This weekend me and some friends are coming from Virginia to Miami for a music festival, and while I have some free time I was going to do some fishing. I'm very experienced with inshore saltwater and bass fishing around VA, but what I'm hoping to catch in Florida is a peacock. I've looked into a few places like TY park and a few lakes around the house we're staying at, but if anyone has any suggestions on where to go that would help immensely. I'm trying to stay in the Hollywood area since I'm strapped for time, but would probably be able to venture out to Miami one morning if needed, any help would be appreciated.

Tight lines

Almost all the canals have peacock in the Hollywood area.  Use the right bait, keep it moving, and you will catch peacock.  In-line spinners, rapala stick baits, torpedo spin bait, zara spook, and shallow crank baits, will all get the job done.

On 5/2/2017 at 10:04 AM, 757fishing said:

This weekend me and some friends are coming from Virginia to Miami for a music festival, and while I have some free time I was going to do some fishing. I'm very experienced with inshore saltwater and bass fishing around VA, but what I'm hoping to catch in Florida is a peacock. I've looked into a few places like TY park and a few lakes around the house we're staying at, but if anyone has any suggestions on where to go that would help immensely. I'm trying to stay in the Hollywood area since I'm strapped for time, but would probably be able to venture out to Miami one morning if needed, any help would be appreciated.

Tight lines

 

 

Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of places you can catch peacock bass in South Florida and you should be able to catch lots of them during your vacation.Almost every freshwater canal down here holds these fish, and its not uncommon to catch +5 pounders on a good day.Some lures that I have had success with are the following; Rapala x-rap, Rapala floating minnow, Heddon tiny torpedo,Rebel pop-r,crankbaits,etc.A good place you can try that is less than a hour's drive from Hollywood is the canal systems near the Opa Locka Airport.These canals are loaded with exotic fish, and you have a chance of catching freshwater snook and tarpon as well.

 

The canal directly behind Opa Locka Airport on Red Road and NW 142nd Street is particularly good, especially the ''L'' shaped section. Once you catch a couple peacock bass you can go to Amelia Earhart Park, which is less than 10 minutes away from this canal. There isn't much peacock bass in this park, but the bass fishing is excellent. Most of the bass I catch in this park are 1-4 pounds and I have lost count of the +6 pounders I have caught, including one that was +8 pounds and +24 inches in length in the lake by the soccer field.You should be able to catch over 10 bass if you fish for a couple hours.Let me know if you need more help and have fun!

If you were to drive far enough south, you have the c-1 and c-100 canals in the palmetto bay area. I personally have not caught 5+ lb peas as often as some of these other guys more north of me, but the canals down here are littered with 1-3lbers and cichlids.