2 very exotic catches

[chris21]

awhile ago while fishing at one of my favorite peacock spots I saw 2 strange looking cichlids on a bed with fry, they had black horizontal patterns on their backs and bright colors on their stomachs, both were extremely beautiful, they were both aggressive in guarding their fry so I tossed a small fly into the nest and they went nuts and got them both! since I am a staff member at International Game Fish Association (IGFA) I brought them with me and added them to the aquarium in the learning lab for the kids to enjoy, after awhile my coworker finally identified them as salvini cichlids! didnt get a photo of the one I caught but here's what they look like

then just a few days ago I was fishing at this other spot when I noticed 2 more bizarre cichlids guarding their nest, 2 Ive never seen before, after much persistence I managed to pull out both of them and once again 2 extremely lovely cichlids, took them with me back to IGFA and added them to our aquariums, my coworker said they were called firemouth cichlids! once again no photo of the one's I caught but here is what they look like

its definitely clear that more people are releasing their aquarium cichlids into our canal systems, I seem to be finding new exotic species every time I go out there, Im glad I was able to remove these cichlids from our water and add them to IGFA where kids can appreciate and learn more about them, especially the firemouth as I heard they're a very aggressive species, I always love finding and catching new species! till ext time tight lines everyone!!

[Moose]

keep scratching em off the list homie

[fisherdave]

Some cool catches! Where did you catch the firemouth cichlids? I would love to add them to my fish lifelists.

[chris21]

Some cool catches! Where did you catch the firemouth cichlids? I would love to add them to my fish lifelists.

Can't say cause I got him out of my favorite go to bait spot, but at the rate exotics are spreading you may find them anywhere, they will most likely be found around hard bottom, look for flat rocks or areas with some cover as they will use them to nest

[EddieJRubi]

lol funny that where talking about cichlids check this midas cichlids caught off the gables canals this weekend by one of my buddies..

[chris21]

That's a freaking huge midas!! Looks like a potential world record, you know the current midas record is 2lb 12oz, that one surely looks like its over that weight

[EddieJRubi]

with cuban bread lmfao0o0o0o0o0o0o0!!

[MadHooker13]

Cuban bread will catch everything from Marlin to exotics