Saturday 12-19-09 : Bass Fishing and Mayan Cichlid 2025
SW Florida Kid reply :
I went bass fishing today and caught three bass. I had a good time.
3 Bass and 2 Mayan Cichlids
It was cold and windy. I fished off of the side of the pond. I got one on the first cast. That's always a sign of a good day. I think I found me a new fishing spot to add to my list of ponds.
Bass #1
Bass #2
Bass #3
Mayan Cichlid #1
Mayan Cichlid #2
Thai reply :
Those are oscars but nice catches regardless bro
keep it up
SW Florida Kid reply :
QuoteThose are oscars but nice catches regardless brokeep it up
Thanks man. I try ;-)
THey were mayan cichlids... they are a non-native species that flood the area here. They all have a black spot on the tail fin. That's the give away to identifying mayan cichlid. THey are great eating too! 
soccplayer07 reply :
i agree i thought your first post pics looked like oscars however after seeing you second post they definitely are not oscars.
Thai reply :
The one in the second post is infact a Myan but the first two were oscars, trust me bro, I've been keeping cichlids for over 13 years, lots of cichlids have the eye spots on the tails you are refering to.
Oscar
Your "mayan"
SW Florida Kid reply :
QuoteThe one in the second post is infact a Myan but the first two were oscars, trust me bro, I've been keeping cichlids for over 13 years, lots of cichlids have the eye spots on the tails you are refering to.
They were mayans... i took those pics with my crappy cell phone. But they had the black dots on their tails. Really slimy fish, skitzo, and have small little teeth... i've never seen an oscar here before. I love to catch bass and mayans tho.
soccplayer07 reply :
i have to ask...the pic in your avatar shows a "glass" boat that you ran ashore...that is nuts. any problems with the glass afterwards???
Thai reply :
Sorry bro but as a hobbyist I wont let you win this one haha
Thats an oscar look at the round face and lack of vertical bars
Please Andrew or Dave chime in here
SW Florida Kid reply :
I just googled oscars... wikipedia says they are cichlids too. They are all the same... but the ones I caught were mayans.. that's all we catch some days. lol
SW Florida Kid reply :
Quotei have to ask...the pic in your avatar shows a "glass" boat that you ran ashore...that is nuts. any problems with the glass afterwards???
I didnt run it in to the shore... i got out and gently put it on the shore.. im so careful with my "Sea Guppy" 
SW Florida Kid reply :
QuoteSorry bro but as a hobbyist I wont let you win this one hahaThats an oscar look at the round face and lack of vertical bars
Please Andrew or Dave chime in here
YOu cant see the vertical bars that well at all because my cell phone pics are crappy... but they did have vertical bars.. trust me. They had vertical bars, slimy body, 1 inch thick body, 9 inches long, red spots on the tail.
soccplayer07 reply :
i have quite the cichlid collection as well. i have to agree with Thai. although i will say the pictures are quite poor in the first post.
Thai reply :
QuoteI just googled oscars... wikipedia says they are cichlids too. They are all the same... but the ones I caught were mayans.. that's all we catch some days. lol
......cichlids are in fact not all the same, you have thousands of differnt kinds in north/central, and south america and than there are rift lakes, african streams and madagascan cichlids
not the same
just like a mayan is not an oscar
SW Florida Kid reply :
Hey Thai... ur funny man. THe pictures do look like oscars on the internet and everything... but if you saw them in real life, they looked totally different. I wish I took them with my actual camera instead of a cell phone. haha. Amazing how different a fish can look when you take a pic with a distorted phone camera.
Thai reply :
haha thanks and please dont take this the wrong way, just as a hobbyist I have to win this one because allthough how bad of a picture you took body shape does not lie, oscars have a more rounded body and does not display a sloping head like a mayan which is an amphilopus species btw
Another is the fully wrapped tail that the oscars have
a mayans rarely fully wrap
SW Florida Kid reply :
Quotehaha thanks and please dont take this the wrong way, just as a hobbyist I have to win this one because allthough how bad of a picture you took body shape does not lie, oscars have a more rounded body and does not display a sloping head like a mayan which is an amphilopus species btwAnother is the fully wrapped tail that the oscars have
a mayans rarely fully wrap
ALright, well.. you may be right this time. Im going to catch another one in the same spot this week and ill take a better picture... but watch out for next time Thai. ;-) lol
Thai reply :
ahaha please feel free to post up and catch a bis bass while you're out there, what worked good for me while I was in Sfl was using a live mayan ad bait, now thats true mayan not oscar ok bud! ;D
SW Florida Kid reply :
Quoteahaha please feel free to post up and catch a bis bass while you're out there, what worked good for me while I was in Sfl was using a live mayan ad bait, now thats true mayan not oscar ok bud! ;D
I'll catch a big bass for ya soon buddy. Bass are as numerous as ants around these parts.
