Freshwater species help

[Ken+]

Hi everyone,

There is a chance that I could do a road trip to Florida at the end of December.

I am planning 3-4 days to fish for freshwater species. The native species are great, but I have caught most of them already, so most of my focus are on the exotics. I'm on a quest for species as some of you have became familiar with my reports. The more species the better, and size really does not matter.

I will be fishing from shore only. I don't have any watercraft or have any means of transporting one on this trip.

Since most of your do not like the exotics, I would appreciate if you can share locations where you have caught these before. I'm sure these locations are no big secrets and most people could care less.

Here is a list of species I would like to catch.

Clown Knifefish (already know the Ida/Osbourn chain of lakes...looking for more specific spots and techniques)

Oscar

Spotted Tilapia

Jack Dempsey Cichlid (Any of them close to Miami area?)

Midas Cichlid

Jaguar Guapote (Any consistent areas to fish?)

Texas/Rio Grande Cichlid (Any of them close to Miami?)

African Jewel Cichlid

Yellowbelly Cichlid

Firemouth Cichlid

Cobra Snakehead (Love to hear more about locations and techniques)

Butterfly Peacock

Blue Tilapia (I hear they are finicky sometimes)

Walking Catfish (Have no clue where to find them and how)

Florida Gar (I heard in the Tamiami?)

Chain Pickerel (Any consistent spots? They appeared to be a random catch...)

Redear/Shellcracker Sunfish

Warmouth

Flier

Dollar Sunfish

I would love to catch any and all exotic species if you have a good spot to find them.

As an important note, any locations shared will not be transcribed in the report, or further shared with anyone else. You can see my track record of keep a location secret in my reports, including blurring out background and not mentioning any names. Most of my pictures are taken with fish on the ground/grass/beach, thus there are usually no revealing clues in the pictures.

I would really love to catch over 30 new species of fish on this Florida trip. I would really appreciate your help to accomplishing this goal!

Thanks!

Ken

[Sandy Feet]

I haven't lived in south florida , for over 30 yrs. , so all the exotics arrived after I left. However the gars and sunfish/shellcrackers/etc can be caught in about any fresh water canal or pond . You would probably have stay to the west side of the city , beyond the reach of any salt water intrusion. Years ago , when I lived in Margate , we had a flood , following a hurricane . The flood brought the walking catfish into the streets , where my kids were catching them with nets. I fished the waters all over south Fla. , but never caught one on rod/reel , so I can't give you any pointers there. Hope you catch them all . Keep us posted .

[Ken+]

Thanks Sandy Feet. I'll remember to stay to the west side of the city.

Anyone else?

[bsfl]

Here is a list of species I would like to catch.

Clown Knifefish (already know the Ida/Osbourn chain of lakes...looking for more specific spots and techniques)

Oscar- Random catch for me on Everglades side of C-14.

Spotted Tilapia- Lake Coral Springs

Jack Dempsey Cichlid (Any of them close to Miami area?)-??

Midas Cichlid- Homestead, only place i've seen them

Jaguar Guapote (Any consistent areas to fish?)- Random catch for me on Everglades side of C-14.

Texas/Rio Grande Cichlid (Any of them close to Miami?)- ??

African Jewel Cichlid- With a dip net near water control structure to the west side of markham park

Yellowbelly Cichlid- ??

Firemouth Cichlid- ??

Cobra Snakehead (Love to hear more about locations and techniques)- Coral Springs, Coconut Creek- use a scum frog or sight fish. If sight fishing just pull it past em and make it look edible

Butterfly Peacock- Pembroke Pines off Pines blvd near 75

Blue Tilapia (I hear they are finicky sometimes)- Canal behind the Royal Palm BLVD BP in Coral Springs, they are picky

Walking Catfish (Have no clue where to find them and how)- Not this far south, I dont believe

Florida Gar (I heard in the Tamiami?)- C-14 near the Everglades

Chain Pickerel (Any consistent spots? They appeared to be a random catch...)- Julington Creek in Jacksonville, sorry

Redear/Shellcracker Sunfish- Piece of worm in any freshwater in Broward/Palm Beach county

Warmouth- Piece of worm in any freshwater in Broward/Palm Beach county/ bigger ones on beetle spins near the Broward/Collier county line


Flier-??

Dollar Sunfish-??

[Ken+]

@bslf - Thanks for the leads on those locations. I'll start exploring from the ones you provided! Much appreciated!

@strizile - Thanks for the suggestion. I've done some reading, but only some of the more recent reports. I'll try as you suggested to use the fish name as keyword and search for some older reports.

Always appreciate more info if you can provide them. Thanks all!