Species hunting adventures in Florida: Part 6.

After spending a couple of days fishing for freshwater targets, I was keen to get to the coast to catch a few fish from saltwater, so we headed to South Pointe Park Pier. This relatively small pier is located at the southern end of Miami Beach and when I was doing my pre trip research several people recommended paying it a visit as it’s a good multi species venue.

Miami Beach from the South Pointe Park Pier.

We hit some horrendous traffic on the drive into Miami but got there eventually. It was a nice day, if a little windy, and after a short walk through the park we soon arrived at the pier. Straight away, I spotted a large shoal of ballyhoo siting in an area of slack water near the beginning of the pier. A chunk of shrimp was lowered down, and I watched one of them swim up to it and eat it greedily. Once the bait disappeared into the fish’s “hatch”, I set the hook, quickly winched the halfbeak up, took a quick photo and dropped it back down to join his mates.

A member of the halfbeak family, the ballyhoo is a popular live bait used to target larger predatory fish. 

Heading further along the pier, we picked a shaded spot under one of the small covered areas. I fished down between the pier and the rocky breakwater at the end of Miami Beach. This produced a few different species, including my first parrotfish of the trip.

This is a redtail parrotfish in its initial phase. The terminal phase is much more colourful.

It proved very difficult to get through the hordes of sergeant major, slippery dick and various grunt species that were fighting over my shrimp chunks. After a while, I tried fishing on the other side of the pier, casting out into open water, this produced a few yellowtail snapper and some mojarra.

Mojarra are difficult to identify if you don't know what to look for. I'm still not 100% on this species. I think this might be a slender mojarra.

Later in the afternoon, we took a stroll along the boardwalk behind Miami Beach and then cut inland onto Ocean Drive. We paid a brief visit to the apartment block where the infamous chainsaw scene in the film "Scarface" was filmed.

There were lots of cool buildings along Ocean Drive. 

On the way back to our hotel later in the day, we stopped off briefly at a small ditch out near the Miami-Homestead Speedway racetrack. It was down a dirt track off the main road and was infested with insects, so I was glad it only took me five minutes to catch a couple of the target species.

 This overgrown ditch certainly wasn't the most picturesque fishing spot!

It produced another new species, so I was happy enough. The black acara is, you’ve guessed it, a non-native species.

The following day we drove down to the Florida Keys. I was very excited about fishing there, as the number of species an angler can encounter while fishing down there is quite incredible. Plus, it’s such a cool place, endless islands connected by bridges, and so many places to fish. Leaving Homestead fairly early, the traffic was pretty bad until we reached Key Largo, but after that it was fine. After a two and a half hour drive we arrived at the first spot, a place I was told there was an above average chance of catching a scrawled cowfish, a strange looking fish that I was really keen to catch. Walking down from the car, we were greeted by a large sign.

Just a tiny fraction of the fish that can be caught.

Unfortunately, and much to my surprise, the fishing was very tough and despite trying a few spots in the area, all I caught was a few slippery dick. There were a few other people fishing too, and I didn't see them catching anything either. Not a great start.

The old Flagler Railway Bridge. At least what is left of it.

Apologies for a second dick pic! This will be the last one.

After a while, we headed back to the car and drove to a second spot near Vaca Cut Bridge. It was very busy with other anglers though, and there was lots of litter strewn around too, which is never nice to see, so we didn’t stay for long. On the way back to the car, a local saw my fishing rod and recommended a spot called Oceanfront Park, assuring us there were lots of fish to catch there. Despite already having lots of places marked in Google Maps, we decided to give it a go. Sadly, there didn’t seem to be many fish biting. I did catch a few pinfish, but that was all I caught.

By this point, I was feeling a little bit frustrated.

My first ever pinfish. At least I had added another new species to my tally.

After a while, we headed to the famous Channel #5 Fishing Pier. The sun was beating down, so to get in the shade for a while, we headed down underneath the road bridge that the fishing pier runs parallel to. Fishing there, things were pretty frantic, and I quickly caught a few grunt, a load of slippery dick and my third puffer species of the trip. I then caught a couple of scrawled cowfish which cheered me up considerably. A I already mentioned, I really wanted to catch one of those.

This Southern puffer was my third puffer species of the trip. 

