplished. 

We then headed to another spot, a canal running through a large park, where I was hoping to catch a Midas cichlid. We did see a few of the bright orange fish slowly cruising around, but I could not get them interested in my freelined worm. They were incredibly shy, a lot of the time they just swam off when my bait hit the water or got close to them. It was a very tough, frustrating session. There's nothing worse than being able to see fish but not being able to catch them. In fact, I only caught one fish during the time I spent fishing there.

Match the catch! Angler in bright orange T-shirt stalks bright orange Midas cichlid. 

The only fish caught during several hours stalking along the banks was this zebra tilapia. 

So, another couple of days focussing on freshwater fish with mixed results. Having seen a few Midas cichlid, I really wanted to catch one and decided I'd return later in the trip for another go. That said, I was keen to visit the sea again for some saltwater species hunting. The wind was due to drop off the following day, so we decided to head into Miami to visit a well known fishing spot on the coast there.

Tight lines, Scott.

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Species hunting adventures in Florida: Part 3.

On the third day of our trip I felt dreadful, and the weather was dreadful too. It was very wet and very windy. After visiting a large sporting goods store for a look at the fishing tackle, we had Cuban sandwiches for lunch and I tried to figure out somewhere we could go fishing that would offer us some protection from the elements. We ended up visiting Silver Palm Park, where I thought we might be able to tuck ourselves away under the draw bridge there. 

Upon arrival, we realised that we could get a little shelter if we went underneath the bridge into the “wildflower park” next door. No wildflowers to be seen, just a landscaped park with metal sculptures of flowers. Anyway, the problem was, I didn’t think fishing was permitted there. Determined to keep us dry and catch some fish, I got setup and started fishing anyway, figuring at worst we’d be asked to leave. There were insane numbers of sergeant major close in, so after catching a few, I started casting further out. I caught a few fish before an understanding park ranger arrived and told us we couldn’t fish where we were and politely asked us to head back to Silver Palm Park where fishing was permitted!

I caught a few tomtate grunt,…

…and a couple of lane snapper before we were asked to move. 

There were some canvas canopies in Silver Palm Park, but the wind was blowing the rain in at an angle, and they were set back from the water's edge. In short, they weren't very effective shelters. Lillian stayed underneath one, and I stood in the rain fishing for a while. A few fish were biting, and I caught a few slippery dick and a few checkered puffer.

Slippery when wet? Slippery all the time!

I caught a few checkered puffer, my first puffer species of the trip.

Party trick time!

It was far from ideal, so we decided to pack up and leave once I had used up the two shrimps I had cut up into chunks. I was also feeling absolutely terrible and told Lillian that I was sorry, but I just wanted to go back to our accommodation, so I could crawl into bed. That’s exactly what I did when we got back. I think I fell asleep about 17:00, and slept right through until the following morning. Right through all the rain and thunderstorms that Lillian described as pretty wild. 

By early afternoon the rain had begun to subside, and I felt a bit better, so we headed to the Sawgrass Trailhead At Atlantic Boulevard armed with a tub of worms. I fished from one of the sluice gates over the canal and there were a few fish around. After about an hour we had to run back to the car to get out of a heavy rain shower, but it passed over fairly quickly and afterwards the clouds began to break up, the sun occasionally appearing through the gaps, and the fish seemed to become more active. 

I prefer the second option!

From the deeper water in the centre of the canal I caught some spotted tilapia,...

…and some redear sunfish.

Some of them were a reasonable size!

Switching my attention to some smaller fish that seemed to prefer the rocky margins of the canal, I caught another two species for the first time. The second came out from under a rock and grabbed my worm before trying to make a dash back from where it had come from.

I caught a few of these nice looking spotted sunfish,…

…and my first warmouth. An aggressive little ambush predator and another member of the sunfish family.

After a break for lunch, we headed to Vista View Park on the recommendation of someone we had got chatting with as we fished. He told us that the ponds there were full of fish, so I thought it was worth a visit. Once there, I fished from a small pier. I caught some bass, a few Mayan cichlids and some bluegills. I believe the bluegill were actually a subspecies, called coppernose bluegill. They are only found in a couple of regions, one being southern Florida. Their status may very well change in the future, and like the Florida bass, they may be reclassified as a distinct species in their own right. 

 A nicely marked Mayan cichlid. 

I believe this is a coppernose bluegill. 

You can see where the name comes from. 

Pretty soon it was time to leave as the park was about to close. I’d really been enjoying the sessions I'd done in freshwater. Before the trip I thought I'd spend the majority of my time fishing for saltwater species, but it had been a fairly even split so far, and I didn't really see that changing during the rest of the holiday either. 

