[Hello from Florida]

On 7/31/2021 at 9:25 PM, Gator said:

When I was in my early teens, I lived on a cove of a lake in Virginia, the lake itself was about 2 miles long and that cove I lived on was part of the reason why the lake is about 3 quarters of a mile wide. The entire lake was surrounded with shrubbery that grew out over the water except an area that had a park, another area that has a road running next to the lake, but that roadbed had basketball sized rock that ran down into the lake. That lake also had about 2 acres of Cypress trees at the upper end, it wasn't long before I knew that lake like the back of my hand.

That cove was surrounded by a chain link fence so I couldn't fish that cove. but it had a small creek that flowed into the cove. The creek ran from a swamp about a mile North of the cove, through a culvert under the driveway into the housing complex, about 3 quarters of a mile through an open field that had a playground at one end, the golfers among us used the rest of the field as a driving range, through another culvert that was under another driveway for another part of the housing complex. From the second culvert to the cove was about 20 to 30 yards.

The very first spring I was there, I noticed a lot of small fish swimming upstream toward the closest culvert, but I didn't know what they were. I already had a 10 gallon tank set up with way too many Guppies in it so I went home, got a fish net and a quart Mason jar, went back to the creek, put some water in the jar, caught one, saw that it was a baby baas so I caught two more. I put them in my aquarium and I never saw another baby Guppy.

Back then, the only aquarium hideaway you could get for baby fish was what was called breeding grass which consisted of a green, round ball at both ends of two wires twisted together with some kind of shredded, green cloth in between the wires. Because of the bass and the fact I wanted to be a better bass fisherman, I added landscaping rock in one corner to copy (as close as I could) the rocks along the roadbed, and I added a very nice looking piece of a Cypress limb in another corner. Every morning on weekends during the school year and every morning in the summertime, I'd look to see where those bass were hanging out in my tank. If two were hanging out by the stick, I fished blowdowns or the Cypress trees, if two were hanging out around the rocks, I fished the rocks next to the roadbed, and I always caught fish, but I never saw another baby Guppy in my tank.

This lake is where I caught the largest Speck (Crappie) I have ever caught in my life, before or since. I caught it on a 1/16 ounce, gold colored Panther Martin, in-line spinner with an orange tail.

When you go to Bass Pro Shops, pick up some 3mm glass rattles for your crawdad colored Culprit worms. Crawdads click when the go through the water, the lizards, wounded minnows, and struggling eels do not.

In the early Spring (January,? February?), fish the Northern side a lake, this area warms up faster than the rest of the lake, Bass will either be on their beds or are getting ready to go on their beds. Crawdads and Spring lizards eat fish eggs, and the Bass know it so Bass will voraciously devour them.

I didn't know that knife fish grew that large, but then I've never done any research on them. How long did it take you to land this fish? I can imagine that it would have been hard to land it, you're pulling one way and it's trying to swim backwards to get back into cover.

It must have been nice to catch that Peacock Bass, I hear that they grow to about 12lbs, maybe more, I'll do some research on both of these fish here in a few. The Bass Pro Shops in Orlando has a Peacock Bass mounted over the entrance, it may weigh 5lbs, I don't know.

Did you eat the Peacock Bass? It looks like it would be a good fish to eat.

Sincerely

Gator

I am loving these stories and tips thank you so much! I was thinking about studying bass like that, such an incredible idea! It took me about 6 minutes to get that thing to shore, I always fish an ultralight setup with 15lb braid just because I like to keep it sporty but not really worry about breaking line, I ended up having to get in the water to land it since every time it got near shore it would just shoot backwards strong enough to pull drag. The peacock bass here are good eating apparently, but I found that after the last one I've caught, haven't got one in months so I haven't tried one yet. The specific strain they released here is called Butterfly Peacock Bass and rarely get over 5lbs.

[Hello from Florida]

On 7/31/2021 at 6:28 AM, Guppysnail said:

Welcome welcome! Many eons ago when I was a preteen a neighbor kid moved up from Florida and gave me some beautiful sunnies he said he collected them himself. I’m currently looking to start another tank and acquire some more. Your tank is lovely I’m looking forward to hearing about and seeing your collected fish 😁

Thank you! When I was in jersey I had a pumpkinseed sunfish in my tank and it was absolutely beautiful, as of right now I've a Golden Topminnow in that tank about 3" long and another small fish that I cant identify, but both seem to be thriving with the danios and the gourami in the tank, I'll see if I can get some pictures or a video of them they are rather skittish. I had a beautiful pair of Sailfin Mollies I caught here, they bred once but unfortunately I'm not sure if it was my water or what but after a few months they became decrepit and barely ate, I quarantined them and tried feeding them small amounts multiple times a day but I couldn't save them, which is a shame the males have beautiful colors and that huge sailfin, they populate the shallows in the lake I fish in the thousands but I haven't tried to keep them again in fear I would just be killing them.

[Hello from Florida]

On 7/30/2021 at 11:43 PM, HH Morant said:

Quoting an Australian friend:

You call that a knife?

Hahaha, I wish I had a tank big enough to keep those things, they're such a cool lookin fish I think

[Fish recommendations]

Never kept them myself but pygmy sunfish could be cool, I believe you'd be able to keep a pair in a 10 gallon tank according to the care guide I looked up.

[Hello from Florida]

On 7/30/2021 at 10:39 PM, Gator said:

You can go to Bass Pro Shops there and buy lures to catch Peacock bass in the canals around there. Peacock bass are originally from the Amazon River and in it's infinite wisdom, Florida introduced them into the canals to eat the rough fish, what ever they may be. Peacock bass haven't become a nuisance species and I heard that they are fun to catch. I hear that they're heavy hitters and hard fighters. 