The bizarre looking scrawled cowfish is a member of the boxfish family. They’re very weird looking things, with a rigid body and horns pointing off in various directions. Only their mouth, fins and tail can move. Despite this, they can swim very quickly.

After a while the tidal flow changed, and it went a bit quiet under the road bridge, so we moved up onto the fishing pier. It was very busy with lots of people fishing, and we tried a few different spots, but it soon became apparent that the predominant fish species below the pier were grunt. Dropping my rig down, my shrimp was being hammered instantly.

White grunt were the most numerous.

There were a few French grunt down there too.

The inside of most grunt species’ mouth is bright red. Not sure what purpose that serves!

After walking along the pier, fishing at a few different places and catching nothing but grunt, I decided to call it a day. It had been a slightly disappointing day in terms of the number of species caught if I'm honest. Heading back towards Florida, we stopped off at Robbie’s of Islamorada, to hand feed the tarpon that hang out in the docks there. We had to be careful not to give the gathered pelicans an opportunity to steal our sardines.

Weird looking greedy birds!

The following day we returned to the pond where I caught my first zebra tilapia, so I could have a second try at catching a Salvini cichlid. This time I tried fishing near some tree roots, as I’d read that’s where they like to hang out. Sure enough, after catching a few other fish and getting snagged on the roots a couple of times, I caught one.

Yet another aquarium trade release, the Salvini cichlid is quite a colourful little chap.

Just as we were leaving the park, I spotted what was probably the largest iguana of the trip. These lizards are everywhere in Florida, but are usually pretty shy, running away into the nearest grasses or up a tree when you get too close to them, but this one seemed a little less intimidated by our presence, and we managed to get a good photo of it.

Invasive species aren’t restricted to the waterways of Florida.

Later that day we visited a pond in Tropical Park. The target there was a tiny fish called a golden topminnow. There were lots of Eastern mosquito fish around, and they were super aggressive, attacking the tiny piece of worm I had baited my tanago hook with. This meant I caught dozens of them properly, not them just biting and holding on to the end of my worm and being lifted out! Eventually, I caught a few golden topminnow, popping them in my little photo tank for a closer look.

The golden topminnow is quite an attractive micro species. I believe this is a male and a female. The male is the one with the red spots.

For the third fishing session that day, we headed back to the canal with the Midas cichlid in it. This time armed with a loaf of bread. Fishing flake on a running ledger, I was hoping a Midas cichlid deeper out in the canal out of sight might be confident enough to pick it up, or perhaps a grass carp would take the bait. It was another tough session though, watching my brightly coloured target swimming slowly around closer in up in the water column, whilst nothing touched my submerged bait on the bottom. In the end, I switched to freelining a worm and caught a solitary Mayan cichlid.

The colours on this Mayan cichlid were stunning, particularly the hues of bright blue on its fins.

The part of the holiday had arrived where I was starting to think about the fact that the end of the holiday was fast approaching! With only a few days left to fish, I decided I’d focus my remaining efforts on saltwater species. I felt I had barely scratched the surface with them, and hopefully if we visited some new venues, I could still add a few more species to my tally.

Tight lines, Scott.

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.

Species hunting adventures in Florida: Part 4.

The following day we headed back to Silver Palm Park to fish in the channel there. It was Sunday, and it was very busy due to there being a slipway there. Lots of boats were being launched and passing by in both directions, and this made fishing further out into the channel difficult.

The boat traffic was non-stop and the park's slipway was in use constantly too. If you plan on visiting this spot, it's advisable to do so during the week, when it's probably a lot quieter!

One of the reasons for visiting the park again was that it produces a very wide variety of species. I was told that one possible catch, the blackear wrasse, was more difficult to locate elsewhere but could reliably be amongst catches at this spot. After catching a few other species, I managed to catch one of them from further out in the channel, taking advantage of short breaks in the boat traffic. Later in the session, I also added a second puffer species to my tally for the trip as well. Lillian did a spot of fishing too and caught a few sergeant major and a yellowtail snapper.

As well as a few checkered puffer, I also caught my first bandtail puffer.

Out in the channel away from the hordes of sergeant major, I caught lots of grunt, including Sailor's grunt,...

...and white grunt. The white grunt’s striking blue facial markings were stunning.

