The # 1
Bass Fishing
destination
in the world.

Peacock Bass Fishing Guide Trips or Charters
Fishing in the "Urban Everglades"

Are you ready for superb South American fishing, and a chance to catch a hard-fighting, flaming red, butterfly peacock bass? How about if you can do it without leaving Florida and just a stones throw from Lake Okeechobee?

Roland Martin's Peacock Bass Fishing Guides will take you on a urban fishing trip you won't forget in the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale area Lakes and Canals. Thanks to very thorough, conservation-minded research and open minds, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) stocked several major southeast Florida canal systems with butterfly peacock between 1984 and 1987. This was a unique effort on the part of the agency.

These Peacock Bass have flourished in these canals and man-made lakes over the last 20 years and all of this great fishing is just a stones throw south of Lake Okeechobee.

Our Team of Florida Peacock Bass Guides are the best and only fish for Peacock Bass and other species in the Ft. Lauderdale Miami Area. All of our Peacock Bass fishing guides have been fishing this Maze of Peacock Bass Fishing Canals and Lakes exclusively and know them like the back of there hand.

Our head Peacock Bass Guide and Coordinator, Capt. Frank Carbone has been featured on The Outdoor Channel's "The Huntress", "Fishing with Bob Dillow", "Teamoutdoors", "Worldwide Fishing', and "O'Neill's Outsider" fishing for the Mighty Peacock Bass".

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The crew at Roland Martin's Marina in South Central Florida
will gladly assist you in planning your Florida fishing charter trip that will create a lifetime of memories!

When you are looking for a Bass Fishing Charter in
South Central Florida on Lake Okeechobee or the Florida Everglades
Make Sure You Go with the Best!
Don't leave your very important fishing trip up to chance.
We take Pride in making sure that you will have a wonderful Florida Trip.

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Our Rates

Our rates are the same as most of the guides services on Lake Okeechobee, but as you shop around you will find some other guides a charging little less. So please be careful and just remember you get what you pay for! and as always "credibility counts" .
We strive to make sure you will have a  trip of a life time!

Price is for one to two Person per boat
$250.00 HALF DAY 4+ hour trip
$300.00 SUPER HALF 6+ hour trip
$350.00 FULL DAY 8+ hour trip
 Length of Fishing Trip........A minimum of 8+ hours for a full day,
 6+ hours for super half and 4+ hours for a half day AM or PM.
 Equipment
All of our Fishing guides have quality rods, reels and coolers for your use at no additional cost.
Live bait and wild shiners are not included in the guide fee.
 
Deposits
To ensure the availability of you guide, a deposit of $100.00 is required for each guide.

 Wild Shiners......Available at Marina
 Fishing Licenses......Available at Marina
If you do not wish to use a guide, we do have boat rentals

For fishing guide, fishing charters, boat rental and motel reservations,
Call the toll-free # below.

1-800-473-6766 or (863) 983-3151

For all other inquiries, click the e-mail button below.

 E-MAIL
Please include phone number in e-mail

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All about the Peacock Bass

The butterfly peacock (also called peacock bass) is an extremely popular freshwater game fish introduced to south Florida in 1984. It is readily caught by bank and boat anglers using a wide variety of tackle and bait that ranges from live shiners to artificial lures and flies. Butterfly peacock prefer live fish and fish imitating baits often used by largemouth bass anglers, but they rarely hit plastic worms commonly used to catch largemouth bass.

Fishing is typically good throughout the year; however, most butterfly peacock heavier than four pounds are caught between February and May. Shaded areas provided by bridges, culverts and other structures generally are productive fishing spots, along with fallen trees, canal ends, bends and intersections. Nearly all butterfly peacock are caught during daylight hours. The easiest way to catch butterfly peacock is by using live bait. A favorite choice is a small golden shiner about three inches in length, referred to locally as a "peacock shiner." These can be fished below a float or free-lined while either casting or slow-trolling with an electric motor along canal edges. A small split shot weight may be required to fish the shiner at the proper depth.


