5/28 And 5/29 Double Header - Palm Bay Bass And South Fl Peacocks

**This report is a double header, both for days fished and for the actual report. The report is a collaborative effort from myself and Alps so take that into account when you see the length. My comments are in black and his italicized in blue. Hope you enjoy**

Chapter 1 Palm Bay Bassin
My best fishin buddy (Carlos) was out of town so I decided to audition a new fishing pal on Sunday. Met up with club member Alps for some bassin.

Hopefully, I passed muster. LOL

We decided to hit up some of my spots and bike through the swamp, exploring as we go. Fished some new spots I had been eyeing as well. We started fishing a little after dawn but not much was happening so we spot jumped to hit some other waters.

Alps got the first fish of the day a few minutes after we arrived at our second spot. Very nice 4.5 lber. This guy can fish! I need to step up my game.

Beginners luck (at these new-to-me waters). But mainly, JD was kind enough to take the crappy end of the pool, saying “I’ll fish here, where there’s no structure, lousy water, absolutely no activity, etc.” That only left me ‘the good end’. Got the red carpet treatment, and I didn’t even know it, at the moment. Only later in the day would I realize that he was ‘setting me up for the kill.’ LOL

The bite was fairly steady throughout the day with some lulls.

‘Incredible’, actually…at times, strikes were coming on successive casts…one, two, three, four in a row. And sometimes, I was pulling in bass at the same rate…one, two, three. Most were approaching 2 lbs and less (several right up to that mark). We had to contend with gar, too…as well as some mudfish. During the intermissions (lulls), it was if the fish needed to huddle together and figure the next game-plan to avoid our onslought. LOL

Weather was warm but we had a nice breeze so it was never uncomfortable.

I’d say we lucked out. Perfect. Good thing we started early…it was cool then, so at least the trip going-in was comfy, temp-wise.

We tried so many artificial lures that it is difficult to remember them all but I think worms in varying colors seemed to be the best producers for numbers as well as flukes. The bass wanted nothing at all to do with swimbaits or cranks.

Was really surprised at that. Frogs, killer swimbaits, cranks…absolutely nada. Really odd, when you tally up all the fish we landed on worms, never mind another same amount of got-offs (just the bass). There WAS one other bait that one of us used, that also produced…providing for some most-excellent chop-busting (all in good fun, for sure), entertainment, EXCITEMENT, and sense of accomplishment.

About halfway thru the day, I caught 6 or 7 bluegill/bream and used them for a change up. I switched back and forth between live and arts several times while Alps stuck with the artificials the whole day.

“Stubborn,” I’ll openly admit. LOL I think JD was doing his best to ‘convert’ me, and bring me over to ‘the dark side’. LOL LOL

Neither one of us “kept score”, it was really just about having a good time and catching fish. We lost count of how many total fish we caught but I’m guessing it was around 30 between the two of us.

True, on both accounts. Really impressive action that JD put us on.

Cannot express enough how much I enjoyed my time fishing with Alps as well as just chatting about fishin, life, etc. Good times and great fishin!

Very true! Like I said, “It was a good day just to make the trip down here with ya. All the fish…were gravy.”


First fish of the day, Alps’ 4.5# on the BassAssasin Charm in morning glory(?) color.
Tequila Sunrise, I just checked the bag (btw, they don’t make this model anymore). You’ll note, if you look closely, it’s a longish-but-skinny worm profile. Went with this right off the bat – my thinking: ‘subtle…and hopefully, if they’re pressured…they haven’t seen something like this before.’ Maybe that was the problem with the other plastics I would use later that didn’t produce. These fish may have recognized those. And they’re ‘noisy’. But hard to tell, this was just one trip to these waters, so only a swag at this point. Maybe just usual ‘bass patterning’. I think most of the folks like to generally go with faster-worked lures…it’s more convenient, fits with our fast-paced notions, and there’s a LOT of water to cover out there. Worm profiles…require a little more deliberate presentation. But at times, the bass would crush them as soon as the worm hit the water. So some of it depends on lure placement, coupled with their ‘pattern’ for that day. Many of my casts…were to places that most folks wouldn’t cast into. The entire day…all my production…was on 8# mono (flouro-coated…no leader), on light spinning gear.

