JRL

Lost in Translation

There are only Butterfly Peacocks in FL. The Speckled all died off relatively quick, and Im glad they did. Their easy to spot due to a "speckled" pattern around their eyes/gil plates. Plus their "bars" are way more defined. And the easiest way to know if you have caught one is that if you are in Florida, you didnt catch one. I know of a few people who eat them. They are supposed to be excellent. They follow the same rule as largemouth. Keep 1 pounders or smaller. 2 pounds or more get released. If you really want to eat a non native fish, try Mayan Cichlids. They really are excellent eating.

I rarely even take my fish out of the water. I Normally unhook them boat side while still in the water then let them swim off. If I do handle a larger fish for photos I support it by its jaw and stomach at the same time. It makes my stomach turn when I see pics of big bass being handled by their jaw only. Not saying thats the wrong way to do it, but its definitley not the best.

My best day came in 20+ mph winds out in open water. Meanwhile my worst days are almost always in dead flat water. Only time Im a little negative is right before a major weather change.

Never saw your last post, but, have you tried throwing large swimbaits? As in 6" or bigger?

I would start by trying to find that 8' deep stump in the middle of the 10' flat. Then fish the rest of the 10' flat. Mid to late morning I would move to the southern edge of the flat where the depth changes from 12' to 14'. Probably would vertical jig the 16' area.

I think the northern most point you will find them is the Palm Beach canal (runs parallel with Southern blvd). If they are any farther north than that its really sparatic.

Some fat old fish. Thanks for sharing George.

Thanks for the info Rolo! Chances are, your right and the FWC is wrong, but, the article says Jeffrey Smith.

Good point. I havent seen many orange groves with ponds that big, at all actually, atleast not down here. Google earth maybe?

Sorry if you guys have seen this before (I did a search and it came up with nothing), but its new to me.... Caught in January 08 in a Polk county (once again) orange grove pond. Wasnt weighed on a certified scale so it didnt count. Weighed in at 18.5lbs. Picture and explaination are at the bottom of this link. Found it on the FWC's website. http://floridafisheries.com/updates/fb27-bass-formatted.pdf Dosnt look 18 pounds to me. More like he's just holding it close to the camera. But at the same time, if the FWC put there name on it, then who knows.

Thanks for the report George! Glad to see the lake is still healthy.

siding w/ steve p's conclusion but not his tone here. i think ca is proof that stocking w/ trout + importing florida strain lmb = giant fish. sure deep water is important, but we have plenty of lakes w/ that kind of depth. Exactly. Polk county is a great example of deep water, and record sized fish. Its no surprise to me that, that area (polk, pasco counties) of Florida produces some of the largest fish in our state. Same with Butterfly Peacocks. They max out at 9lbs in canal systems. The world record (12lbs and change), in addition to several close to it, have all came from resevoirs that are well over 30 feet deep. Sure there is a lot more to growing large fish than water depth. On a lake that averages 4 to 5 foot deep (or if you go by what Crumpler says 1 to 4 feet deep), I cant see how anyone could say that the addition of deep water would be a bad thing.

Well, whatever floats your boat. Deep water is proven to grow big bass in a short time period. California is proof of it. Stick Marsh is the perfect starting point to growing record sized fish. Like it or not, Stick Marsh has reached its peak. Oh, and I spent 9 hours on the water yesterday. Guess that took away from my typing time.

Kind of a tough question to answer. Stick Marsh's primary function is to filter water before dumping it into our canal system. Having deep water isnt really conducive to filtering anything. What I would like to see is several, as in 5 or more, football field sized 25' to 30' holes. Atleast one or two of those off of a point. The rest can be out in open water. Some type of structure would be a plus. Obviously it would take millions to do......but as long as its funded by fisherman I dont see how anyone could complain. The reality is that our water managment would never do it for the reason stated above. Lake "O" on the other hand a dig is a posibility, but would cause a lot of problems as to where these holes would be dug.

FLORIDA 1. Stick Marsh (still recovering, but, still pulling out 10# ers) 2. West Toho 3. Istokpoga If were doing predictions on Florida lakes here are mine: No Florida record bass will ever be caught at Stick Marsh or Lake Okeechobee. They are too shallow. I would love to see the FWC increase license prices to fund a dig project on these lakes. If it doesnt come from a phosphate pit, than its not comming at all (or atleast not for a REALLY long time) I do know where the next world record butterfly peacock will be caught. Not state, but, world record. You can quote me

Bienville Plantation (in White Springs) is the most popular one that I know of. Bassmaster Mag did an article on it a while back. The average fish caught at that time was 5lbs. Im interested in what you find out. Ive been wanting to go to one of these but the price seems a little steep. Was unware there are public pits though.

George, I totally agree with you in terms of canal dwelling peacocks. I can tell you though that the school in my lake (which is no where near dade county) has been here for 4 years now, and have yet to have a die off due to cold weather. They have no access to the palm beach canal system. They do however have access to 30+ feet of water, several 25+ foot areas, and a few bridges. I counted 7 this morning on the dock. Normally there are 15 or so. The few we did catch today came from a 25 foot ledge (I.E. warmer water).

I agree with you 100%. Im looking for a used gheenee to park at my parents house. Only I dont hate kayaks. I find mine as more of a necessity.For people like me, who fish electric motor only lakes, dont have/want a trailer hitch on their car, and cant park a boat in my neighborhood (hoa rules). Kayaks are the way to go. Heres a trolling motor mount Im working on. I will be able to steer it with my feet. Wont be doing 20mph, but ill settle for 10 (maybe more).

I practice C&R all the time. I have no problem with people keeping smaller fish. Like 1 or 2 pounders. Anyone who questions weather C&R works can look at Stick Marsh. Its not a big lake, everything gets released, and its loaded with 10 pounders. What I would like to see is size limits imposed similar to other game fish like snook, grouper, redfish, etc... (to protect breeders). Like no harvesting during the spawn. And all fish over 3lbs are to be released.