Everglades (5/17/23) Guide Trip

[Capt. BassinLou]

Had the pleasure of fishing with Mike today. He lives up in Central Florida, and he came down for the day to enjoy the Everglades' experience, with hopes to catch his first peacock.

I arrived at the ramp zero dark thirty, launched the boat, and was prepping for the outing when Mike arrived. He arrived early, I love it!! We were scheduled to fish until 1 pm, so he got some bonus time by arriving early. 

I covered the game plan for the day with Mike, and off we went. We made a short run and had Mike fishing before the sun broke the horizon. A little while into the trip, Mike was using one of his spook style lures when it suddenly disappeared. Mike made a sweeping hookset just like I explained to him, and a short while later, he boated his first fish. It's a pretty decent bass.





Mike continued working his lure and boated another bass short while later. We hit a lull, and I decided to make a move to the peacock stretch I have been having luck at. Seeing how Mike knew his way at fishing with a bait caster proficiently, I picked out the targets, and his casting was right on the money. The problem was, however, that the peacocks were playing really hard to get today.

Mike's persistence began to pay off because we began to see peacock activity. The peas weren't overly aggressive, and Mike only had one shot to try to connect with each pea he came across. Several decent peacocks took shots at Mike's offerings, but none would stay buttoned long enough to land. Ugh!! 

FINALLY towards the end of the outing, we spotted a beauty of a Peacock, and Mike took his time to coax the peacock to bite. Mike made his move when the Big Peacock made a sudden lurch forward and grabbed the bait. Mike took a moment and laid into Peacock!! Fish on!! Mike fought the big peacock like a seasoned pro. He fought the peacock boat side where I was anxiously waiting with the net.  After a few high fives and jubilations, Mike proudly held up his first beautiful peacock. It came in just a hair under 5 pounds.





We continued to fish for about another 30 minutes, and poor Mike was spent. It was tough out there today, and the heat definitely did not help. I'm so proud of Mike. He kept his cool and was handsomely rewarded for his efforts. Great job, Mike!! 

Thank you for reading!!

[RangerAndBass]

Congrats on a great day I would say Lou. A near 5lb pea is awesome, good for Mike.

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[Capt. BassinLou]

Congrats on a great day I would say Lou. A near 5lb pea is awesome, good for Mike.

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Thanks Bryn.

[big g]

WTG Lou, glad the client had a memory he will never forget.  That Pea has to be God's artistic skills at full display!  You got to love them, and plentiful in our backyard!

[FlatsNBay]

That's a trophy peacock for sure. Great job!

[Capt. BassinLou]

Thanks guys!

[Donald Garner]

Lou, congrats on another SUCCESSFUL Guide Outing   Tks for sharing the trip and those pictures with us also.

Mike, congrats on the catching of the Largemouth and those Beautiful Peacock Bass