Anyway, nice way to start out for me…I think it was my third cast there…gently-casted into- and worked-thru- the lilies.


Alps strikes again with a different BA lure. I’ll let him chime in on the colors.

Above, “Blue Shadow GL”…almost a black-blue on top, deep royal blue on bottom half, with silver glitter. I prefer to fish with these ‘bi-colored’ lures…some experts maintain such patterns better-mimic the natural prey, and thus, turn on bass feeding mode.

I caught some fish too. This is me deep in thought, contemplating the meaning of life and how it relates to fishing. Ok, I’m lying, I was wondering if this fish had a bigger brother out there.
Actually, maybe, more like bigger grand-pa. JD has a terrific-and-deft sense of humor, with just the right touch and delivery, every time. He kept us giggling throughout.



Alps having some success with his ding dong. (It’s a real bass assassin lure people, get your head out of the gutter. LOL)
JD had a lot of fun with me this particular ‘model’ throughout the day. Shows you where HIS mind is! LOL But true, the label does say ‘Ding Dong’. It’s a c-tail type worm, this one in ‘Gooseberry’ color…top is junebug, bottom is plum. [2 different bass in pics below, successive casts] JD was getting antsy at this point, probably thinking “Why did I give this jerk the better end of the pool to fish???” 16-17 inches.



Ahem, well, this is me showing Alps how to take a 1 lb bass and it make it look like a 3 lber. All in good fun.
1 lb bass (if that)

3 lb BASS! LOL (same fish), just like life, it's all about perspective.




BOOM! 23 and ¾”, 7 lbs. Had me as giddy as a school girl!


Slow release. The survival of these fish is something I take seriously. I want my potential grandkids to be catching these fish someday.

This was an IMPRESSIVE fish…we were both guessing it was heavier than what was measured…really, really nice profile. I enjoyed watching JD fish-to and then fight this big fish and bring her in. Since I was already in the water, he generously let me land her for him. I was MOST happy to do so. These are the kinds we love to get onto!

Muddy water was from Bigfoot (me) churning things up. Rest assured, all the bass were handled properly, carefully, revered and handled gently, with hand under belly of the biggies, etc. We always used a grocery plastic bag to hold the fish horizontal as we weighed. [‘Thank you, C-Bird’, for that tip!!]


Though we could hear gators crashing in the bushes/reeds around us and their bellowing (isn’t it mating season?), Alps decided to prove his manhood and do a little wading. I stood on the sideline and did my best baby gator call to draw em in (jk). Wading was a good strategy as numerous bass were laid up right under all the lilies and were tough to get to otherwise. Still crazy though.
My feet were killing me in those damn shoes!!! In a yak, I’m usually barefoot. I tried to talk JD into joining me…it was MOST-PLEASANT, getting a foot-soak as you fish…and it was only a scrawny 7-foot gator, nothing to worry about. Wimp! [jk] But seriously, the one gator was really thrashing on something in the lilies that I was fishing to while wading. Might have been his prospective mate? I dunno. I’ve seen this kind of thing before.



That guy was smart enough to wear that ‘Salt-Life’ shirt the NEXT day.


Bass Assassin really makes some good lures.
It’s the scent-impregnation. This color – Trickster – fast-becoming one of my go-to’s. Kind of like a ‘houdini’ color…translucent yellow-green below, darker green above, with red glitter.



Solid 4 lber.

Another one, above, that fought and looked heavier (we thought) than it weighed. JD…really good job on these big fish. Make no mistake, he’s dialed-in with organics-application. Knows when to set the hook, without risking gut-hooking.


Not the biggest fish but, knowing Alps’ LOVE of all things DOA,
The bile is starting to percolate as I read this…. Ugh.
this was meant more as an eye-poke at him lol. Though you can’t see it well, this was caught on a DOA freshwater plastic. Yep, they work as well in fresh as they do in saltwater, at least on the little guys.



Now that’s what bass thumb looks like after a great day of fishin.

THUMBS! Plural, JD! That’s both of ours. Of course, some of mine is the landing of his two monsters.


