Today I fished with Dr. David Pashley and some of his partners. They decided to go after peacock bass with the air temperatures raising and the water warming up I anticipated a good day.

As I expected, the peacock bass bite was on for the Pashley group. We moved around to several locations and picked away at the peacock bass with artificial lures and by the end of day we caught over (25) twenty five peacock bass.

The highlight of the trip was David catch this monster (7lb) seven pound peacock bass.

Congratulations David!

7lb Florida Peacock Bass

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

Florida Peacock Bass

Today I had the pleasure of taking long time repeat customer Dave Stolarek and his son Daniel all the way from the frozen tundra of Chicago, IL.  Dave and his whole family have been coming out with us for many years and we have developed a really good friendship.

Today was a very special day, as he brought his son down for two days of Florida freshwater fishing. I warned Dave about the cold fronts coming in and it may slow the peacocks down a bit. But, he really wants Daniel to catch a peacock bass, so off we when to peacock bass fishing in South Miami where the water is warmer. We started our day off with Daniel catching his first Tarpon, which started the day out pretty well. As the day moved on we picked away at the peacock bass, then I suggested to Dave, “lets check out one more spot.” That was where Daniel got this very nice 5 pound peacock.

I can’t wait to see the video of this catch, it was an awesome fight!

Looking forward to seeing tomorrow when we fish the Everglades.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

Company Peacock Bass Trip

Today I took out the guys from the Castro Construction Company, out of Houston, TX. They wanted to see what the mighty Peacock bass fishing was all about while visting Miami.

We put the boat in the water down in Miami and made a long run to my first spot of the day. The fishing started off a little slow due to cooler water temperatures, but once the sun started to heat up the water the fishing action started to heat up also. It was a blast for the Texans and me. They boated 18 peacocks for the day up to 5lber being the biggest.

It was a lot of fun watching the guys catch fish and not to mention laughting about all the bass that got away.

I hope to see the guys again in the near future.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Tony Masiello (tonym@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

Paul Shafland, director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Exotic Fisheries Lab, captured this year’s “Pass It On” Award.

September 2008

The award was given by the Florida Outdoor Writers Association (FOWA) and Bass Pro Shops.

He bagged the honor at FOWA’s annual conference Sept. 13.

The “Pass It On” Award is an achievement award created by Bass Pro Shops to recognize individuals who have gone the extra mile or devoted their lives to introduce others to the joys of the outdoors.

“Recognition by Florida’s premier professional outdoor writers makes this especially meaningful,” Shafland said. “They are my professional peers, and that makes this award a high honor.”

Shafland began his devotion to the outdoors 34 years ago when he started working as a biologist at the then-Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, now FWC.

“I’ve always been interested in fishing, and that developed into a strong professional desire to understand and help manage Florida’s native and nonnative fisheries.”

Shafland said he is particularly passionate about enhancing Florida’s freshwater fisheries, especially the urban-based butterfly peacock bass fishery.

During his career at FWC, his most notable contribution has been introduction of butterfly peacock bass in South Florida waters. In 1984, in an effort to fight an exploding harmful nonnative fish population, Shafland and his team got approval to introduce the bass.  While the butterfly peacock bass is a nonnative species, it was released in South Florida only after extensive research determined there would be no ill effects on native fish populations. The plan was to use the species to prey on undesirable nonnatives and produce desirable fishing opportunities. It is the only nonnative fish legally and intentionally released by the FWC.

In the 24 years since the release of the butterfly peacock bass, exotic fish populations in South Florida have declined, and the butterfly peacock bass is one of the most popular sport fish for freshwater anglers. Anglers spend millions of dollars annually to catch this fish.

“I appreciate everyone — especially the thousands of anglers, young and old — who have made Florida’s urban-based butterfly peacock fishery the success it is,” Shafland said.

From Staff and Wire Reports
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888-629-BASS (2277)
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
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