Went with a good friend of 50 years.  This is my first trip with someone else since the Pandemic started.  We all have had our shots.  We arrived on seen at the north end by 7:00.  The first cast I had a PITA messing with my fluke as soon as it landed.  These are exotics that pull on the tail and don't get hooked.  Every cast we were both got messed with and every once in a while we would hook one of these small mouth exotics.  The bass were not cooperating at all and after two hours of this constant aggravation we decided to move to another location.

 

We ran south and then west along the Alley to the dead end on the north side canal.  It didn't take too long and I felt a familiar bass bite.  Unlike the little exotics the bite was solid and not machine gun taps.  I set the hook on our first bass.  It wasn't big but it felt good for a change.  Soon I had another in the boat.  This continued for a while.

 

I think the river is so full of small exotics that the bass are full of bait fish, and not willing to attack our plastics.  It was a great day just being out there with my old buddy and telling old stories of our wild, and crazy days.  He is a retired Miami cop, and an X Marine from Viet Nam.  Lots of stories, and I'm so grateful we are both here to share them.

Peacocks and Cichlids are getting pretty common on the west coast of Florida. The canals aren't thick with them but it's easier to go sight fish for peacocks than to target largemouth in the vegetation. Thankfully, I haven't sen any exotics in the bigger bodies of water.

On 5/3/2021 at 9:03 AM, redux said:

Peacocks and Cichlids are getting pretty common on the west coast of Florida. The canals aren't thick with them but it's easier to go sight fish for peacocks than to target largemouth in the vegetation. Thankfully, I haven't sen any exotics in the bigger bodies of water.

 

 

The Peacock are a blessing and just fun to catch.  Pound for pound the pitbulls of the fish world.  The Cichlids are another story.  The number of Oscars is ridiculous in some areas of the glades.