LURE CHOICES
Top water lures (with and without propellers), minnow imitating crankbaits and a variety of jigs fished on casting or spinning tackle are good choices for artificial baits. These include floating and sinking Rapalas and Yozuri minnows, Rat-L-Traps, Shad-Raps, Jerk’n Sams, Wobble Pops, Tiny Torpedo's and Pop-Rs. A plastic, twin-tailed minnow and jig combination buzzed across the surface or tossed at fish sighted in deeper water also can be productive. Small tube lures and jigs frequently are used to sight-fish butterfly peacock, especially when they are aggressively guarding spawning beds near the shoreline. Although bigger baits (up to five inches) may entice more trophy-sized fish, baits less than three inches in length will produce more consistently than larger ones. However, even big butterfly peacock will take baits smaller than largemouth bass anglers typically use.

Dahlberg divers, deceivers, Clousers, epoxy minnows, zonkers and poppers are all popular selections of fly fishers. Many anglers prefer gold, firetiger or natural-colored lures; fly fishermen like chartreuse or yellow flies with flashy strips of Mylar-type materials. Most butterfly peacock anglers use light spinning tackle with six to eight-pound test line. Light lines and tippets generate more strikes than heavier ones, and heavier lines aren’t necessary because canal-caught butterfly peacock tend to be open-water fighters.

The butterfly peacock bass can be handled by its lower jaw, using the same thumb-and finger grip used for largemouth bass, although this will not immobilize them. By the end of the day, successful anglers using this grip will have many minor thumb scrapes caused by sandpaper-like teeth. These can be avoided by using tape, a leather thumb guard or a fish landing device like the Bogagrip. The current bag limit for butterfly peacock bass is two fish per day, only one of which may be greater than 17 inches long. This 17-inch length regulation gives added protection to large fish, which is essential for maintaining a high quality sport fishery. If the popularity of butterfly peacock bass fishing continues to grow as expected, it may be necessary to consider even more restrictive regulations to protect this fishery (e.g., the bag limit may be reduced to one fish). All regulations for sport fish are subject to change, so always check to be sure of current rules.

We at Roland Martin Marina encourages anglers to practice catch-and-release when fishing for butterfly peacock bass. Overall, this species is a hearty fish and nearly 100 percent will survive being caught and released when properly handled. However, butterfly peacock bass do not survive as well in live wells or as long out of water as do largemouth bass. It is important that they be released quickly to maximize their chances for survival.
 

Low water temperature is the most important factor for butterfly peacock bass in Florida. Laboratory temperature studies have documented that butterfly peacock bass die in water colder than 60 degrees. In fact, the first attempt to study butterfly peacock bass in the 1960s failed when all fish died due to low pond temperatures. In the early 1980s, it was discovered that canals of coastal southeast Florida were warmer than other waters during the winter, and some rarely dropped below 65 degrees. The main reason for this is the Biscayne Aquifer that lies just a few feet below the ground. During winter, the warmer water flowing from this aquifer into canals creates the warm temperatures critical to the survival and success of many exotic fishes. The butterfly peacock is no exception. In fact, of all exotic fishes currently established in Florida, the butterfly peacock bass is the least tolerant of low water temperatures. Butterfly peacock bass have over-wintered and reproduced successfully every year since their introduction in 1984. No additional fish have been stocked since 1987. Although butterfly peacock bass occasionally experience partial winterkills, coastal southeast Florida canals provide conditions that should permanently support a high quality sport fishery for this important species.

Unlike some of their relatives, butterfly peacock bass do not venture into salt water and are restricted to salinities similar to those tolerated by largemouth bass. This intolerance to salt water and low water temperatures prevents butterfly peacock bass from becoming widespread outside the metropolitan southeast Florida area.

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Roland Martin's Marina and guide service on Lake Okeechobee in South Central Florida
will gladly assist you in planning a Florida fishing charter trip that will create a lifetime of memories!

When you are looking for a fishing charter in
south central Florida on Lake Okeechobee or the Florida Everglades
Make Sure You Go with the Best!
Don't leave your very important fishing trip up to chance.
We take Pride in making sure that you will have a wonderful Florida charter fishing experience.

Interested In Going On A Guided Fishing Trip on Florida's Lake Okeechobee Please Click Here

 

 

For fishing guide, fishing charters, boat rental and motel reservations,
Call the toll-free # below.

1-800-473-6766 or (863) 983-3151

For all other inquiries, click the e-mail button below.

 E-MAIL
Please include phone number in e-mail

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