PeacockSlayer Report from Palm Beach
I could not wait until SundaY, so I went out on my boat today Saturday January 23rd 2010. Man it was depressing!!!! I drove around on my boat for nearly 6 hours,I was mainly scouting for dead peacocks. I found 12 dead peacocks 8 of them over 15 inches and 7 under 12. I saw Thousands,Yes,Thousands of dead Oscars and Tilapias, and about 40 Skife fish,some well over 25 inches, monsters!! I had no idea there were SO MANY Oscars,which are very harmful to the native species,just like tilapias are. The Oscars took the brunt of the kill for sure,followed by Tilapias,Frog fish and knife fish, in my Area,the Peacocks suffered but not as bad as the Oscars and the tilapias. I had never seen so many dead fish Everywhere I went I concentrated on the deep canal,that has 23+ feet drop offs,and it did not matter,it was flooded with Dead Fish. The huge peacock I caught under my bridge,got killed as well,along with the Huge one I had seen on a canal with a brood,I wanted Mitch to catch it,but sorry bro, seems like the cold weather beat you to it I found her dead,in the same place I had spotted her twice before the fronts came through. Right now it is difficult to fish,due to the awful dead fish smell. The only fish active right now seemed to be the bass and the florida sunshine stripped bass,even them are hanging out away from the shorelines,where THOUSANDS of Tropical fish are floating dead. I honestly think the Peacocks took a hit, but it should not be as bad as the rest of the fish that perished. And though they may not be as abundant as they were in 2009, 2010 should be a recovery year,due to their accelerated growth rate. I recon 2011 should be a solid year once again,we will have to wait and see how strong they come back this spring,the survivors WILL pass on their genes to their broods,and since this was one of the coldest 10 straight days we’d had in over 20 years,hopefully peacocks won’t see another 10 days like that in quite sometime,and if they do,hopefully they are better adapted for it. Should I catch I peacock in the coming weeks,I will let you guys know,for now,it’s back to bass fishing,which should be nice. I caught a 7 pounder today ,I would have preferred a 10 inch peacock over it though . That’s it for now fellow Peacock Fishermen,let’s all hope for a good spring!!
