With trying to catch some saltwater predators in mind, we headed to the canal that runs through the University of Miami. Despite being over two miles from the coast, the water there is tidal and as a consequence there is a great deal of diversity in the species found there. Saltwater and freshwater species coexist, and as soon as we arrived this became apparent when we spotted a small group of jacks and a large barracuda in the same area as various species of tilapia. I started fishing with a heavier rod, but the jacks and barracuda were not impressed with my efforts, and soon took off down the canal. Switching to lighter tackle, I freelined chunks of shrimp to the tilapia and they readily devoured my bait. I didn't think there were any species present that I hadn't caught already, but they were a decent size and good fun on my Rock Rover, so I spent an hour or so catching a few Mayan and zebra tilapia.
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| This section of the canal that runs through the University of Miami grounds. Not very deep but full of fish! |
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| This chunky zebra ended up being the biggest tilapia I caught during the trip. |
After a while, we headed to a second section of canal just to the south of the University. We didn't see any freshwater fish at this spot. In fact, to begin with, we didn't see any fish at all! A few blind casts saw me hook a fairly big needlefish, but it quickly threw the hook in acrobatic fashion. Moving to an elevated position above the canal, I was able to sight fish for a while over a shallow patch of fine gravel. There were a lot of mojarra, a few puffer, small mangrove snapper and some very small barracuda hanging around in this area. I managed to catch lots of mojarra and a few puffers before we decided to head elsewhere. The small predators just weren’t interested.
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| An inflated checkered puffer. |
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| I may have mentioned it in the past, but just to be clear, I’m not a fan of puffers. The patterns on this one were pretty nice. |
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| Unlike the other mojarra species I caught, I'm confident this is a yellowfin mojarra. |
Our second fishing session of the day saw us visiting the Matheson Hammock Park & Marina. The fishing area there was pretty limited and already had several anglers fishing from it, so I was a bit naughty and spent half an hour sight fishing in a couple of areas where I shouldn’t have. It was a worthwhile endeavour as I caught a few more species.
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| A small Atlantic needlefish,… |
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| …a few crested goby,… |
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| …a solitary frillfin goby,… |
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| …and this female hairy blenny. |
The following day, our last full one of the trip, we visited the Old Rickenbacker Causeway fishing pier. This venue is the only fishing pier in the City of Miami and is almost eighty years old. It’s named after a WWII pilot who shot down more than his fair share of enemy planes. It was another venue recommended to me by several people, and spending a few hours there turned out to be a great choice, rivalling the productivity of our session on day one of the trip at Phil Foster Park. The average size of the fish was good too and fishing around the concrete bases of the New Rickenbacker Bridge that runs parallel to the fishing pier, I initially caught a few parrotfish and lots of planehead filefish. Then I hooked into something bigger that gave a great account of itself. When a grey triggerfish came to the surface, Lillian was there with the net making sure we landed it. What a team!
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| As well as a few initial phase redtail parrotfish,... |
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| ...a colourful stoplight parrotfish,... |
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| ...and a couple of stunning blue parrotfish,... |
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| ...I was over the moon when I caught my first grey triggerfish. |
After a while, we decided to begin moving along the pier, so I could try fishing in a few different spots. Just before we left the first spot though, a couple of manatee swam past just under the surface, which Lillian was very excited about.
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| The best photo we got of the manatee as they slowly swam by. |
The other spots we tried didn't produce as many fish, but they did throw up some new species that I hadn't caught before.
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| A bluestriped grunt,... |
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| ...a few mangrove snapper, |
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| ...a solitary whitebone porgy,... |
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| ...this small initial phase princess parrotfish, |
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| ...and a few mojarra. |
The following day was our last in Florida, so we got up relatively early, packed our suitcases and loaded them into the car. We didn't have to be at the airport until late in the afternoon, so I squeezed in one last fishing session at the Haulover Inlet. There, I spent a bit of time hunting small species in gaps amongst the rocks. My efforts didn't produce anything new, all I caught were lots of dusky damselfish and a hairy blenny.
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| Searching for unusual species that might have been hiding down in deep, dark holes between the rocks. |
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| This was my first ever male hairy blenny. They're a bit more colourful than the females. |
Next, I focused my efforts fishing into deeper water. Something was continually stripping all the shrimp from my hook as soon as my bait hit the bottom, but I couldn’t hook any of the culprits. Just before we left, I dropped my rig straight down the side. The amount of ravenous sergeant major was ridiculous, but eventually I caught a nice parrotfish. Putting the fish back, it was time to drive to the airport and the species hunt was over.
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| I thought the last fish of the trip was a new species, but it’s actually a redtail parrotfish almost in its terminal phase. |
So, our first trip to the United States had been great and there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll be going back in the future. To which parts, I don't know. We'd both love to visit Hawaii, so that's high up on the list of possible destinations, the west coast too. I may even go back to Florida.
My species hunting went very well, and I caught about sixty species. The vast majority were new ones too, which is always exciting. A few standouts from saltwater were the French angelfish, the scrawled filefish, the scrawled cowfish and the grey triggerfish. From freshwater, the jaguar cichlid, the oscar, and the golden topminnow were probably my favourite catches.
Here's a list of what I caught, new species are in bold. Tentative identifications have an asterisk.
- African Jewelfish
- Atlantic Needlefish
- Ballyhoo
- Bandtail Puffer
- Beaugregory Damselfish*
- Bermuda Sea Chub
- Black Acara
- Blackear Wrasse
- Blue Parrotfish
- Coppernose Bluegill (Strictly speaking, a subspecies of bluegill. For now...)
- Bluestriped Grunt
- Checkered Puffer
- Cocoa Damselfish
- Crested Goby
- Dusky Damselfish
- Dusky Flounder
- Dwarf Sand Perch
- Eastern Moquitofish
- Florida Bass
- French Angelfish
- French Grunt
- Frillfin Goby
- Golden Topminnow
- Grey Triggerfish
- Hairy Blenny
- Jaguar Cichlid
- Lane Snapper
- Mangrove Snapper
- Masquerader Hairy Blenny
- Mayan Cichlid
- Mottled Mojarra*
- Nile Tilapia
- Oscar
- Pinfish
- Planehead Filefish
- Porkfish
- Princess Parrotfish
- Redear Sunfish
- Redtail Parrotfish
- Sailor’s Grunt
- Salvini Cichlid
- Scrawled Cowfish
- Scrawled Filefish
- Sergeant Major
- Silver Porgy
- Slender Mojarra*
- Slippery Dick
- Southern Puffer
- Spottail Pinfish
- Spotted Sunfish
- Spotted Tilapia
- Stoplight Parrotfish
- Tidewater Mojarra*
- Tomtate Grunt
- Warmouth
- White Grunt
- Whitebone Porgy
- Yellowfin Mojarra
- Yellowtail Snapper
- Zebra Tilapia
I should acknowledge that before the trip I amassed an incredible amount of information and this played a massive part in the success of the fishing I did. Many people helped me out with this, far too many to name here, but I'm so grateful for all the advice that was generously given. If you helped me out, thank you!
Tight lines, Scott.
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