Peacock Bass Fish Kills 2024

South FLA reply :

Made a few cast in my backyard canal/lake system and saw about 10 floating peacock bass, anyone else see any floater?

I am in Palm Beach Gardens, which is close to their northern limit, but its been pretty cold down to Miami.

soccplayer07 reply :

must be nice to cast towards water and not ice!!!

Thai reply :

Once water temps drop below 60 they are goners

quanjig reply :

Thought about that today as I chatted with my moms this evening. She said that the fish farmers were really doing their best to keep the fish alive, I can only imagine what is happening to the tropicals in the cannal systems. Ouch

Thai reply :

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Thought about that today as I chatted with my moms this evening. She said that the fish farmers were really doing their best to keep the fish alive, I can only imagine what is happening to the tropicals in the cannal systems. Ouch

If im not mistaken the canals are mostly limestone or coral? But the water clarity and shallow depths means the rocks heat up and retain alot of heat and in the summer game fish cant tolerate the high temps and non native cichlids are the ones most suited in them. Im sure even now in the canals the temps are a little higher than the reservoirs and retention ponds, the canals should be the pbass safe haven

etommy28 reply :

I have not seen any dead fish at all, but I will be going to a lake tomorrow with peacock as well as snook in it so i will see if there are any floaters there.

SirSnookalot reply :

I've been out everyday and I actually did catch a peacock a few days ago. Yesterday I was dropping lures on top of Peas and they just swam away. No floaters yet but I'm sure it's going to be a bad winter kill, worse than last year.

As Peacocks take over bass territory many are happy to see winter kill, I'm not in that camp.

Snook handle the cold a bit better and migrate into canals to seek warmer water or ICW at the power plant.

Flips reply :

I fished down in Miami yesterday and we caught them on jerkbaits! We did see a bunch of Oscars acting funny though... No dead Peacocks seen around Holiday Park either. The weather has been brutal down there.

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

None dead in my lake. I'm not all that far from Holiday park. Luckily, my lake here is deep. Like 60' deep in most spots. Most of the other residential lakes in this area are only 12' - 15' deep. I didn't catch any, but I did have several follow baits up yesterday from deeper water. The temps get a little warmer today (mid 70's) then drop back off until Monday/Tuesday when it starts to warm back up again. Hopefully they can hold off for a few days longer.

bocabasser reply :

going to be another tough weekend. i am sure a lot of peacocks will perish after this next front. going to my sister in laws sunday, i will let you know what i found.

salmicropterus reply :

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Thought about that today as I chatted with my moms this evening. She said that the fish farmers were really doing their best to keep the fish alive, I can only imagine what is happening to the tropicals in the cannal systems. Ouch

If im not mistaken the canals are mostly limestone or coral? But the water clarity and shallow depths means the rocks heat up and retain alot of heat and in the summer game fish cant tolerate the high temps and non native cichlids are the ones most suited in them. Im sure even now in the canals the temps are a little higher than the reservoirs and retention ponds, the canals should be the pbass safe haven

I was out at Sawgrass on Wednesday and can confirm 1000s of tropical fish kills including Mayans which don't die off until about 52 degree water temp far below any survivability of Peacock. While there are not a lot of peacocks in that system, I think you can safely assume that the Everglades canals (Miami, L-67, the Alley) will have similar temps and similar fish kills including peacocks that are in those systems).

If the canals, primarily down in Dade have connection to the Biscayne Aquifer, the temps will usually stay above 60 in those canals and the peacock will survive. Those that have migrated north in Broward, Palm Beach will be hit hard. This is what was originally intended for the Peacock when they were introduced by FWC

etommy28 reply :

none dead, infact I caught one little one.

Krzkev reply :

I have notice over the years that the smaller peacocks have a much better tolerance to the cold temps, its the bigger adults that seem to be affected more rapidly. Fortunately the grow very fast, and bounce back fairly quick. Seems like we will never have real big ones, unless we get multiple years of warm winter months. That's what makes them even more challenging, and sought after.