A 13lb Clown Knife fish, that sounds like a rather large aquarium fish as I've never caught one, I've caught a 4lb Bowfin, AKA Mudfish in Orlando, and I didn't keep it, but Mudfish are natives.

Lake Okeechobee has some really big Florida strain Largemouth bass in it, but the State record came out of the St. Johns River. Stick Marsh 13 just north of you is the hottest bass fishing lake down there right now.

Crawdads don't get very big in FL so go with the 7 1/2 in crawdad colored Culprit worm in the Spring and Fall, that's what I caught that 15.5 pounder on.

The best way to fish these worms is Texas rigged with a one-eighth ounce weight, cast them to a likely looking spot, let it settle to the bottom, and if nothing hits it in 10 seconds, twitch it three times, let it settle, if a bass hits it, it will be during the drop. 

Another good lure for Spring and Fall is the 6 inch Spring lizard in either Black Grape or Pumpkinseed with a chartreuse tail.

The best way to fish Spring lizards is pretty similar to the Culprit worm rigged Texas style, but instead of twitching it, I'll reel it slowly for about 4 feet after it hits the bottom and stop. 

Two good lures for Summertime are the 5 inch, Pearl White, Zoom Super Fluke and the 10, 11, or 12 inch Red Shad Culprit worm.

Rig the Super fluke Texas style, but without any weight, you want it to look natural as it falls through the water. When it hits the bottom, wait 5 or 10 seconds and give it a twitch. The Super fluke will dart from side to side just like an injured fish might, the strikes will occur on the fall. It's best to use a small sized ball-bearing swivel about 1 to 2 feet in front of the Super fluke because this lure will twist your line without one.

Rig the red-shad Culprit worm Texas style, but with a one-quarter ounce weight. Cast it out, let it settle, tighten your line, and slowly lift your rod tip about 4 feet, and let it settle back. You're trying to imitate an eel that's having a hard time making it to the surface to get a gulp of air.

While you're at Bass Pro Shops, check out their 5,000 gallon aquarium. I don't know if their aquarium is freshwater or saltwater, the aquarium in the Bass Pro Shops in Orlando is strictly freshwater.

I hope I've helped you catch the bass of a lifetime.

Sincerely

Gator

 

 

Wow, honestly thank you so much for the tips I've been struggling to get fish especially largemouth these last few weeks in the summer, I grew up in jersey and basically have only thrown crankbaits there with good success but down here it isn't nearly as consistent. The clown knife fish are invasive like the peacock bass and I love catching them, they're quite rare and are usually only found down here in south florida, their ability to swim straight backwards makes for a awesome fight. I'll definitely be taking a trip to bass pro to pick up some of those plastics. Here is a picture of the clown knife and a beautiful peacock I caught with Deep Blue Kayak Fishing Charters:

[Hello from Florida]

Thought I'd throw in a picture of the tank 4 months ago when I first set it up, I added the valisneria about a week after this picture but it wasn't nearly as tall as it is now

 

[Hello from Florida]

On 7/30/2021 at 3:54 PM, DannyBWell said:

Love the layout of the tank, welcome to the forum!

 

On 7/30/2021 at 6:48 PM, GameCzar said:

Welcome!  Awesome stuff 🙂

Thanks guys! This was my like first attempt at trying to aquascape haha

[Hello from Florida]

On 7/30/2021 at 12:28 PM, Taco Playz said:

Welcome to the forum. That zebra danios tank is AMAZING 😍

Thanks so much! they're actually Fire Ring Danios I purchased from the wet spot.

On 7/30/2021 at 1:04 PM, s1_ said:

what part of FL

I just moved to southeast FL just north of Ft Lauderdale

 

On 7/30/2021 at 1:32 PM, Gator said:

That' great, Man, welcome back to the hobby.

I used to live in Orlando and I'm also an avid fisherman. The largest Bream (Bluegill) I ever caught was caught in a swamp on the East side of 436 (Semoran Blvd.) North of Orlando International Airport. It's all hotels in there now and the swamps have been turned into small lakes, I suppose you can still fish in them, but I don't know.

The largest Largemouth Bass I've ever caught was a 15.5 pounder I caught in Holden cove on the Southern end of Lake Holden in Orlando. At the time, I lived right there, but that property has since been sold and you'd need a boat to get to that spot now.

Be careful if you find a wild plant you want to put into your aquarium, you could introduce all kinds of nasties to your tank.

It's best to get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and put 9 tablespoons of alum into that bucket, then add 3 gallons of dechlorinated water to the bucket, stir it up, and you're good to go. Put your plants into the bucket and press them down so that they're completely covered and let them soak for 3 hours. The alum will kill the nasties right now, but it takes 3 hours for the alum to penetrate the egg masses to kill the eggs. After 3 hours, take the plants out, put the lid on the bucket, rinse the plants off in running water, and they're ready to go into your tank. Put the lid on the bucket so you'll have it ready for the next time you'll want to add plants.

Sincerely

Gator

Thanks so much for the info, I've been wondering how I can snag some of the plants in the lake I fish but wasn't sure to go about getting rid of all the nasties as you put it, that's an absolute hog of a bass, the biggest I've gotten down here so far was a 7lber, but I usually find myself targeting the clown knife fish, which I've gotten a 13lb one as my PB.

[Hello from Florida]

Hey everyone, just got back into the fish tank hobby after a few years, I used to have a 37gal saltwater tank that my father helped me run when I was about 12 and now I'm getting back into the hobby by myself. I'm an avid fisherman so I usually can collect wild samples for my tank and after just moving down to Florida I have access to so many new and cool species. Right now I've a 20 gallon long tank and a 10 gallon tank in my kitchen.

Just wanted to share my tank and see everyone's opinions, this is the first tank I've actually put plants and wood in a fish tank and I think it turned out quite well.