Exotics in Ft. Lauderdale

Fishing Warm water Forum
1

Hi Folks,

I went out on some of the canals down on Alligator Alley with a fishing buddy in his motorized canoe on Monday. We caught a lot of Oscars. They have a reddish orange color with a black spot near the tail and they have small teeth. They fight like Bluegills on steriods . Lots of fun on a little 6 foot 4wt. We also caught a lot of small LMB, Stumpknockers, and a few Bluegill. We didn’t get any Peacock Bass or Mayan Cichlids even though there are some there. That place is big with lots of canals and is full of fish including lots of Gar. Its also full of gators so they don’t call it Alligator Alley for nothing. Seemed like the fish would bite just about anything that hit the water. I suspect that given such a large population of fish that competition is pretty fierce. Lots of small young fish and lots of beds. It got to be a bright sunny day and pretty hot weather.

It was a good opportunity to try out some new Crease Flies. I used #6s and #4s mostly to keep from catching too many of the little runt fish but I still got a lot of them too. The Crease Flies held up surprisingly well in the face of the Oscar onslaught for being a cheap foam fly substitute for a pencil popper. I also used some hairbugs and a Muddler Minnow. My fishing buddy used a large yellow popper mostly and a black Wooly Bugger and also did good on these.

[url=http://www.floridafisheries.com/Fishes/non-native.html#oscar:19402]Oscar[/url:19402]

[url=http://www.floridafisheries.com/Fishes/panfish.html#spotted:19402]Stumpknocker or Spotted Sunfish[/url:19402]

[url=http://www.floridafisheries.com/Fishes/non-native.html#mayan:19402]Mayan Cichlid[/url:19402]

[url=http://www.floridafisheries.com/Fishes/non-native.html#peacock:19402]Butterfly Peacock[/url:19402]

Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

“Flip a fly”

[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 19 April 2006).]

2

Just got these Oscar pics from my fishing buddy.


Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

“Flip a fly”

3

dixieangler, that post brought back some memories… I fished one of those canals about 12 years ago when I just started fly fishing, and you’re right, those Oscars are a blast. I hooked my first gar as well, in one of those spots, and lost him after he went airborne. Had to be careful when you hooked a fish, the alligators were always interested in trying to steal a free meal.

4

great post DixieA! A little Rio de Exotico right in your own backyard. I have read that some of the exotics are cannibalistic in nature and will readily hit flies tied to resemble the fry of the same species. i.e.- bright orange, chartreuse and black hair flies. The links were quite informative and I enjoyed learning about the various introduced fishes in your state.

Thanks,
Steve

I fish, therefore I swam.

5

Believe it or not, the Oscar I caught in the photo was a small one. One of the first few I caught would have went an easy 2lb.s plus and was the biggest of the day for me. But I didn’t have any scales with me. Should have measured it but didn’t think about it at the time. You know how it is, adrenaline rush .

Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

“Flip a fly”

[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 19 April 2006).]