Thai reply :

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Thought about that today as I chatted with my moms this evening. She said that the fish farmers were really doing their best to keep the fish alive, I can only imagine what is happening to the tropicals in the cannal systems. Ouch

If im not mistaken the canals are mostly limestone or coral? But the water clarity and shallow depths means the rocks heat up and retain alot of heat and in the summer game fish cant tolerate the high temps and non native cichlids are the ones most suited in them. Im sure even now in the canals the temps are a little higher than the reservoirs and retention ponds, the canals should be the pbass safe haven

I was out at Sawgrass on Wednesday and can confirm 1000s of tropical fish kills including Mayans which don't die off until about 52 degree water temp far below any survivability of Peacock. While there are not a lot of peacocks in that system, I think you can safely assume that the Everglades canals (Miami, L-67, the Alley) will have similar temps and similar fish kills including peacocks that are in those systems).

If the canals, primarily down in Dade have connection to the Biscayne Aquifer, the temps will usually stay above 60 in those canals and the peacock will survive. Those that have migrated north in Broward, Palm Beach will be hit hard. This is what was originally intended for the Peacock when they were introduced by FWC

Thanks for the info! I'm actually planning a trip next month and you seem to know the area, where would my best bet be to catch a pbass in winter down there?

salmicropterus reply :

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Thought about that today as I chatted with my moms this evening. She said that the fish farmers were really doing their best to keep the fish alive, I can only imagine what is happening to the tropicals in the cannal systems. Ouch

If im not mistaken the canals are mostly limestone or coral? But the water clarity and shallow depths means the rocks heat up and retain alot of heat and in the summer game fish cant tolerate the high temps and non native cichlids are the ones most suited in them. Im sure even now in the canals the temps are a little higher than the reservoirs and retention ponds, the canals should be the pbass safe haven

I was out at Sawgrass on Wednesday and can confirm 1000s of tropical fish kills including Mayans which don't die off until about 52 degree water temp far below any survivability of Peacock. While there are not a lot of peacocks in that system, I think you can safely assume that the Everglades canals (Miami, L-67, the Alley) will have similar temps and similar fish kills including peacocks that are in those systems).

If the canals, primarily down in Dade have connection to the Biscayne Aquifer, the temps will usually stay above 60 in those canals and the peacock will survive. Those that have migrated north in Broward, Palm Beach will be hit hard. This is what was originally intended for the Peacock when they were introduced by FWC

Thanks for the info! I'm actually planning a trip next month and you seem to know the area, where would my best bet be to catch a pbass in winter down there?

Thai, unless I see or hear otherwise that the Ps aren't wiped out up here, down in Dade probably the C-4 system would be your safest bet. It's the system across the highway from the Miami airport. There are other places further south but the ramps and/or the areas can be pretty dicey and I'd hate to steer you there. I'll keep my eyes open up in Broward and let you know about it's situation

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

I'm really hoping they last through this cold snap that rolled through today. I had a good day yesterday catching them when the temps got back into the 70's. But it's getting cold outside and you know it'll be worse tonight. It's supposed to warm back up by Tuesday or so. Hopefully the water temps don't drop to that nasty fish killing point.

kiko13 reply :

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Luckily, my lake here is deep. Like 60' deep in most spots.

Sunset?

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

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Luckily, my lake here is deep. Like 60' deep in most spots.

Sunset?

Private development in Broward. Just west of Dykes Road and I-75. It was one of the spots they dug out for the fill on all the new house properties about 8 or 9 years ago when this area sprung up.

kiko13 reply :

Addict- my brother lives just west of 75 in the Monaco Cove subdivision and I have a good friend that lives on Sunset Lakes which is practically next door. That lake has some very deep holes in it. I have caught a few Peacocks (fly rod) when I visit them.

Ernie

salmicropterus reply :

Lot's of dead P's at MM 41 on the Alley.

It takes a couple of days for a fish dying from temperature to actually float. These were see laying on the bottom and in some cases floating

GLADES reply :

All of the cold rain we had friday night must have really dropped the water temperature.

The sustained cold we are having is really thinning the herd.

SirSnookalot reply :

On the bright side, maybe the bluefish will finally show up.

avid reply :

Last night was the coldest it's been in 30 years.

Things will start to gradually warm up they say, but it don't look like anything near normal for another week or more.

