South Florida…in my opinion, one of the best locations in the entire United States to throw a fly line (especially if you are like me where the more species encountered, the better). Although many people associate South Florida fly fishing with hitting the saltwater towards the Keys, my mind immediately thinks about the canals in Miami/Fort Lauderdale where you can find species that are no where else in the country. In addition to this, when the rest of the country is dealing with colder weather and fishing seasons winding down, South Florida remains warm enough where you can escape to a convenient “paradise” for a few days and get on some fish.

I was fortunate enough this year to visit the Miami area twice (once in January and then once in November), and during theses visits, I was able to find and catch a fan favorite… the Peacock bass. I found most of these fish in two specific canal systems in shallow water.

To kick it off, the conditions presented a major challenge. Peacock bass (with origins from the hot, humid climate of South America) THRIVE off of warm weather and warm water, and you will have an exceedingly difficult time finding them during big cold fronts. I ran into cold fronts in both January and November, but fortunately was able to figure a few things out and find some areas that held fish. Although the fishing was tougher, I found that doing the following produced the most fish for me: sleep in and only fish during the warmest part of the day, and strip the fly as fast as you possibly can. For full transparency (as I like to do on this site), I woke up super early two mornings thinking that this might have active fish, only to find out (and even see) that these fish weren’t ready and warm enough to eat.

Once it was warm enough, flies were eaten, fights were had, and beautiful fish were brought to hand. The best thing about fly fishing for peacocks is how visual it can be – these fish are often times hugging the shore shallow, allowing you to sight fish to your hearts desire. If you fish for them during the spring and summer (which I’d honestly recommend over the colder months), you can even find these fish on aggressive and shallow on beds. For my outings this year, I found my best peacocks under vegetation waiting in ambush to smack prey. Throwing any small white or chartreuse deer hair fly, and stripping as fast as I could, did the trick! I sight fished the below peacock (one of my largest ever) in this exact fashion, and it put up a terrific fight on the 8-weight.

Although I had a handful of successful outings, I very much look forward to returning to the canal systems during warmer months of the year to see if larger numbers of “bigger” fish can be found. I’m a big fan of any sized peacock as they are one of the most beautiful and best fighting fish you can find (great examples of what I’m talking about below) I’d love to sharpen my skillset on consistently finding larger fish. I also need to commit some time to searching for Snakeheads and Clown Knifefish on the fly!

In addition to this, I do want to highlight that the largemouth bass fishing seems to improve with some colder weather. While searching pretty exclusively for peacocks, I caught countless largemouth along the way. Need to appreciate this local species as they helped keep the rod bent during the colder days!

Tight lines!

Joe