Tight lines, Scott.

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Species hunting adventures in Florida: Part 2.

On the morning of our second day, I wasn't feeling too great. I put it down to all the travelling, a full day out fishing in the glorious Florida sunshine, and probably not drinking as much water as I should have. In the back of my mind however was the fact that a couple of my workmates had been ill the week before we flew out, and I was hoping that I hadn't picked up whatever virus they had been suffering with, as what they had was quite nasty.

Anyway, keen to open my freshwater account, we visited a Walmart Supercenter to grab a large sandwich sub to share for lunch and a tub of redworms from the fishing section. We then drove to the first spot, a large pond surrounded by various office and business buildings. The target species here was a member of the sunfish family, the warmouth. After struggling to find a parking spot that didn't risk the hire car being towed away, we walked around the pond and found a gap in the trees where we could access the water.

A fairly nondescript, reasonably sized, semicircular pond. Florida has hundreds, if not thousands, of water features like this!

Fishing a small section of redworm on a small hook, and casting my helicopter rig just out beyond the lily pads, I got lots of bites straight away and had soon caught a few small bluegill.

My first bluegill from its native range. I've caught them before in Japan.

After a while, Lillian pointed out some small groups of diminutive, but colourful fish, swimming around in the submerged lily stalks a few feet out. I wound in and quickly tied on a smaller hook and squeezed a small split shot a few inches above it. Lowering a tiny piece of redworm into their midst proved irresistible, and I quickly caught a few of them. 

This, I believe, is an African jewelfish. Although there is some controversy around exactly what species of these are present in the water systems of Florida.

This specimen with the deep red markings is the same species I think. Possibly a male in breeding colouration?

After catching a dozen or so, I switched back to my original rig and fished out past the lily pads and also in the gaps between them, to try and catch a warmouth. Sadly, all I managed to catch were more small bluegill. After a while, we decided to have a break for a few hours and headed to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. The gardens were beautiful and there were lots of interesting birds, insects, lizards and fish to see as we enjoyed a relaxing stroll.

We weren't the only people chilling out in the gardens. 

It may look like this Iguana was also relaxing, but being cold-blooded, it was no doubt warming itself up on this rock!

Having seen a few of Mayan cichlid in the various ponds as we had strolled around the Japanese gardens, I was keen to get back to fishing again. Our next stop to do just that was a small pond next to a retail park. The target species there was an oddly named and very colourful cichlid, the Eastern happy. Another species that has been released into the freshwater bodies of Florida by the State’s aquarium owners. Whilst trying to locate one of these, I caught two other species, one of which has only recently been recognised as a species in its own right.

At first glance I thought this was a bluegill, but actually it's the bluegill's cousin, the redear sunfish.

Freelining my worm down in amongst some vegetation whilst searching for an Eastern happy, letting it sink slowly, my rod was pulled over quite abruptly by what turned out to be a small bass. It managed to swim through, and get itself tangled up in some lily stems, but applying gentle force I managed to eventually pull it free.

This is a Florida bass. Only recently recognised as a distinct species. Beforehand, it was considered a subspecies of largemouth bass. They grow much faster than the largemouth and much bigger too. Obviously, this one has some growing still to do!

We spent a bit of time exploring the pond but couldn't locate any Eastern Happy, so we decided to drive to another spot in search of one. The third and final spot for the day’s fishing was a small, relatively shallow ditch by the side of a small road. To look at it, you would not imagine it held many fish if any, but the amount of fish in there and the variety was incredible, taking me somewhat by surprise. 

From this small roadside ditch, my freelined worms caught a ridiculous amount of fish.

As well as bluegill and redear sunfish, I caught lots of super aggressive Mayan cichlids,..

...spotted tilapia,...

...some very cool looking jaguar cichlid,...

...and a nile tilapia too.

In addition, I also managed to catch a couple of Eastern mosquitofish. Dropping my whole worm into the margins, where there were a lot of them, they immeadiately started eagerly attacking it. Two of them biting onto the end of it and holding on while I lifted them out!

An Eastern mosquitofish. Turns out they are ravenous little swines and not too clever either!

By now, some grey clouds had started to roll overhead. Rain was on the way and thunderstorms were forecast the following evening. Whilst I was having lots of fun raiding the roadside ditch and catching lots of new species in the process, I was also aware that I was feeling a little under the weather myself. My nose was beginning to turn into a water feature, my eyes were itchy, and a headache was developing. At that point, I was pretty certain the lads at work had given me a parting gift. We called it a day on the fishing front and headed to a pharmacy to get something that would hopefully alleviate my steadily worsening symptoms.

Tight lines, Scott.

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