Exotic Fish of Florida

Last year I was lucky enough to get invited to south FL on a peacock bass fishing trip, it ended up being more than just a peacock trip. My new friend Jarrod (from NEF) had put this trip together and had a crew of guys getting together for this excursion. What surprised me a little though where all the various types of exotic species we were catching. Allot of these fish looked like they belonged in a aquarium and that's partly why they were in these ponds and canals. Though some non-native fish were stocked by FL fish and wildlife as management tools, most wound up being introduced by pet owners who no longer wanted their aquarium fish and versus killing them, instead opted to release these pet fish into the wild. Some also released their pet fish when they out grew the tank. Also it is thought that some live fish from Asian food markets also is another source of the problem. These released fish along with domestic tank fish found each other and bred. Causing wild and natural reproduction to occur. Southern Florida's water's certainly are warm enough to support these invasive immigrants and sure enough, they thrive.

Non native species getting into a ecosystem can cause all kinds of damage to native fish and habitat. This is obviously not a good thing and I certainly don't want to make light of it. However on the flip side of the coin, taking lemons and making lemonade is an expression that I like and fits to part of the agenda on this trip, by us also targeting these exotics from various continents. It was fun and literally felt like a fish safari. One strange fish after another was caught in between the peacock bass. Some ponds were hit to intentionally catch some of these exotics. It was probably one of the most unusual trips I had ever done and enjoyed very much. If your looking to do something different head down to southern Florida.