Florida Fishing For Mayan Cichlids

You may or may not live in or near Florida, but if you do, you're in for some great freshwater, as well as saltwater fishing.

Like many coastal states, we have it all if you like fishing...and I really do! When I'm not on my computer, or putt zing around in our garage, I'm fishing! We have a small aluminum boat with a 25 hp Evinrude that gets us around just fine, but difficult to originate at those numerous freshwater lakes we have in this fine state.

Shimano Fishing

Karen and I had recently purchased a 14' Pelican Tandem 140T Kayak so we could fish a few more fresh water areas that don't have a originate ramp. Well, the very first time we took our Kayak out, which was a three mile drive from our house here in Cape Coral, we were armed with lures, spinners, plastic minnows, plastic worms and even some live wiggly worms just in case everything else failed.

After having tested the same waters a integrate days earlier, I did find out that those artificial lures just didn't have the punch I wanted, so, like a true sportsman, I opened the wiggler's and attempted to hook them to a worm hook, you know, the ones with the long shank.

I'll admit that hooking up a wiggly worm as opposed to a night crawler is something of a challenge. There is a guess they are called wiggly worms and not just quarterly worms!

That first cast with a lead filled Styrofoam floater and about 4' of 6 lb. Leader didn't yield even one hit. I really concept the morning was going to be just a pleasant paddle on a very small lake.

Karen and I decided to paddle up a short canal where we could see some fish hitting the surface. It only took us a few minutes to reach our destination before I had my floater and wiggly back into the water. Roughly immediately, my floater went under and I applied a bit of pressure. It was a 1lb Bluegill so I put it on the stringer and cast again, and again my floater went under Roughly immediately, this time it was that favored Mayan Cichlid and a keeper at that.

Mayan Cichlids were planted in this state while the 1980's so they are not native to Florida and are carefully to be exotic fish, which means you can't keep these fish alive. Basically, the state fisheries doesn't want you replanting them in any other lakes.

Again with hook in hand and a integrate wiggler's firmly secured, I cast just a few feet away to have a repeat of the same disappearance of my floater within a few seconds.

After I had eight keepers of a Mayan Cichlid and Bluegill mix, we decided to start back to the dock. We tried another small cove with some bushes, but the sun was now hitting the water so the bite was slowing.

We could see the dock nearby, so I told Karen I've only got two small wiggler's left and would just make one more cast, and wham, a fat minute bluegill took my floater for a ride before I firmly set the hook.

After arriving at the dock, we climbed out of our kayak and dumped all those beautiful fish out on the planks and shot a few photos. Naturally I was smiling from ear to ear!

If you're lucky enough to live in any place near a freshwater lake that has these kind of fish, then get out the fishing gear, some intriguing worms, and have yourself a delightful time enjoying life as it was meant to be. Take a friend if you like, it will be a rewarding experience for both of you.

Naturally I baked up the largest one for evening meal with some of Karen's delicious homemade coleslaw. Put another in the freezer, and gave away the rest to our friend Marco. What a great, wholesome meal that was. Not to mention the really fabulous time we had on the water with all the wildlife around us.

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Many Thanks to all you fishing folks.

Florida Fishing For Mayan Cichlids