Thai reply :
QuoteQuoteahaha please feel free to post up and catch a bis bass while you're out there, what worked good for me while I was in Sfl was using a live mayan ad bait, now thats true mayan not oscar ok bud! ;DI'll catch a big bass for ya soon buddy. Bass are as numerous as ants around these parts.
which is why I need to make a trip down there 
1234567 reply :
Hey bro, nice job. I went out today and caught three too. I noticed something about the bass I caught today and noticed the same thing in your pictures. Don't the bass right now seem like there really skinny lately?? I don't know, maybe I'm only catching the tiny ones, but wow, mine were skinny ones! The ones I caught last week from another place were skinny too. I actually think I saw some beginning to spawn?? could that be possible already? What were you using to get yours?
etommy28 reply :
the one thing yall do have to remeber is that mayan and oscars can interbreed. I have seen it before in the same area that he is fish. and I have had cichlids for about 8 years now. as well as working in the fish department of a pet store for 2 years.
etommy28 reply :
I left last week for christmas. but before i left they had began to prepare beds. but all the fish i was catching were nice and fat. the last time I went out I had a 6 and a 7. I really depends on the lake, there is one lake i fish where ever fish you catch under 27 inches are skinny, but every thing bigger are nice and fat. it really has to do with what they feed on.... I think.
Thai reply :
Astronutus and Amphilophus species can not interbreed, they will pair up and spawn but the eggs arent fertile. You are correct in that most cichlids can and do hybridize in the aquarium trade, but oscars and Mayans do not and will not in the wild
etommy28 reply :
I have never had them do in a tank, but they will bed together in the wild, as you said the eggs may be infertile..... by the way where he fished has tons of myans but I have never caught a oscar there(but there may well be). lost of bass I have caught them up to 8 pounds in the lake and 6 pounds in that hole.
SW Florida Kid reply :
QuoteI have never had them do in a tank, but they will bed together in the wild, as you said the eggs may be infertile..... by the way where he fished has tons of myans but I have never caught a oscar there(but there may well be). lost of bass I have caught them up to 8 pounds in the lake and 6 pounds in that hole.
We need to go fishing. You said you've been at the spot... I can show u another spot around there that is pretty good too.
etommy28 reply :
that would be cool. I have a few spots I can can show you around there too.I caught the 11 in my pic not too far away. and I have caught several over 8 since the beginning of the fall semester.
SW Florida Kid reply :
Quotethat would be cool. I have a few spots I can can show you around there too.I caught the 11 in my pic not too far away. and I have caught several over 8 since the beginning of the fall semester.
omg... that's crazy. def hit me up then. heres my number 770-3327. my name is JC
South FLA reply :
Quotehaha thanks and please dont take this the wrong way, just as a hobbyist I have to win this one because allthough how bad of a picture you took body shape does not lie, oscars have a more rounded body and does not display a sloping head like a mayan which is an amphilopus species btwAnother is the fully wrapped tail that the oscars have
a mayans rarely fully wrap
I worked in the tropical fish importing business for about 2 years and was an active hobbyist (really a specialist in Discus) and I have been catching Oscars and Mayans for many years now in S. Florida and even though you have posted low quality pictures I can absolutely be certain that the they are pictures of................drum roll please....... Astronotus ocellatus not Cichlasoma urophthalmu. The most apparent give aways along with the points Thai mentioned previously is the red outline of the "fake eye or dot" also referred to as an ocelli, plural for fake eye. These fake eyes are theorized to help evade predation and/or help predators when pursuing prey.
Knowledge resources:
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/Mayancichlid/Mayancichlid.html
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/oscar/oscar.html
Thai reply :
QuoteQuotehaha thanks and please dont take this the wrong way, just as a hobbyist I have to win this one because allthough how bad of a picture you took body shape does not lie, oscars have a more rounded body and does not display a sloping head like a mayan which is an amphilopus species btwAnother is the fully wrapped tail that the oscars have
a mayans rarely fully wrap
I worked in the tropical fish importing business for about 2 years and was an active hobbyist (really a specialist in Discus) and I have been catching Oscars and Mayans for many years now in S. Florida and even though you have posted low quality pictures I can absolutely be certain that the they are pictures of................drum roll please....... Astronotus ocellatus not Cichlasoma urophthalmu.