SirSnookalot reply :

I have been reading of hundreds of floaters from people that have been out, as far down as Miami area.

George Welcome reply :

http://www.snookfoundation.org

Protected waters of Indian River are loaded with stressed fish.

South FLA reply :

Have seen many stressed and floating peacock bass and oscars in my canal system and adjacent neighborhoods! Nature's trash collectors are out in full force picking up the carnage, brown pelicans, snake birds, egrets, buzzards, and ospreys are in much higher numbers around the area. I saw a snake bird yesterday who looked distorted he was so full of fish. I guess in the end it may be good since a thinned out population of exotics will allow Bertha to have less competition, but it is sad seeing so many dead fish.

bocabasser reply :

went to my sister in laws on sunday. as i walked to the lake, i could smell the death. there were at least 50 dead peacocks and most of them were between 3 and 5 pounds. i only saw a couple of little ones that were dead. there were also a lot of dead cichlids.

on a brighter note, the cold has killed many iguanas. mother nature has a way of fixing things.

salmicropterus reply :

From what I am hearing from my sources, it sounds pretty much like a near total wipe-out north of the Alley-marginally better but not much south of the Alley in Broward and not so bad in Dade. Exceptions might be residential lakes with some depth and maybe a bit warmer water down deep. The biggest problem beyond just the dip in water temps is how prolonged this has been and will be. The days are sunny but windy and there is not any daytime warming of the water so it has been about 10 days now with water temps below 60

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

Luckily I haven't seen any on my lake yet, but I'm sure that there are some in this water system. Several lakes in the area are all ajoined, so who knows. My uncle has some lakefront property as well, and he's got massive fish kills in the shallower water he has. Really stinks, his lake was some good fishing. Thank god this cold snap is starting to end. I know I can't take much more of it, I'm sure whatever fish are left alive are on their last legs.

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

You know, now that I think of it...the only good thing to come out of all this cold is that I got a chance to re-spool and re-lube all of my reels, clean up my rods, and restock on some tackle. The big problem is that I've ended up at one of the two Bass Pro shops every day for like the last week just out of boredom. The cold really needs to go, it's starting to hurt my wallet as well as the fishing...

I.rar reply :

reading this thread has been very depressing. im heading back to miami in a few days and was hoping the pea's wouldnt suffer like this.

any idea how long it would take their population to 'bounce back'?

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

No idea. I hope it's not as bad as it seems and most of them found some deep water to hang out in. I doubt Fish and Game down here is too worried about restocking them. They weren't supposed to last here that long to start with.

I.rar reply :

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No idea. I hope it's not as bad as it seems and most of them found some deep water to hang out in. I doubt Fish and Game down here is too worried about restocking them. They weren't supposed to last here that long to start with.

i hope not too. i would imagine they would do something about it. maybe not though...

when is the last time we had weather like this?

salmicropterus reply :

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reading this thread has been very depressing. im heading back to miami in a few days and was hoping the pea's wouldnt suffer like this.
any idea how long it would take their population to 'bounce back'?

Two things-their growth rate is somewhat faster than a largemouth and more importantly, many of them spawn more than once a year. The fishery can get restored pretty quickly. These fish were introduced by FWC to control the invasive tropicals that were in the water system done south. Over time, with warm winters, they migrated northward and westward but the intent, in picking the peacock to be the predator of choice was to be sure, through nature's temperature control, to never let them get into Lake Okeechobee. So, in a sad way, the theory worked. Someone else also posted about them not getting too big due to these kills-offs. That is because when they were introduced by FWC, they introduced the smallest subspecie of the 4 that exist. The grandes of Brazil are a different subspecie. These down here in SOFLA are called "butterfly" and they are the smallest, even staying somewhat small in comparison to the others down in Brazil

Krzkev reply :

Part of what he just said is true, they introduced two species of Peacock bass in the 80's. Yes, one of them was the Butterfly, and the other was the Speckled which gets fairly big like 20 lbs or so, and for some reason other than temp they all croaked, I guess none of them survived. Fortunately the Butterflies did make it, and hopefully they will still be around.

flyboy reply :

I live in SW Broward near Pines and I 75. The lake behind my house is loaded with Peacocks and I have not seen any distressed fish; the Iguanas in the area look like logs though. I may go out tomorrow and see if I can hookup. Usually a cast or two with one of those Rattletraps with the through hook and blade does the trick.

