Mayan Cichlids
Posted: Mon May 27, 2024 4:20 pm
For probably thirty years, I have made a trip from South Carolina to Lake Okeechobee, FL to fish. At first, I went by myself and over the last twelve or fifteen years, the trip has expanded to include retirees with whom I worked in days past. A great bunch of men and I call the annual trip "The Gathering of The Geezers".
In any event, I focus exclusively on bream (bluegill to some) and have often filled my live well with the limit. However, in the last few years, I seem to catch fewer bream and more Mayan Cichlids. If you have seen peacock bass, imagine peacock bream. Bream on steroids.
I have been told that these are aquarium fish that were released into the Everglades and have multiplied. There is probably something to this because I used to catch them in the 'glades but not in Lake O. Now, I seem to catch fewer bream each year and more cichlids in Lake O.
I am not upset about it because they are tasty and plentiful. I use simple tackle (bream busters, a #4 Aberdeen hook, a small sinker and crickets) and when you hook a big cichlid, they make the line sing in the water. Simple pleasure for a simple man, I guess.
With cichlids, I practice filet and release. I take home a cooler of bream and cichlid filets and have a fish fry for friends. Dredge the filets in French's yellow mustard, bread them with House Autry Seafood Breading (might not be readily available outside the South), cook hushpuppies, french fries, a loaf of white bread and the better half of the marriage makes a bowl of cole slaw. The feast is on.
Florida Wildlife Commission considers cichlids to be an invasive species so there is not daily catch limit or total possession limit. I am doing all I can to eradicate this invasive species from Florida waters but I hope I am not successful.
In any event, I focus exclusively on bream (bluegill to some) and have often filled my live well with the limit. However, in the last few years, I seem to catch fewer bream and more Mayan Cichlids. If you have seen peacock bass, imagine peacock bream. Bream on steroids.
I have been told that these are aquarium fish that were released into the Everglades and have multiplied. There is probably something to this because I used to catch them in the 'glades but not in Lake O. Now, I seem to catch fewer bream each year and more cichlids in Lake O.
I am not upset about it because they are tasty and plentiful. I use simple tackle (bream busters, a #4 Aberdeen hook, a small sinker and crickets) and when you hook a big cichlid, they make the line sing in the water. Simple pleasure for a simple man, I guess.
With cichlids, I practice filet and release. I take home a cooler of bream and cichlid filets and have a fish fry for friends. Dredge the filets in French's yellow mustard, bread them with House Autry Seafood Breading (might not be readily available outside the South), cook hushpuppies, french fries, a loaf of white bread and the better half of the marriage makes a bowl of cole slaw. The feast is on.
Florida Wildlife Commission considers cichlids to be an invasive species so there is not daily catch limit or total possession limit. I am doing all I can to eradicate this invasive species from Florida waters but I hope I am not successful.
Classic!