Thank you sir! Are Mayans still lob into Cichlasoma? I swore they were reclassified under Amphilophus much like The Jack Dmepsey went from archocentrus to Nandopsis and then finally Rocio..
But again thank you sir for helping me prove my point that those in fact are Oscars not mayans
South FLA reply :
Can give you an exact answer, but according to the provide links here is what I found:
"At present, the taxonomy of the Mayan cichlid exists in something of a state of flux, as the evolutionary relationships of many cichlids remain poorly understood. Recently proposed combinations for the Mayan cichlid include but are not limited to, Herichthys urophthalmus, Parapetenia urophthalma, and Astrontous urophthalmus. Nandopsis urophthalma, is currently accepted as valid by some authors."
In my opinion scientific names are a crap shoot at times, but until some university starts genetic testing of "cichlids" to reclassify them accordingly its more of an art than a science.
J Francho reply :
I have both of you beat, LOL...but the undulate operculum is a dead giveaway that the first two are "Oscars."
Thai reply :
QuoteCan give you an exact answer, but according to the provide links here is what I found:"At present, the taxonomy of the Mayan cichlid exists in something of a state of flux, as the evolutionary relationships of many cichlids remain poorly understood. Recently proposed combinations for the Mayan cichlid include but are not limited to, Herichthys urophthalmus, Parapetenia urophthalma, and Astrontous urophthalmus. Nandopsis urophthalma, is currently accepted as valid by some authors."
In my opinion scientific names are a crap shoot at times, but until some university starts genetic testing of "cichlids" to reclassify them accordingly its more of an art than a science.
...those authors need a slap in the face if they think that... ahah but i hear you on the whole crap shoot thing...
Thai reply :
QuoteI have both of you beat, LOL...but the undulate operculum is a dead giveaway that the first two are "Oscars."
You sure its not Parachromis Managuensis? ahahah no but thats what I think of when you mention the undulating operculum, theirs are very pronouced
heres mine about to put the smackdown on my Oscar
J Francho reply :
Last I knew Parapetenia or Cichlasoma was valid. It'll always be Heros to me, LOL. But I am old.
J Francho reply :
QuoteQuoteI have both of you beat, LOL...but the undulate operculum is a dead giveaway that the first two are "Oscars."You sure its not Parachromis Managuensis? ahahah no but thats what I think of when you mention the undulating operculum, theirs are very pronouced
heres mine about to put the smackdown on my Oscar
Who the hack really knows, probably inbred/cross breeds anyway - note the missing spot on the caudal peduncle
Nice tank., BTW. And congrats on keeping discus,a rewarding fish. I was able to spawn a few captive strains,and some wild browns. Wild Heckels along with Altum angels were eventually my big heartbreakers. Raised several to adulthood, only to fail. Badly.
My forte was shell dwelling Tanganyikans, various Centrarchids, and some other oddball/difficult to keep mouthbrooders. My favorite spawning were a pair of bushy nose plecos, though. You think cichlids are violent....
Thai reply :
QuoteLast I knew Parapetenia or Cichlasoma was valid. It'll always be Heros to me, LOL. But I am old.
Im too young for this but they were classified with Severums? Blasphemy!
Thai reply :
QuoteQuoteQuoteI have both of you beat, LOL...but the undulate operculum is a dead giveaway that the first two are "Oscars."You sure its not Parachromis Managuensis? ahahah no but thats what I think of when you mention the undulating operculum, theirs are very pronouced
heres mine about to put the smackdown on my Oscar
Who the hack really knows, probably inbred/cross breeds anyway - note the missing spot on the caudal peduncle
Nice tank., BTW. And congrats on keeping discus,a rewarding fish. I was able to spawn a few captive strains,and some wild browns. Wild Heckels along with Altum angels were eventually my big heartbreakers. Raised several to adulthood, only to fail. Badly.
My forte was shell dwelling Tanganyikans, various Centrarchids, and some other oddball/difficult to keep mouthbrooders. My favorite spawning were a pair of bushy nose plecos, though. You think cichlids are violent....
Glad to hear you were succesful in breeding with the Heckles but might as asked what happened into adulthood that went so bad? I breed myself, mostly hybrids, heres one of my projects not too long ago
Male F1 Citrinellum and a BP
J Francho reply :
Parrots are an ABOMINATION!!! ;D
Everything "south of border" was dumped into Heros.
Nice to see a fellow "genus splitter" here, LOL. Want to get into Psuedotropheus spp.? Poor Ad Konings.
