I hadn't fished with Davis and Milan in a long time since the last time we had seen each other, as we had all split up to different parts of the country for college. When we got back to Miami this summer, finally all together in the same place, we naturally started making some fishing plans. As a change of pace, Milan said he knew of a freshwater spot in the Everglades we could try out. So, this morning I picked up Davis and Milan and we went to Walmart first to pick up some worms and other gear for the trip. We spent the drive to the spot catching up, excited to get to fishing. That being said, once we arrived at the spot we were certainly reminded bout the differences of fishing inland vs on the ocean, especially considering the south Florida midday summer heat. We stopped at a confluence of a few canals on the eastern edge of the everglades, due west from North Miami, on Krome Ave. There were some workers up the road there but they didn't seem to mind us as we parked and fished the canals. We rigged up the hooks with worms and set to casting. Almost as soon as we got there, we could see some fish swimming under the lillypads in front of us. Davis dropped his hook into a hole between them, and soon after he hooked up on a small Mayan Cichlid, which was our first catch of the day. While I was still rigging up my line, Milan caught the next one in the same spot, a Spotted Tilapia. It was turning out to be a multispecies day.
Most of the fish we caught here, which are common in these waterways in south Florida, are invasive. That being said, they've spread all throughout these canals and have become mainstays here. We caught more cichlids and tilapia before moving on to another side of the canal when the bite started to slow down. Fishing there, we found a few honeyholes that would consistently catch fish. However, on this side, we saw more native fish like Bluegill. Even though they weren't big, it was fun to drop our hooks and see what we would catch. There's something to be said about a nice day on the water catching some fish with good company, even if it's 95 degrees out. We also saw a Largemouth Bass that we casted our lines to, and while it checked out our baits, it unfortunately didn't go for it. If we had brought shiners, which we were considering, I am sure we would have caught it. After catching about 6 fish each, the last one being a foul hooked Tilapia from Milan, we got in the car and took it to a dock we saw on another part of the canal. We kept the car right next to it, so that we could go back and get some air conditioning if we needed. Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch any fish there. Although, again, this time we saw some Peacock Bass that we surely would have caught with Shiners. With more time and preparation, we'll try to bring shiners if we come back. The scenery was beautiful, and different than what we are normally used to. You could tell we were on the edge of the Everglades, with the vast expanse of grass behind us as far as we could see to the west. It provided a nice backdrop to the new location, and reminded us of the ecosystem in which we were fishing.
We soon head back when the bite clearly slowed down as it normally does on hot afternoons. We packed up the car and went back home, stopping at Baires, a restaurant Davis had been trying to put me on for a while. It was a great way to top off a fun time getting back together and fishing.
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