Biggest Oscar Yet

[fq13]

I went for about an hour to the golf course ponds behind my house just to wet a line. I was throwing a 1" Gulp minnow on a 1/32nd ounce jig head. I got four small gills, the largest was a lttle bigger than my hand,lost a couple of others and got a little bass that might have been nine inches if he stood up straight.

But man I caught the biggesy oscar I've ever hooked. I'm reeling past a culvert and bam! That thing hooked itself. It started taking line in two short but hard runs from a Penn Battle with the drag cranked as tight as I dared with four pound line. That Penn's drag is no joke either. Its the best ultralight salt water reel out there, and this fish of unknown specieces was taking line. I've caught small 12" tarpon on this rig that didn't take as much line, they just jumped. Anyway, after the second run I'm sure its not a bass as it didn't break the surface, but buried itself in the inshore weeds. Now I'm trying to force it up with the rod bent double, largely from the weight of the weeds.

I start to wonder which will go first, the line or the rod. I have an el cheapo Berkley cherrywood, and yeah I know, why put a hundred dollar reel on a twenty dollar rod, but I like the action of the thing and if I break it I can buy four more and still save money over a St. Croix.

I thought it would bust tonight, as I was determined to see what the fish was. But by giving it some slack and then working from different directions I got it on the bank.

It was an oscar that went an honest 14 inches. It would have towed a similarly sized crappie or bluegill around that pond if you tied them tail to tail. That thing fought like a mangrove snapper. As a conservationist I wish they weren't here. But as a fisherman? Darn they're fun.

[Bobo Greybeard]

Cool Story. Thanks for sharing,


Bobo

[tnvol]

fq13,

How far south in FL do you have to go to catch a bunch of oscars? I often go to Kissimmee and Winter Haven area during the winter months, but have never caught one up here. Do you also catch those Mayan Cyclids? (sp?)

[fq13]

I'm in West Palm. We seem to be at about the northern edge of their range. I haven't caught a Mayan here yet, but I'm sure they are here. The southern end of PB county, say Boynton and Boca Raton down South through Broward and Dade counties are where you start running into the mayans, snakeheads and peacocks. When I go visit my dad in Naples I take the Tamiami Trail from Miami through to Naples and fish the canals. Its a blast. You have no clue what you'll catch on an ultra light or fly rod. A bass, a gill, a tarpon or some weird exotic.The lakes right by the Miami airport are supposed to be loaded with peacocks and the C41 canal in Broward is a hot spot for all the weirdness as well. Load up with ten pound braid and a fluro leader or a 4_6wt fly rod and have fun. The braid is worth the money as its the same diameter as two pound test and if you get a ten pound tarpon you're off to the races on a light rod. Its almost worth making the trip, scratch that, it is worth making the trip to fish the canal west from the turnpike in Miami to Everglades city, about sixty miles. Spend a day in the canal, a day in Everglades, fish the Fakka Union spillay the next day then motor back home ti Kissimmee on I 75. It would be a cheap weekend trip.

[wilbur]

Whats the difference in a Mayan and a Oscar? They look the same to me. We would catch a few on Okeechobee bluegill fishing. I guess the Everglades around holiday park is loaded with them. To me they eat just as good as a bluegill or cracker

[fq13]

Darned if I know. One has more orange, the other is more red. But both are basically a bluegill on steroids and they both eat good, or so they say. I've just had oscars, I haven't kept any mayans yet as I generally get them too far from home to keep them without hasseling with a big ice box.

[NYHellbender]

14 inch Oscar, I'd like to see that. Cool

[VaCrappieMan]

You mean like a oscar that you see in fish tanks?

[deathb4disco]

You mean like a oscar that you see in fish tanks?

Yep, same fish.

[fq13]

The very same. And that's why we are infested with them. Same with pythons, monitor lizards, feral cats, snakeheads and iguanas. Somebody bought them when they were small, and then when when they got too big decided to release them into the wild. Of course down here they thrive and out compete the natives and wreak havoc on the ecosystem. If I had I had my way anyone dumping an exotic would be stripped butt naked and released into the wild about a hundred miles into the Glades. But that's just me.