Miami Canals Report & Pics

[Biz-R-OWorld]

Was in South Beach with my girlfriend for 5 days. Did a day of fishing with Captain Frank Carbone ?The Hawg Hunter? on the Miami Canals on Friday, 5/20.  I had seen Frank on a few tv shows including Lunkerville.  It was weird to me to find out that the fishing was actually better in the middle of the day when the sun was beating and temps were close to 90.  The peaco*ck, being from the Amazon love really warm water temps.  The Miami canals were very narrow in some parts and very shallow. It was cool to navigate through these canals and see the backyards of many houses, etc.  We fished live shiners for peaco*ck bass.  We pitched the shiners along the shores and in the deep water, slowly retrieving them with a jerk here and there.  In total we caught 10 peaco*ck bass.  I was also lucky enough to catch 1 Snook and 1 Jaguar Guapote, both rare in these canals.  The Jaguar Guapote had a few sharp teeth. Luckily, I didn?t lip this fish.  My biggest peaco*ck was 19.5? and weighed 5lbs. We also stopped at a Cuban Restaurant on the water for lunch. I can?t say enough good things about Frank Carbone.  He even pitched a few shiners for my girlfriend into key spots and handed her the rod to set the hook and fight and land the fish herself, etc. It was an awesome time and cool to catch a species of fish only found in South Florida in regards to the U.S. and other parts of world.

I would say these fish fought like Smallmouth Bass (on steroids).  They stay deep and fought extremely hard.  We lost a few that got snagged in the deep water around logs, etc.  We were told they are like fingerprints, in that no 2 fish have the same exact markings.

[Biz-R-OWorld]

3rd pic is Snook, 4th pic is Jaguar Guapote.

[Biz-R-OWorld]

Pic 1 - Cuban restaurant on the canal.
Pic 2 - My girlfriends biggest, 16"

[cityfishing]

Nice colorful peac0cks.  Snook also put up a mean fight too.  Did you try any lures or just shiners?

[bobssandt]

cool fish biz

[Biz-R-OWorld]

Thanks. We threw a couple of topwater lures early in the morning. I missed 1 hit. Also had a huge carp on a topwater bait, it broke the treble hook right off the lure.

[KenH]

Welcome back Biz and nice pictures.
I especially like that Jaguar Guapote. Looks like
some kind of African Cichlid. Very cool and unusual.

 

[new2titicus]

Hey Biz, thanks for the report, that Carp must have been huge!  Do you happen to know if the canals are brackish or fresh water? 

[yonkers26]

Looks like a great time, congrats. I've fished the canals on the Gulf Coast and they are loaded with fish. I have a ton of family in FL and love to get out on the water whenever I can.

[lionpshark]

Welcome Back and congrats Biz looks like you had a blast & money well spent! Did you bring and use any of your gear or was it all supplied by the charter? That is crazy carp hitting topwater baits it must have been one hell of a fight. What size line where you using?

[johnjav]

wow what an awesome trip, cool fish, thanks for posting up the pics.  That jaguar fish looks like a managuense that can be found in the pet stores, i wonder if its the same?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DphvI2Go474[/youtube]

[Biz-R-OWorld]

I asked the guide about the water being brackish or not, and he said he thought it was just freshwater, but some people have said that it is brackish.

He knew a spot were some carp hung out early in the morning. The spot was near a hotel balcony, where people must throw food and stuff for the ducks, etc.  He said the carp were in teh 20-30 pound range.  They probably hit the topwater bait thinking it was a free meal.

The Jaguar fish is a tropical fish he said, so John you are probably right, you probably can buy them in petstores. From what I read online, they are sold in petstores and only get to about like 13-15" max.

Yes, he provided all tackle and everything. I could have brought lures to try if I wanted to, etc....but I didnt bring anything. He said some people come with flyfishing gear and do it that way.

[Big AB]

Fun in the sun, nice fish Biz