Sorry for going OT, here.
Thai, we could probably talk fishroom shop for days. I don't keep fish anymore, but at one point, I had 1500 gals. worth of tanks in my hatchery, and another 1200 gals.of display tanks. I had the privilege of meeting many of the industry movers and shakers, big names, and some guys that will never be recognized for their contributions to modern aquarists.
Looking back, some of my favorite fish were the pygmy sunfish I collected on an "expedition" to the NJ Pine Barons.
A great hobby for anyone that loves things "fishy."
Thai reply :
LOL! The poor mans trophys?! I actually had the honor of meeting Ad Konings, he was a guest speaker at one of our club meeting, (Capital Cichlid Association) great guy and you could clearly see the man was passionate about what he was talking about.
It is infact a great hobby for anyone to get into,from begginers to master waterchangers theres something new to be learned and discovered everyday.
BTW Parrots might be an abomination but they make great breeders for short body's and faders
A.Do? reply :
So....I'm lazy and didn't read all the replies but those fish you caught are Oscars.... 
Nice cichlids thai! 8-)
etommy28 reply :
ok, I have raised cichlids and love keeping them but hate catching them. DOES IT REALLY MATTER? either way they are non native. Its just not worth hve 3 pages worth of people trying to use facts that do to the picture quality are impossible to prove.
here is the last thing I will say about it, I fish the exact spot he did a few times a week. I have caught many a mayan but never an oscar. not to say they dont live there, I have just never caught them.
NewAngler reply :
here's is a statement that can sum up the past three pages of J Fancho and Thai pitching tents;
You guys are fish nerds.
J Francho reply :
It matters if you are bored, and want to know the truth.
And I made a living from my fish, which makes me a fish geek.
Thai reply :
Quotehere's is a statement that can sum up the past three pages of J Fancho and Thai pitching tents;You guys are fish nerds.
"Thou must know thine enemy if thou art to succeed"
If you must know I wanted to be an Ichthyologist when I was younger....
Thai reply :
Quoteok, I have raised cichlids and love keeping them but hate catching them. DOES IT REALLY MATTER? either way they are non native. Its just not worth hve 3 pages worth of people trying to use facts that do to the picture quality are impossible to prove.here is the last thing I will say about it, I fish the exact spot he did a few times a week. I have caught many a mayan but never an oscar. not to say they dont live there, I have just never caught them.
No case closed I believe we proved it ;D
and cmon it was late Jfrancho and I were shooting the breeze
etommy28 reply :
eh either way, it does not matter to me, it just soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much reading every time I get on.
Dan: reply :
Quoteok, I have raised cichlids and love keeping them but hate catching them. DOES IT REALLY MATTER? either way they are non native. Its just not worth hve 3 pages worth of people trying to use facts that do to the picture quality are impossible to prove.here is the last thing I will say about it, I fish the exact spot he did a few times a week. I have caught many a mayan but never an oscar. not to say they dont live there, I have just never caught them.
Or, is it possible that you have been incorrectly identifying mayans vs. oscars all along?
Please don't take that as an insult because I don't know them as anything other than "not a bass." I just know that sometimes people, including myself, hold incorrect fish identification methods.
Thai reply :
QuoteQuoteok, I have raised cichlids and love keeping them but hate catching them. DOES IT REALLY MATTER? either way they are non native. Its just not worth hve 3 pages worth of people trying to use facts that do to the picture quality are impossible to prove.here is the last thing I will say about it, I fish the exact spot he did a few times a week. I have caught many a mayan but never an oscar. not to say they dont live there, I have just never caught them.
Or, is it possible that you have been incorrectly identifying mayans vs. oscars all along?
Please don't take that as an insult because I don't know them as anything other than "not a bass." I just know that sometimes people, including myself, hold incorrect fish identification methods.
I thought warmouths and green sunfish were the same thing....i know you remember that...
Dan: reply :
and I was right, wasn't I?!?!? for the record, I only knew that for certain because I had the same argument a few months ago so I had already verified it.
Thai reply :
Quoteand I was right, wasn't I?!?!? for the record, I only knew that for certain because I had the same argument a few months ago so I had already verified it.
You sure were, who knew Burke had warmouth....
etommy28 reply :
no, I know the diffference, its not hard to tell once you really figure it out. I am sure oscars live in the lake I have just never caught one. mayans have far more of the redish bronze color, with black bars and strips with a black spot on the tail whaile oscars are normally black with orange bars or stripes and an orange circle on the tail.
if any of thats off im sure some one will correct me very quickly.
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