Thai reply :

Pbass in optimum conditions can grow extremely fast reaching 6" in about 5 months from hatching and can grow over 2" a month until about 16" then it slows a bit but is still considerably faster than LMB, by then they are usually sexual mature and capable of spawning every 2 months or so, I wouldnt worry much about them being decimated, it only takes one pair to start a breeding population, esp with both parents gaurding the eggs and fry

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

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I live in SW Broward near Pines and I 75. The lake behind my house is loaded with Peacocks and I have not seen any distressed fish; the Iguanas in the area look like logs though. I may go out tomorrow and see if I can hookup. Usually a cast or two with one of those Rattletraps with the through hook and blade does the trick.

Hell, you're right down the street from me. I'm on Miramar Pkwy and 75.

SirSnookalot reply :

Hearing lots of bad reports regarding floaters, went out yesterday and didn't see any but that doesn't they didn't parish around here. Have seen many mayans gasping at the surface.

Keep an eye out for the buzzards, seeing them all over the banks feasting.

A.Do? reply :

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reading this thread has been very depressing. im heading back to miami in a few days and was hoping the pea's wouldnt suffer like this.
any idea how long it would take their population to 'bounce back'?

Two things-their growth rate is somewhat faster than a largemouth and more importantly, many of them spawn more than once a year. The fishery can get restored pretty quickly. These fish were introduced by FWC to control the invasive tropicals that were in the water system done south. Over time, with warm winters, they migrated northward and westward but the intent, in picking the peacock to be the predator of choice was to be sure, through nature's temperature control, to never let them get into Lake Okeechobee. So, in a sad way, the theory worked. Someone else also posted about them not getting too big due to these kills-offs. That is because when they were introduced by FWC, they introduced the smallest subspecie of the 4 that exist. The grandes of Brazil are a different subspecie. These down here in SOFLA are called "butterfly" and they are the smallest, even staying somewhat small in comparison to the others down in Brazil

Excellent info there! There are actually more than 4 subspecies of pbass but you are correct that FL ones are smaller, not necessarily the smallest, than those big boys you see in South American fishing trips. A lot of people also believe that the florida strains are actually hybrids of two subspecies.

They should bounce back in no time, whether that is a good or bad thing is up to you.

I.rar reply :

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Excellent info there! There are actually more than 4 subspecies of pbass but you are correct that FL ones are smaller, not necessarily the smallest, than those big boys you see in South American fishing trips. A lot of people also believe that the florida strains are actually hybrids of two subspecies.

They should bounce back in no time, whether that is a good or bad thing is up to you.

i love catching peacock bass , so thats a great thing to hear. ;D

im sure from when they were first introduced to now , there has been a few cold snaps similar to this one , they will bounce back. i guess its just a matter of how long it would take.

btw , was there any reason they never brought the larger specie over here? or was this one the hardiest?

A.Do? reply :

I believe this strain/species is more tolerant of the cooler temps.

South FLA reply :

Fish Nerds Rejoice!

Most comprehensive site on Peacock Bass I have found.

http://www.acuteangling.com/taxonomy/peacock-bass-species.html

Florida Fish and Wildlife Publication about Peacock Bass

http://www.myfwc.com/docs/WildlifeHabitats/Nonnative_FW_PeacockBass2008FlWildlifeMag.pdf#search=%22peacock%20bass%22

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

Nice read in that article. I saw several largemouths cruising the shoreline on my lake this afternoon. Hopefully the peacocks won't be far behind. Yay for warmer weather!

TimJ reply :

before all of this cold weather and its ramifications, how far north were there fishable populations of peacocks? not that theyre gone but could be damaged now.

Bassn Blvd reply :

They were as far north for certain as Belvedere Rd in West Palm Beach and I believe even up to Palm Beach Gardens.

