hey florida PB fishermen...
- Thread starter Mr.Geoff
- Start date
I believe Orlando is a tad bit too north for cichla. They are only present in extreme southern florida in the Miami/Everglades area.
Hey, yah no pbass here, palm beach is still over an hour and a half south of here!! Small mouth bass, huge plecos and gars and such are found here though - but not sure where you can fish for them the majorty are in the state parks. Although there is only one spot I would think to be good for freshwater fishing (as most people here salt fish) is on 520 its a non-highway route from here to cocoa beach, there is a small resturaunt off a river (kinda reminds me of the everglades acutally..) but there are alot of fish in their and always tons of people fishing. They also have airboat rides and the food at the resturaunt is very good. I will warn you to be >exremely< carefull if you go there though b/c its infested with alligators. Now if you want to go saltwater fishing I can tell you quite a few good spots to go to. If you want to relax and enjoy your day and look at fish there is Wekiwa Springs, Rock Springs and Blue Springs- You can go caneoing and they have alot of cool fish you can go look at and the water is crystal clear and there are also designated swimming areas that are underwater netted to keep such things such as gators out. There are a few good lfs to look at around here: Pet Land at waterford lake and by the airport ( good selection), The Aquarium (open Thur-Sun odd hours) awesome place, RBCs I think it is (old Jacks Aquarium) right down the road from The Aquarium, Fishy Business (rare fish - bad customer service), Seven Seas (ok sometimes), There is also one in Kissimme that is really cool but I forgot the name I'll try to find it out (they used to sell on this board but I dont think they do ne more) and Ocean Blue there are more in the area but the rest either dont take care of there fish or there not worth driving to.
There are no smallmouth bass, but huge large mouths down there. If you can find a even a small pond and get some live shiners for bait Im sure you will catch some nice bass.
my bad not good with freshwater fishing its kinda new to me as the fl trip was my frist time freshwater fishing, so I pretty much know gars, midas, pbass, carp, plecos, tilapias, uros/miyans and pbass (as that what I mostly caught/saw) so I just knew we had some bass. If you want to go salt fishing though I know good spots for sheapshead, reds, whiting, snook some king fish and others =)
I was down in Pensacola a month or so ago and caught some nice sheepies. A couple were 7lbs.
If you go fishing for sheepshead use as light as line as possible (I used 8#) and small live bait hooks. A thick line and thick hook will spook these fish. Live shrimp and live fiddlers work the best. Work close to structure such as bridge pillings and jetties. You will loose alot of rigs so bring a bunch and good luck. Sheepis are excellent table fare but a pain in the ass to clean!
For kings fish from a pier. A float kingfish rig you can find at any wallyworld or bait shop is good enough for this. First you will need to catch live bait and bluerunners/hardtails are the best. Throw the fish out live and hold on. If your bait dies or isnt swimming much catch a new one and use it. It is also possible you catch sharks or barracuda this way!
If you go fishing for sheepshead use as light as line as possible (I used 8#) and small live bait hooks. A thick line and thick hook will spook these fish. Live shrimp and live fiddlers work the best. Work close to structure such as bridge pillings and jetties. You will loose alot of rigs so bring a bunch and good luck. Sheepis are excellent table fare but a pain in the ass to clean!
For kings fish from a pier. A float kingfish rig you can find at any wallyworld or bait shop is good enough for this. First you will need to catch live bait and bluerunners/hardtails are the best. Throw the fish out live and hold on. If your bait dies or isnt swimming much catch a new one and use it. It is also possible you catch sharks or barracuda this way!