Chapter 2 Boynton Beach/Delray Beach/Lake Ida Area for Peacocks
We had such a great day on Sunday that Alps and I decided to make the drive south to try for Peacocks on Monday. We had to hit up multiple locations before we found them. I bet at times, Alps felt like I was giving him a tour of all the 7-11’s in south Florida lol but we finally found some.

It’s not just about the catchin’…or the fishin’. It’s about experiencing ‘the culture’, not much different that going to another country. “When in Rome….” We got to meet and mix with the native wildlife down there.

So we learned -

· that you can catch ‘reds’ on a cane pole, in the canals;

· and they can be flipped over the shoulder into a well-placed bucket behind the fisher; sometimes, it scores the bucket ‘on the bounce’;

· Peacocks can be caught in the sewer (yummy!);

· And said peacocks taste “really sweet, better than real bass!”

· C-stores seem to be the place to ‘hang-out’ after noon, on these Monday holidays…as if nothing else was open for entertainment at that time.

· The holiday revelers – mounted on their hi-speed personal watercraft – feel the need to ‘duck’ as they zip under bridges like below, even tho there may be 6 or 7 feet of clearance;

· That JD would be ready to set-the-hook on peas whenever said boaters zipped by. I’m kinda serious…peacocks get agitated into biting, methinks, when they roar by!

· Many of the drivers on the road apparently graduated from the Bondurant Racing School. Some think they have.

· The 4-legged and winged wildlife seem to fearlessly co-exist with the two-legged variants.

· Despite all the speeders on the roads and waterways, and possibly all manner of illegal and illicit activity…law enforcement (FWC, in this case) decided to motor up-canal to a fairly-desolate corner, to JD and myself, as we were JUST getting on a possible pea-sighting; perhaps two of the most law-abiding citizens in S. Florida that day, and we get checked on! LOL I think the tactic is, “these two quiet dudes seem safe enough, so I’ll hang out here for a while, for my own protection.” Didn’t do anything for our peacock sighting, tho. He did help us with wisdom on getting peacocks. “Livebait!”

We broke out our brightest, gaudiest lures to try to get some. Seriously, needed sunglasses just to look at some of them. We worked xraps, jittergugs, swimmers, flukes, etc. I also stopped off and got some shiners, just in case. J

I tried all manner of tactic in the approach, with the arties. No interest at all, from the canal’s residents. I’m a chump! LOL

This first spot, though it looked perfect, didn’t produce any fish for us.


These guys were everywhere down there.


Towards 3 pmish, we finally found the fish and broke the skunk. Not the biggest fish but felt good to get one on the line after trying so hard for so long.
We had been looking for fishable-and-fish-bearing waters…as well as bait shops. Glad it all paid off. Waters were all pretty mookie, tough to see anything. And as JD would conclude, “not as many peas as I would have expected, esp. given the heat.”


Not the prettiest of waters to fish, but we had some nice neighbors.



Followed up the first with this nice 3lber. These fish fight much harder than their size and in my opinion, put up a much stronger fight than a largemouth. This guy fought at about twice his weight class, a real drag puller.

This was a SOLID fish. I was about 30 yards away, and when I saw fish-on, and JD was fighting the fish-and-rod in one hand, trying to take off his fanny-bag with the other, so he could slide down the bank and better land this tough, tough fighter. I broke into a run, to lend moral assistance. Was trying to come up with some kind of sidelines rabble-rousing cheer on the fly. But as I started to babble, he just told me to shut-up and give him a ‘hand-up’ the steep, slippery bank.

JD – just like the previous day – is really dialed-in on the peas. He has a keen eye for likely waters and structure that might hold such treasures [“I thought I saw a sunken shopping cart down there….”] Well, there ya go! Here I’m fishing something more normal, like bridge structure and rocks…when I really needed to think ‘out of the box’, like artificial urban reef programs. No wonder I bolo’d!!! LOL Next time, maybe, I’ll look for things like sunken cars, bodies anchored by concrete blocks, etc. etc.

Finished the day with 3 peacocks. Another great day of fishin with Alps. Really enjoyed it!

All humor aside, a real blast, and great to finally meet JD. Thanks for his graciousness…he was a phenomenal host, and we couldn’t have pulled off this double-header without his efforts.

THANK YOU, JON, FOR THIS MEMORABLE TRIP!

 

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