SoFl-native reply :

Yup. Buddy of mine caught some off of Northlake. That was the furthest north i ever heard of them being......besides transplants.

floutdoorguy reply :

The peacock bass are most likely gone in Palm Beach, Broward County and most of Dade.

There are major kills reports as far South as Homestead.

If you are not seeing them, understand a healthy fish sinks to the bottom and lays there until something eats it or it float to the surface as it rots. The main reason we have not seem this yet is because of the water temps, as the water warms over the next couple of weeks the death will rise unfortunately.

bocabasser reply :

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date=1263568209]The peacock bass are most likely gone in Palm Beach, Broward County and most of Dade.
There are major kills reports as far South as Homestead.

If you are not seeing them, understand a healthy fish sinks to the bottom and lays there until something eats it or it float to the surface as it rots. The main reason we have not seem this yet is because of the water temps, as the water warms over the next couple of weeks the death will rise unfortunately.

there is no way they are "gone". i believe the population has suffered a huge loss, but no way are they gone. those fish are more resilient than most think. even if one male and one female survived in each body of water, they will flourish again. this isn't the first peacock kill i have seen nor will it be the last.

XsnakeheadhunterX reply :

I haven't seen anything yet in my lake.

I did see some disoriented plecos and snakeheads.

Haven't caught any largemouth. Fished a senko slooooow for hours too.

SirSnookalot reply :

I have seen many on line photos of dead peacocks in Dade and Broward, very bad winter kill. For me the bass have been off since the weather has warmed, I did very good on the colder days.

From what I hear the snook are fairing better, a few caught off the beach couple of days ago.

I.rar reply :

woooo!! feels good to be back in miami. should be up in miramar today and possibly do some fishing. i really hope its not as bad as everyone says...

MuahMan reply :

I was out on Lox yesterday. I don't think there are any Peacocks in there but there were dead Mayans everywhere. Water teamps were between 52-54 degrees. Fished in near gale force winds for 4 hours before giving up. Didn't get a single bite. First time I've seen the fishing this bad since I moved to FL. I thought the warmer temps of the past few days would have turned on the bite with pre-spawn feeding but I can't anything from the shore or the canal behind my house (C-16).

Krzkev reply :

Went out on my local lake a couple days ago, and got totally skunked for like 3.5 hours. I saw allot of stressed out myans and quite a few dead ones also. I only saw a few dead peacocks, but I would think that the birds and other scavengers have had their way with all the floaters by now. Only time will tell if we still have them up here, or if all of them got frozen.

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

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woooo!! feels good to be back in miami. should be up in miramar today and possibly do some fishing. i really hope its not as bad as everyone says...

Good luck with the weather....

Captain Shane Procell reply :

I was in the Big Cypress today to do a little scouting for bass. I was shocked to see literally thousands of dead talapia, oscar and cyclid floating south. It was a river of death as far as I could see. I fished for an hour and never saw a live non native fish. The fish kept poping up off the bottom like corks. It had to be a 100% kill off on the non natives. I can't prove this but it sure looked like it from my perspective. This had me pondering how the fish kill would affect the native fish population in Everglades in the near future? In the Big Cypress, the non natives had gotten out of control and it was common to have a catch ratio of 1 to 1, native to non native. I believe the bass should thrive mainly due to less demand of the existing food source. I know that the non natives were aggressive towards the bass fry. However the biggest bass I ever caught(picked it up by hand as it could not dive) had a 1 1/2# cyclid stuffed in it's mouth. So I figure the bigger bass were eating them as well. Still.... good ridence to all non native species.

Dwight Hottle reply :

I'm in Islamorada this month & the cold front has caused a massive die-off of tarpon, snook & bonefish thruout the everglades & bay. Water temps down to 40 degrees before the warmup started. The state has closed the season on tarpon, bonefish & snook until April.

etommy28 reply :

went out today, there were losts of died cichlids, talapia, and a few snook. but no peacocks. they seam to have made it to the deap water in time.

bocabasser reply :

fished a tourny today at holiday. i ran to the fingers and saw 100's of dead cichlids, tilapia, and peacocks. didn't get a single bite. ran to the miami canal and caught a limit in about 20 minutes. all small fish. finished 4th with 6 pounds. even in the miami canal there were 100's of dead cichlids and many dead peacocks.