I also caught a few porkfish. They also belong to the grunt family.

At a casual glance, this could be mistaken for just another slippery dick, but it was in fact my first ever blackear wrasse. It has a small dark spot just behind its eye (the ear) and also a black spot at the rear end of its dorsal fin.

The following afternoon, we returned to the Sawgrass Trailhead At Atlantic Boulevard, where I spent a couple of hours fishing. It was an enjoyable session, but I didn't catch anything new. I spent a fair amount of time trying to help some kids catch fish and answering a lot of their questions. They didn't have much luck sadly, and I ended up giving them most of my worms, to try to improve their chances! I did see a couple of peacock bass skulking around, but when they spotted me they swam off in the opposite direction. I tied on a small plug and had a few casts with that to see if I could tempt any others that might be in the vicinity, but sadly my efforts went unrewarded.

From there we headed east to Boca Raton Inlet, a spot that’s well known for producing an amazing array of species. I had arranged to meet up with Arthur, a YouTuber who lives in south Florida, whom I've been talking to about species hunting and travel for a year or so, after he contacted me looking for info on fishing on Lanzarote. He travels all over the world, and was the inspiration for my trip to Singapore last year.

Arthur with a peacock bass.

Check out Arthur's YouTube channel.

Boca Raton Inlet. A species hot spot.

We arrived about an hour before Arthur did, so I quickly got set up and started fishing from some rocks. It was a bite every cast, and I was catching lots of grunt and sergeant major when he arrived. We then moved a little further from up the channel to fish from a concrete seawall. It was rocky straight down the wall, but a lot deeper water was only a few metres out. I tried fishing closer in to begin with, and this produced slippery dick and more damselfish. Sergeant major damselfish and lots of brown damselfish. Brown damselfish can be extremely difficult to identify at times, but I believe I caught two different species.

The easy one first. This is a male sergeant major. Normally these are black and yellow, but they take on this bluish colour while guarding eggs.

Brown damselfish number one. No blue leading edge on the anal fin makes this a dusky damsel. I think.

This one, I believe, is a beaugregory damselfish. Again, if you think it's not, please let me know!

Casting out a bit into the deeper water, I caught a few more grunt and then caught a few Bermuda sea chub, a species I’ve caught before on in the Canary Islands. They were a reasonable size and gave a good account of themselves in the current, trying to get down into the rocks closer in.

I'd caught a solitary Bermuda sea chub on Lanzarote a few years ago.

As we chatted away, Arthur, who had scaled down to a tanago hook and a small piece of splitshot, caught a clown wrasse from a shallow rocky area to my right. I was just about to go and try for one myself when something bigger picked up my bait and charged off. It felt pretty strong and made a couple of surging runs, so I didn’t bully it too much for fear of being broken off. When the fish came into view, I recognised the species immediately and was very excited. It was a species I knew that was caught at Boca Raton Inlet occasionally, and was also one I really hoped I’d catch during the trip. Lillian did a fantastic job with my extending net and after a nervous moment near the rocks the weird looking fish was landed.

This bizarre looking creature is a scrawled filefish. It fought well despite being such an odd shape. No doubt due to its thin profile and very large tail fin.

The markings were stunning, and it also had a wicked set of jagged little teeth that I wasn't expecting. Without a doubt, a second contender for fish of the trip.

Shortly afterwards, we moved to a second spot closer to the opening of the inlet. The current had picked up considerably, and holding the bottom was becoming increasingly tough. All we caught were grunt, and before too long Arthur had to leave, wishing me good luck for the rest of our holiday. It was great to fish with him for a couple of hours, and I really appreciated him taking some time out of his very busy schedule to drive up and meet us. I'd really like to meet up with him again in the future, perhaps in some far-flung part of the world! He's also been told he'd be most welcome to visit me in Edinburgh if he fancied targeting species in Scotland. I fished on for a little while longer, trying to tempt a clown wrasse out of the shallow rocky area, but the current had got so strong that small waves were breaking over it, making it tough to keep my rig still, and after catching a few damselfish and slippery dick we called it a day. This session drew a close to our first week in Florida. The following day we were moving to new accommodation further south, from which I was looking forward to visiting the Florida Keys and also canals of the Tamiami Trail. 

Tight lines, Scott.