The Catcher reply :

I saw a few dead peacocks in my canal-lake combo. They were mainly small ones. Hopefully the big mommas swam to the deeper waters of the lake. They were all on the bottom, none floating thus far. Hope not too many were killed off. I can't wait to start fishing for them come Spring. BTW, I live on the dead end of the canal and the lake is about 2 tenth's of a mile away. I know they will start floating in time. I just hope the kill is a minor one.

I.rar reply :

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Good luck with the weather....

it cleared up later in the afternoon and i managed one decent largemouth on a spinnerbait. first time using one and shortly after i lost it to a mean snag. i tried slow cranking a shad rap , jig and a double hula grub with no luck. not sure what the water temp was but it was pretty cold. i asked the cousins husband and he said he hasnt seen any floaters in their lake so maybe they managed to hug the bottom and wernt too affected by the weather.

either way , its still nice to be outside fishing and still be able to feel your fingers after 30 minutes. ;D

regretlove reply :

Raining today, but we managed to catch 3 - 2 peacock and 1 small mouth. A friend once told me that the 2 best times for fishing was when it wasn't raining..and when it was.

SirSnookalot reply :

2 peacock and a small mouth.......hmmmmmmmmm

George Welcome reply :

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Raining today, but we managed to catch 3 - 2 peacock and 1 small mouth. A friend once told me that the 2 best times for fishing was when it wasn't raining..and when it was.

Before someone jumps all over you young lady, there are no smallmouth in Florida. Glad you had fun. Where were you fishing?

SirSnookalot reply :

Just got back from a canal here in Delray, dead peacocks by the dozens, blue tilapia, some mayans and lots of dead plecos. One thing I dead notice was the dead were large in each of the species, no juvenile fish.

Flips reply :

We found tons of dying Snook at Okeechobee last week! I didn't think they lived in there but there were hundreds in the shallows up to 20lbs... What does a Pleco look like? There was also tons of dying Tilapia too.

South FLA reply :

Went fishing in my backyard canal/lake system to access the damage of the cold has done, NOT GOOD for non-natives! Spotted tilipia by the dozen, about 20 floating juvenile peacocks under 2 pounds, a larger peacock in ths shallows that didn't float yet. The largemouth bite was off only landed 3 fish in about 2 hours of fishing, where I usually land 10-30 >. Also, I have a fish feeder that attracts many spotted and blue tilipia when it goes off at various times during the day, guess what only bluegill come up! Its amazing what the sustained cold weather has done to the non-natives where I live (Palm Beach Gardens)

Anyway, this may be a blessing for native fish species such as largemouth and bream. I am sure some survived, but the lack of competitors may let bucketmouth get big, but then again since many non-native forage fish died off such as spotted tilipia it may leave them with less forage, where's Mr. Lusk when you need him...would love his input on scenarios!

George Welcome reply :

Nature does what F&G has been trying to do: get rid of some of the invasive species of fish that plague our waters. The cold snap is a major but temporary boon to Florida's native species of fish.

Periodically this reduction of invasive species of fish caused by cold occurs. However, as I said the fix is temporary only and the recovery by these invasive species will happen rather quickly.

SoFl-native reply :

Fished Osbourne on Saturday. Saw some talapia, clown knife fish, ciclids floating....no peacocks.

Went to Lox yest. Talapia, and ciclids floating, no peacocks.

Caught 11 to 3 lbs at lox.

SirSnookalot reply :

Until the peas come back I'm back into saltwater and been catching snook daily.

XsnakeheadhunterX reply :

Went out on my canal on Sunday.

Bass are on again.

Water is really stained with a lot of floating debris. Lot's of floating Mayan Cichlids, Snakeheads seem to be allright...

I have not seen any dead fish yet, just stressed ones.

My bait of choice was a black/chart flake senko. Lost one really big bass . Bass are spawning already in my canal. Lot's of big mommas on the beds.

The Catcher reply :

Since probably not all peacocks were killed during the cold snap, won't the survivors become resistant to future cold snaps, lessening the magnitude of fish kills should another one occur?

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